The Popular Party is going to hold a key National Board of Directors on Monday the 28th for the countdown to the elections. Alberto Núñez Feijóo is going to activate around twenty regional and provincial congresses prior to the May 2027 elections, but will not appoint regional candidates until the situation in Ceuta is cleared up - as far as possible - which is the issue that is now monopolizing the efforts of the main opposition party, along with the worsening of the domestic economy due to the sharp increase in inflation.
In the national leadership of the PP they assure that there will be "some change" of candidate, but they maintain secrecy. There is a clear case: in Navarra, the until now president of the popular parties, Javier García, has thrown in the towel and resigned from office. Yesterday, he announced his decision not to continue as president of the Popular Party of Navarra, a responsibility he assumed in December 2022.
After almost four years at the head of the organization, the time has come to "open a new stage" in the PPN, he said. For now, Feijóo will appoint a manager to run the day-to-day running of the party in said community. It will be directed by deputy Sergio Sayas.
"There can always be renewal, but now it's time to focus on Ceuta," they point out in Genoa, which has decided to accelerate the rest of the congresses that do not present difficulties, such as Cantabria, Galicia, Murcia, the Canary Islands and the Community of Madrid. In the rest "it is not that the appointments are postponed, it is that they were never scheduled for September, that simply was not true," they say.
There are 10 communities that will hold elections in May 2027: Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, the Valencian Community, the Community of Madrid, the Region of Murcia, Navarra and La Rioja. Also the autonomous cities of Melilla and Ceuta.
There are eight months left, but concern is growing in some of the autonomous communities in which the PP does not govern and has not yet chosen a candidate. Fundamentally, in Navarra, Castilla-La Mancha (Paco Núñez) and Asturias (Álvaro Queipo). Changes are not expected in these three communities, but they are not ruled out either: secrecy is total. In the Basque Country, Javier de Andrés is indeed a candidate, and in Catalonia Alejandro Fernández has already been ratified.
Also the president of the PP of the Canary Islands, Manuel Domínguez, has announced his candidacy for the conclave of the Canarian PP, which will be held in November, and in which he aspires to "revalidate the trust" of the members of the islands, as he himself stated on his social networks. He is expected to regain his leadership.
But the most relevant case is, precisely, that of a community in which the PP does currently govern: the Valencian Community, whose president is Juanfran Pérez Llorca. The Genoa team refuses to confirm that he will be the candidate in the regional elections of the Valencian Community. They are in no hurry, but time passes and uncertainty increases. In any case, as this newspaper reported this week, the Valencian Popular Party clings to the only route that is contemplated, and that is none other than Llorca.
"The passage of time is in their favor," they analyzed. That is to say, the fact that Génova is late in making Pérez Llorca's candidacy official, as paradoxical as it may sound, benefits him. First, because "there is no other alternative", and second, because launching a hypothetical alternative candidacy in stoppage time and with little margin to prepare an electoral campaign is considered an excessively - or unnecessarily - risky scenario.
In any case, the fact that Feijóo did not say a word about Pérez Llorca's future gave rise to all kinds of speculation and rumors, including that there could be doubts in Genoa about the suitability of Carlos Mazón's successor in the Valencian Community.
The statutes of the Popular Party stipulate that the regional congresses of the party must be held with the same frequency as the National Congress. It must be remembered that this was held in the month of July 2025, and that in some autonomous communities the leadership has not been renewed for more than five years.
The most shocking thing is that the major local candidates have already been announced. All without exception. On July 17, the general secretary of the PP, Miguel Tellado, and the president of the National Electoral Committee, Diego Calvo, announced the heads of the list for the municipal elections of May 2027 for all provincial capitals and capitals of autonomous communities.
And there is renewal. Currently, of the 50 provincial capitals, the Popular Party governs in 30. And of the 20 provincial capitals in which it does not govern, 11 candidates are renewed for the next municipal elections, which represents 55% of the total. Furthermore, 21 of the 50 candidates are headed by women, which represents 42% of the total.
At the National Board of Directors this Monday, the provincial congresses of the eight provinces of Andalusia, the four of Catalonia and the three of the Basque Country will also be ratified, according to Europa Press. These three communities will face municipal elections in May next year, but not regional elections.
