Ciudadanos in Alicante: Two Years of Crises and Shifts in Spain’s Liberal Bloc

The motion of no confidence, rejected two years ago in the Region of Murcia, marked the start of Ciudadanos’ crisis in the Valencian Community and Alicante province. This episode culminated with Toni Cantó, the regional leader, stepping down as an official signpost for several involved actors that the project launched that day would drop out of many other high-profile schools. Soon after Cantó, Emilio Argüeso and Marta Martín appeared. Two years on, the Liberal party continues to bleed support, a reality that becomes more visible as the 28 May elections approach and survival becomes an increasingly intricate exercise. Moreover, the scenario features a split that was already evident two years earlier between those who favored rapprochement with the PP, many of whom are former militants or former members of the People’s Party, and those who advocated building bridges with the Socialists. The most stubborn faction in Ciudadanos remains.

The week just ending has been dominated by the ongoing crises of Cs in Alicante and in the regional political scene. The epicenter this time was the Provincial Assembly of Alicante, where two party representatives bid farewell to the bloc. Deputy for Infrastructure Javier Gutiérrez left on Monday, followed by Vice President Julia Parra on Thursday. The PP, which shares a governing team, aims to stay at the forefront of power. This move led to the president being accused of corruption from the left by Carlos Mazón, the PP’s candidate for the Generalitat. At the regional level, Parra and Gutiérrez argue that the party leadership, led by Mamen Peris, is working in Botànic’s favor. All of this unfolds with a little more than two months left before the 28M elections.

Between Cantó’s exit and Parra’s, Ciudadanos plays a central role in the narrative of a foretold demise. The former regional leader left the Liberals in mid-March 2021, leaving his minutes in the Cortes amid accusations of a personal decline within the party. His departure followed a failed bid to force the resignation of the executive, including leader Inés Arrimadas, in an attempt to resurrect the formation and withdraw the so-called ridiculous no-confidence motion in Murcia, which had sparked an electoral push in Madrid and Spain, culminating in the victory of popular Isabel Díaz Ayuso.

Trustees in the courts

By then, the Cortes’ trustee had been summoned by Arrimadas to a gathering in the Spanish capital to quell the internal rebellion stirred by his leadership and the escalating accusations against the PP. Hesitantly, he sang, hurriedly left the assembly, and announced to waiting journalists that he was resigning from all his duties in the party without informing colleagues beforehand. He became a member of parliament and exited politics, though over time it became clear that this sequence was not fully true.

The chaos in Murcia, along with the backlog of electoral defeats it generated, especially in Catalonia, pushed Ciudadanos to a crossroads from which it could not easily emerge. What happened in Murcia disturbed the political landscape across much of Spain and began to undermine the liberal establishment in the Valencian Community, where it found itself leaderless. It did not take long for the Alicante senator Emilio Argüeso to be dismissed, accused of offering “advantages” to attract former PP defectors.

The national leadership of Ciudadanos demanded that one of its strongest figures in the Community withdraw his registration as a representative in the Upper House, an action he attributed to a “revenge” organized by Arrimadas due to his closeness with Fran Hervías, a former secretary of the Cs Organization who moved to the People. This move further weakened the Valencian branch of the Liberals, which had not yet absorbed Cantó’s sudden departure and was embroiled in a struggle for control of the parliamentary group.

24 hours

If Cantó’s departure and Argüeso’s departure required two days, the next leak came just 24 hours later. Marta Martín, an Alicante MP, left her seat in Congress due to disagreements with the leadership. The failed motion in Murcia and the push for early Madrid elections produced a dizzying, disastrous week for Ciudadanos. The education crisis triggered resignations and, at that moment, brought the political project to the edge.

Two years later, the outlook is not as bright for liberals in the Community and the national stage. Last February saw little progress, more casualties, and more MPs jumping to the PP in hopes of Mazón’s Generalitat campaign. The most notable regional moves included trustee Ruth Merino, who went from orange spokesperson in the Cortes to a spot on the popular candidate’s economic team. The announcement of Francisco Sánchez, who quit as Cs municipal spokesperson in Elda, as the popular mayor in the same town, followed. The former Cs spokesperson in the Cortes later joined the PP. At a press conference announcing the signing, Mazón emphasized that the move showed a project that was clearly social in nature. When Merino arrived at the PP, Peris, who had replaced him as trustee, was welcomed by President Puig at the Palau de la Generalitat; this marked a new phase of convergence between PSPV and the Cs leadership, and the drift continued to widen.

Municipalities

In the state arena, Francisco Sánchez’s arrival in the PP did not go smoothly. In fact, the resignation of Fran Muñoz, the PP president in Elda, came after he was rejected as mayor to bring the already liberal export spokesperson into the position. Fifty PP members out of 200 in the municipality threatened to resign following Mazón’s leadership decision. Existing councilors also worried about potential removal from the list.

Indeed, in the state, integrating former Cs members into the People’s ranks has not been easy and has caused tensions in several municipalities, such as Granja de Rocamora, where Cs mayor Javier Mora remains in office. He is slated to be the PP mayoral candidate on May 28. This news did not go down well with popular councilors in Vega Baja, who submitted resignations in a bloc. In Sant Joan d’Alacant, a joint PP-Ciudadanos list is being forged, though the spotlight now is on liberal mayor Santiago Román. He is the mayor of the town in l’Alacantí and has drawn attention for his evolving alignment.

Elche is another municipality that has endured the ups and downs of Ciudadanos. Municipal spokesperson Eva Crisol announced her intention to leave the liberal faction during a February 27 plenary, the same day Eduardo García-Ontiveros was presented as 28M candidate for Elche. This is notable because García-Ontiveros has rejoined the party after a four-year expulsion.

If February proved hectic, March intensified the action at Diputación de Alicante. It began with Javier Gutiérrez, Deputy for Infrastructure, announcing his departure from Ciudadanos to join the non-member group after a clash with the party last year. The rifts that emerged after the no-confidence motion in Orihuela were marked by several complaints filed against him and his split from the PSPV and the Xixona government team he led. Yet from the outset, he remained closely aligned with the PP.

Gutiérrez slammed the door, accusing current Cs leadership of working for President Puig and trying to destabilize the Diputación government team to discredit Mazón and gain electoral advantage for Botànic. On Tuesday, the other Cs figure at the provincial agency, Vice President Parra, spoke in defense of her partner and lamented that her work in recent years had not been valued.

Ultimatum

Peris, accompanied by national coordinator Carlos Pérez-Nievas, headed to the Provincial Assembly on Wednesday to summon Parra and deliver an ultimatum to Mazón: either fire Gutiérrez or break the government agreement with the PP. By Monday, Parra had already followed her partner, leaving Cs to join the non-member group, just one day later.

The situation now oscillates between pushing for power by two defectors from the left toward Mazón and the PP’s resolve to end the mandate with them. All this unfolds with a little more than two months remaining before 28M. The breakup of Ciudadanos, which began two years earlier in Murcia, found its latest chapter in the Diputación, announced on March 10, 2021, the exact anniversary of the failed motion.

Focusing on those still resisting in the orange formation

Following the Alicante Provincial Council episode, attention shifts to other Ciudadanos members in the province. Santiago Román, mayor of Sant Joan d’Alacant, and Mari Carmen Sánchez, deputy mayor of Alicante, appear closer to the PP. Román supported Parra’s departure and began a period of reflection about his future. Sánchez chose to stay out of the limelight, saying his focus was on management and that his term would end.

Others remain firmly within the party. This group includes Alicante mayor Adrián Santos Pérez, who urged a reset after Parra and Gutiérrez left and continued to work on the project. It also includes Benejúzar mayor Rosa García, José Aix, deputy mayor of Orihuela, and the Elche candidate Eduardo García-Ontiveros, who had been expelled almost four years earlier and then rejoined.

In total, Ciudadanos currently has 27 mayors in the province. Peris has stated that closing lists is a top priority as she leads the regional organization. After the Alicante County Council crisis, the task now is to complete the political puzzle.