Miriam González Durántez launches centrist party ahead of Spain's 29 November election

Mixed · 2Spanish lawyer Miriam González Durántez launched a new political party on Saturday 10 October to contest Spain's early general election on 29 November. 1 2 Mixed · 2The party, called Democracy21 in Reuters' English rendering and Democracia21 in The Guardian, will run in Madrid and Barcelona. 1 2 Mixed · 2González Durántez specialises in international and EU trade law, is a former EU adviser, and is married to the former British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. 1 2

Right · 1She promised to rise above a growing ideological divide, recover democratic values and depoliticise institutions, and criticised "two rigid blocs with nothing to foster consensus". 1 Left · 1The Guardian reports that the party promises a modern, transparent politics that "doesn't feed on fear, insults or nostalgia", and that its manifesto accuses both the Socialists (PSOE) and the People's Party (PP) of squandering decades in government for short-term ends. 2 Left · 1The Guardian adds that the party promises "a radical political cleanup", including far greater transparency for parties, against a background of corruption scandals that toppled the last PP government and graft allegations around Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's administration and inner circle. 2

Mixed · 2Housing was central to her launch. She blamed both the ruling coalition and the opposition, which controls most regional governments, for the crisis. 1 2 Right · 1She said politicians had not used permits to build homes, and that excessive regulation had "doubled the price per square meter of construction". She also said she would "simply fix" the problem rather than use it to pit groups against each other. 1 Left · 1According to The Guardian, she proposed scrapping housing taxes for people under 35 and argued that a young person earning €1,300 a month should not pay more than €350 a month in rent. 2

Left · 1She said one side had been in government for eight years and the other controlled 80% of regional governments, and that they only remembered housing when an election came around. 2 Left · 1On immigration she called it "an asset and an essential competitive advantage for Spain", rejected xenophobic talk but said the state must control who comes in and when. She described the European project as "absolutely existential" for Spain. 2 Mixed · 2The election was called by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez after parliament rejected emergency measures on housing. Reuters says he called it on Monday, and The Guardian says the measures were voted down by rightwing and far-right parties at the start of October. 1 2

Mixed · 2The housing crisis has brought mass protests, driven by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid. Reuters says her death on Tuesday further angered protesters, and The Guardian says the protests led to a protest camp in central Madrid. 1 2 Mixed · 2Polls point to the PP winning first place, but opinion differs on the outcome. Reuters says the PP and far-right Vox are likely to win a combined majority, and The Guardian says the PP is unlikely to win an absolute majority and would have to rely on Vox. 1 2 Left · 1The Guardian places the party in the history of Spanish centrism. Ciudadanos, founded in 2006, briefly looked set to overtake both big parties, but it shifted right and refused to back the 2018 no-confidence motion. It was so weakened that it did not take part in the July 2023 election. 2

Left · 1The Guardian also reports that the Supreme Court is keeping the suspension of voting rights for tens of thousands of overseas voters who benefited from a 2022 citizenship law for descendants of Franco-era exiles. The PSOE condemned this as an affront to democracy, while the PP and Vox had accused Sánchez of seeking more socialist voters abroad. 2 Right · 1Reuters notes that the central government can set housing legislation and national incentives, but implementation and urban planning are largely devolved to regional governments and municipalities. 1