Ada Colau clears her way of obstacles to be the Frente Amplio candidate for the general elections on November 29, after fighting a battle between sectors that has ended up opting for the former mayor of Barcelona. Mónica García, who went from favorite to running out of support these days, took a step back this Wednesday that makes it easier for Catalan politics to become the unofficial leader of the alliance of leftist alternatives to the PSOE. Of course, Más Madrid demands in exchange for "giving in" that she be an applicant who appears on the Barcelona list.
The former mayor, who had declined the option of being the candidate for the new Sumar many months before, has read the political moment focused on the housing crisis to encourage herself to make a decision that will mark her return to the front line. This context has also been decisive for the Frente Amplio parties to see in him an electoral stimulus capable of turning around the poor forecasts they have for voting intentions from the polls.
The bet on Colau unleashes several consequences. The first is that the Frente Amplio provides with its election an unbeatable landing pad for the arrival of Podemos to the alliance. What's more, when Colau burst in to offer to help, he set two conditions: that Podemos enter to put together "a truly broad front" and that an exciting candidacy be made.
She has been one of the few figures on the left who has maintained bridges with the purple people despite all the vicissitudes that the space has gone through and, in addition, she also has people around her who frequently talk to them. This creates a friendly context to negotiate and heal wounds. Just as it helps a figure like Colau to be accepted by Irene Montero as a candidate. Something that was not going to happen in any way with Mónica García.
The countdown to a negotiation with Podemos ends on the night of October 16. That day the deadline to register the coalitions with the Electoral Board closes. In the Broad Front, there is great concern about a fracture into two candidates and a division of the vote, which is why calls to Irene Montero for a pact are recurrent. Although for now the purple leader has taken refuge in the demand for primaries so as not to sit face to face to negotiate with her former partners.
The second consequence of Colau's election is the electoral asset that his past represents now that there are camps and protests in the streets due to the housing crisis. Having been a renowned activist on this issue, the former mayor moves like a fish in water in the debate and allows the Frente Amplio to take advantage of what is going to be its central axis of the campaign. This strength could be decisive in neutralizing Pedro Sánchez's attempt to make the crisis profitable in favor of the PSOE.
The movement within the Frente Amplio that has ended up unblocking the election of the candidate has come from the hand of Más Madrid. Aware that Mónica García's option aroused less support among her partners, and that Comunes or IU preferred the former mayor, she relented in her intentions to lead the candidacy. Of course, he withdraws from that battle demanding that at least Colau holds the status of presidential candidate "from Barcelona."
The custom in national candidates is to place their candidate for La Moncloa on the list for Madrid. It always happens in the PSOE, PP or Vox. Even, We Can. For the first time, this tradition is being asked to change to allow Mónica García to be number one in the capital.
Battle for the starting places
But there is much more at stake here than just a position. The Madrid list is now a powder keg in the Frente Amplio negotiations. A fierce battle has broken out between the parties of the alliance to place their candidates there and on top of that there is a possible entry by Podemos that would leave fewer starting positions if Irene Montero has to be placed in them.
Más Madrid claims its status as a territorial force and as a party that has 20% of the vote, ahead of the PSOE, to demand to "lead" and make the list in this constituency for the elections. Just like Comunes, Compromís, Chunta Aragonesista or Més per Mallorca they are going to do the same in their areas.
But IU, mainly, opposes Más Madrid taking over the candidacy and, in a call for "generosity" and "responsibility", demands "a fair agreement" in which "all forces are well represented and comfortable." "The objective," they point out in IU, "has to be the construction of a Broad Front that is as broad, plural and representative as possible."
The IU management promoted Toni Valero this Wednesday as its main political reference in the Frente Amplio and wants him to be on the Madrid list. Because IU, it is emphasized, is a "federal force" and "not Andalusian." This sentence combats the idea that IU candidates have to appear on the Andalusian lists just because it is the area of greatest influence of the formation. This tension was already experienced, by the way, with Sumar in 2023, when Enrique Santiago had to be accommodated in Córdoba to bring in Yolanda Díaz as one and Agustín Santos, his star signing, as two.
Más Madrid refuses to fade into the Madrid list by including candidates from other parties or independents. And he claims that demanding dominance on the list responds to the principles of "territoriality, generosity and confederal functioning" on which the different forces that make up the Frente Amplio have been working for months, which are "the roots and autonomy of each force in its territory." Just like Compromís or Chunta are going to do.
That is why official sources from Más Madrid emphasize the "generosity" that already implies "ceding" the presidential role to Barcelona, so that Colau is a candidate, which demonstrates the "conviction" of the formation "for a confederal commitment."
