Landing
Torrevieja has been quiet for a long while, with few eyes on the town. The renovated headquarters of the PSOE in Torrevieja hosted a heartfelt tribute to the late socialist mayor Joaquín García, who recently passed away. The moment became a vivid display of the party’s regional and provincial strength, as members confronted leadership doubts from within the party in Valencia’s PSPV, signaling the depth of commitment across the federation.
Provincial Secretary General Alejandro Soler and the regional PSOE leadership, represented by the mayor of Dolores and the county attorney, Joaquin Hernandez, visited the socialist center to publicly back Andrés Navarro. Navarro serves as the spokesman for the municipal group andCamp local secretary, and he had been running as the socialist candidate in the upcoming municipal elections. This support persisted despite pressure from the PSPV in Valencia since September to abandon those ambitions. Initial delays and a broader pause on the primary calendar, followed by an indefinite suspension, were framed as a search for the best candidate for Torrevieja.
The aim appeared to be clearing space for an unknown hopeful, a figure who, for now, eluded both the State Secretary of Valencia and Ferraz. Torrevieja stands out as the only large town in Spain without a declared candidate during the pre-campaign period, leaving party organizers just over three and a half months before the election date. The ballot strategy, to be determined by the Organization Secretary José Muñoz, was expected to be settled in the days ahead, ideally before February 27, though the task remained far from easy.
Torrevieja is the only major city in the country where the PSOE is not a candidate for municipal elections
In Valencia, Soler was accompanied by his trusted ally and regional deputy Fran Rubio. Rubio spoke with media representatives from TVT about the environment and the candidacy decision, underscoring that the leadership of the PSPV and Ferraz holds the final say. The Torrevieja visit carried a clear message: the provincial and county leadership would be visible and influential in shaping the path forward, even as local militants carried the weight of the event. Navarro’s candidacy provoked attention for its potential impact on broader party dynamics and regional strategy, drawing support from roughly a hundred militants whose backing remains undecided as the process unfolds.
Message
The message from the provincial and regional leaders was twofold. First, they asserted control over the party’s current direction and would exercise that influence when it mattered most. Second, they acknowledged comparable struggles in nearby towns such as Orihuela and Almoradí, where the battle to promote a candidate had been intense. In those places, the outcome saw leadership transitions after the local teams faced losses, with the promotion of candidates running under different endorsements and with varied levels of support from city mayors and opposition spokespeople. The Torrevieja situation, while distinct, echoed these wider tensions within the party as it navigated candidate selection and local alliances.