Any resemblance to 2019 in Ciudadanos is purely coincidental. Since then, the party has changed a lot. It once stood as the third political force in the Valencian Community, but the 28M polls raised questions about that standing, or at least about its staying power. Three leaders steered the ship through a turbulent term, and the result was a reset that, according to the surveys, left the party at risk of losing its seat in the Cortes. Yet the new Valencian liberal base is not welcoming the idea that this is simply a passing phase.
The current operations center operates with a quieter profile, signaling a shift in strategy. Even as months passed since the move was announced, momentum has felt intermittent, almost pedestrian. A core group remains convinced that the project has a future. They are a small cohort, but they carry a strong sense of duty and moral purpose.
Within that trench, the people shaping the survival campaign operate under tight constraints. Like any drafting team, they eat sparingly, sometimes noting they keep donuts in the van as a morale staple, sleep unevenly, and measure time by the number of days left in the race. Weariness lines their faces, and the wish for it to end grows harder to conceal. There have even been trips to Africa shortly after 28M. They prefer not to discuss labor concerns and insist they are fit for the task.
A small meeting room hosts the Generalitat candidate Mamen Peris’s campaign poster bearing the slogan “free and determined.” It’s a phrase born of a WhatsApp brainstorming session and later deemed too jarring for aesthetic reasons. The original message was simply “It’s time? Free and determined.”
The strategists, who met with campaign manager Fernando Llopis via video from Alicante, explain that this campaign leans much more toward municipal relevance and word-of-mouth than the 2019 effort. They describe a push that seeks to accompany voters to the polls, while critics joke that it lacks a broader media footprint. It is also more intricate, facing the challenge of building visibility in a landscape where other parties, especially liberal rivals, aim to drown them out. One adviser notes that opponents tend to act as though Ciudadanos is being ignored.
Therefore, one of the central goals is to be seen by the people they meet, quietly and without fanfare. “We haven’t been overly aggressive so far, but…” says Gil-Orozco, leaving room to introduce surprising elements at the last face-to-face event.
Budget remains a major obstacle in the orange campaign engine. While exact figures comparing resources from four years ago to today aren’t disclosed, the faces tell the story. “We’re more moderate and resourceful now,” explains Borrego, the campaign’s strategist lead. “That pushes us to hit the target,” he adds.
Despite the odds, the campaign team insists the sense of possibility remains intact and that fatigue and moments of gloom will pass. They acknowledge that securing the list has been one of the most challenging parts, given leaks that have surfaced against their main rival. “A list had to be created in four hours,” they recall with a shrug.
The real challenge is staying connected with voters on the ground—the “loyal” supporters who form the backbone of the campaign. They don’t reveal the exact mileage logged during the journey, but they say they visited “at least four towns a day,” and Peris would likely have done more. As with nearly everything else, Juanes emphasizes the shared task of balancing efforts across towns, prioritizing sites with the best odds of mobilizing support and places where messages align with voters’ interests.
However, it is impossible to reach every potential voter, and that reality fuels tension among some candidates. “Aren’t you going to come by after all?” a recent complaint is recalled. Borrego notes that when obstacles arise, a few sharp points must be sent. “Peris is worth three,” he jokes.
The Ciudadanos strategy team for 28M gathered yesterday at the party’s headquarters, with campaign manager Fernando Llopis joining via videoconference from Alicante.