“I want to send a message to Mariano Rajoy: tick-tock, tick-tock.” It is January 2015, and the Fonteta de València arena is crowded as Pablo Iglesias, leader of the youth party Podemos, takes the stage. By year’s end, the És el momento coalition between the purples and Compromís has filled the gym again for the general election, where Podemos stands as the second-most voted force. “Yes you can,” the crowd responds. “That moment felt like everything could happen,” reflects Antonio Montiel, then Podemos’ regional leader, though he adds: “But the moment was diluted.”
Podemos touched peaks and now faces the hard work of rebuilding. The party will pursue this after a final stint in the Valencian Cortes, leaving Sumar behind and beginning a path within its Mixed Group in Congress. This mirrors a previous episode for Podemos when candidates were blocked from participation, a move attributed to the alliance’s internal politics. In the Valencian Community, Sumar lists seats, while in practice the violet bloc’s votes in Alicante, Castellón, and Valencia did not always come with distinct candidates.
The Valencian federation eyes a future with diminished parliamentary representation, falling short of ten council seats, and a past that sometimes reads like a foreshadowing of what may happen at the national level. They entered the Cortes before the national Parliament in 2015 and supported a socialist government well before it became a reality at the national level; a shared cabinet role with a rising left bloc would soon follow.
This transition was not an afterlife moment from the heavens, but rather a decisive contribution of 13 Podemos MPs who helped shape a government of change after two decades of PP dominance in the Valencian Community. “Podemos was seen as a controversial force, yet it captured citizen discontent and gave it political voice,” recalls Montiel, who steered the federation until 2017, when internal clashes between factions and leadership changes shifted the balance in the Valencian arena and prompted questions about re-election of the regional secretary.
Six years later, Montiel reflects on a moment of disappointment, saying a lack of long-term vision on both sides helped derail early momentum. He describes it as the start of a decline, not simply because he belonged to the Errejonista wing, but because there was insufficient integration of minority voices. He also critiques the region’s autonomy, pointing to slow internal processes and fragile alliance-building as part of the problem.
Antonio Estañ, a young Alicante deputy, led the party briefly before withdrawing from future lists. The prominent figure then became Rubén Martínez Dalmau. “They called me, and my condition was that all sensitivities align,” he recalls. He ran in 2019, securing the eight seats needed to enter the Consell. The purples, led by Iglesias, would not assume cabinet roles until months later, and a new electoral cycle followed shortly thereafter.
Dalmau, serving as second vice-president and Housing minister, recalls that period as a time of “promising collaboration” with Naiara Davó guiding the parliamentary group. Yet Pilar Lima’s ascent to party secretary-general and the subsequent fall of the group’s spokesperson changed the internal balance. When leadership reshaped after eight months, Dalmau stepped down from his ministerial posts.
“They began pushing conditions I could not accept, so I attempted to mediate with Ione Belarra, but ultimately the party remained a single entity, and I left,” notes a constitutional law professor. He adds that Podemos, in his view, evolved into a party faced with internal tensions that hampered democracy and created friction within the broader left. He emphasizes that while the party often comes under attack, its own missteps within Podemos have also fueled internal strife.
The “difficult” path ahead for the brand
Dalmau was succeeded by Héctor Illueca, who contested regional elections in May 2023. The coalition with Esquerra Unida underperformed, at about 3.5%, leading to leadership changes. María Teresa Pérez, Podemos spokesperson for Alicante, attributed the poor result to the lack of a united front and to a harsh media climate that targeted the purples at the national level. He notes that unity failed to materialize with Compromís, costing the Botànic alliance its momentum.
In the weeks that followed, as Sumar’s candidacy was discussed, Podem found itself without a place on major lists. The party also watched from the wings as Rita Bosaho, previously the director-general for Equal Treatment in Irene Montero’s ministry, moved on. The shift to the Mixed Group did not diminish Valencian representation but enabled the federation to distance itself from Compromís, which had become a regional reference and faced criticism for a more combative tone and closer ties to the PSOE.
The next move for Podem is to convene an autonomous citizens’ assembly and elect a new leadership. Organizational work will be deep, with political action to follow. Montiel predicts a difficult task amid polarization and frustration on the left, but insists that Compromís and Podem voters complement one another. He suggests one faction is more focused on identity, while the other emphasizes broader leftist goals. The evolution of Podemos in Valencian politics appears to be less about rivalry and more about finding a cooperative path with Sumar as a potential new face for the broader Podemos project. In that view, future gains may come from collaboration rather than competition, shaping a fresh political direction for the regional left in a changing landscape.