United Left (Spain)

United Left

Izquierda Unida
United Left Izquierda Unida
General Coordinator	Antonio Maíllo
Founded	April 1986 (as coalition); 2 November 1992 (as party federation)
Youth wing	Área de Juventud de Izquierda Unida
LGBT wing	ALEAS
Membership (2023)	18,000
Ideology	Communism; Socialism; Republicanism
Political position	Left-wing to far-left
National affiliation	The Left (2009–2014); Plural Left (2011–2015); Plural Left (2014–2019); Popular Unity (2015–2016); Unidas Podemos (2016–2023); Sumar (since 2023)
European affiliation	Party of the European Left
International affiliation	IMCWP
Colours	Red
Congress of Deputies	5 / 350
Spanish Senate	0 / 266
European Parliament	0 / 61
Regional Parliaments	10 / 1,268
Local Government	1,678 / 67,515
Website
	izquierdaunida.org
	Politics of Spain; Political parties; Elections;

United Left (Spanish: Izquierda Unida [iθˈkjeɾðawˈniða], IU) is a federative political movement in Spain that was first organized as a coalition in 1986, bringing together several left-wing political organizations, grouped primarily around the Communist Party of Spain.^[10]

Quick Facts General Coordinator, Founded ...

Close

IU was founded as an electoral coalition of seven parties, but the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) is the only remaining integrated member of the IU at the national level.^[10] Despite that, IU brings together other regional parties, political organizations, and independents.^[10] It currently takes the form of a permanent federation of parties.

IU took part in the Unidas Podemos coalition and the corresponding parliamentary group in the Congreso de los Diputados between 2016 and 2023. Since January 2020, it participated for the first time in a national coalition government, with one minister. For the 2023 general election, IU took part in the Sumar platform.^[11]

Remove ads

Following the electoral failure of the PCE in the 1982 general election (going from 10% to 4% of the votes), PCE leaders believed that the PCE alone could no longer effectively challenge the electoral hegemony of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) on the left.^[10] With this premise, the PCE began developing closer relations with other left-wing groups, with the vision of forming a broad left coalition.^[10] IU slowly improved its results, reaching 9% in 1989 (1,800,000 votes) and nearly 11% in 1996 (2,600,000 votes). The founding organizations were: Communist Party of Spain, Progressive Federation, Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain, PASOC, Carlist Party, Humanist Party, Unitarian Candidacy of Workers, and Republican Left.

In contrast to the PCE prior to the formation of IU, which pursued a more moderate political course, the new IU adopted a more radical strategy and ideology of confrontation against the PSOE.^[12]^[10] IU generally opposed cooperating with the PSOE, and identified it as a "right-wing party", no different from the People's Party (PP).^[12]^[10]

After achieving poor results in the 1999 local and European elections, IU decided to adopt a more conciliatory attitude towards the PSOE, and agreed to sign an electoral pact with the PSOE for the upcoming general election in 2000.^[10] They also adopted a universal policy in favor of cooperating with the PSOE at the local level.^[10]

IU currently has around 18,000 members, a decrease from 70,000 in 2012.^[1]^[13]

Remove ads

Composition

More information Party, Notes ...

Party		Notes
	Communist Party of Spain (PCE)
	The Dawn Marxist Organization (La Aurora (OM))	Not a political party. Joined in 1998
	Republican Left (IR)	Left in 2002, rejoined in 2011
	Unitarian Candidacy of Workers (CUT)	Left in 2015, rejoined in 2018
Former members
	Feminist Party of Spain (PFE)	Joined in October 2015, expelled in February 2020 due to its stances on transgender rights.
	Humanist Party (PH)	April–July 1986
	Carlist Party (PC)	Expelled in 1987
	Progressive Federation (FP)	Left in December 1987, due to being dissolved.
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	Left in 1988
	Socialist Action Party (PASOC)	Dissolved in 2001.
	Red Current (CR)	Joined in 2002, left in 2004
	Alternative Space	Joined in 1995, left in 2008
	Coalition for Melilla (CpM)	Joined in 2008, left in 2013
	Open Left (IzAb)	Joined in 2012, dissolved in 2018.

Close

Federal coordinators

More information Name, Period ...

Name	Period
Gerardo Iglesias	1986
Julio Anguita	1986–1999
Francisco Frutos	1999–2001
Gaspar Llamazares	2001–2008
Cayo Lara	2008–2016
Alberto Garzón	2016–2023
Antonio Maíllo	2024–present

Close

Territorial federations

Andalusia: Izquierda Unida Los Verdes - Convocatoría por Andalucía (United Left/The Greens - Assembly for Andalusia)
Aragon: Izquierda Unida Aragón (United Left of Aragon)
Asturias: Izquierda Xunida de Asturies (United Left of Asturias)
Balearic Islands: Esquerra Unida de les Illes Balears (United Left of the Balearic Islands)
Canary Islands: Izquierda Unida Canaria (Canarian United Left)
Cantabria: Izquierda Unida de Cantabria (Cantabrian United Left)
Castilla-La Mancha: Izquierda Unida de Castilla-La Mancha (United Left of Castilla-La Mancha)
Catalonia: Esquerra Unida Catalunya (United Left Catalonia, Founded in July 2019; suspended in June 2019 Esquerra Unida i Alternativa)^[14]
Castilla y León: Izquierda Unida de Castilla y León (United Left of Castile and León)
Ceuta: Izquierda Unida de Ceuta (United Left of Ceuta)
Euskadi: Izquierda Unida - Los Verdes: Ezker Anitza (United Left - The Greens: Plural Left)
Extremadura: Izquierda Unida Extremadura (United Left Extremadura)
Galicia: Esquerda Unida (United Left of Galicia)
La Rioja: Izquierda Unida La Rioja (United Left-La Rioja)
Madrid: Izquierda Unida-Madrid (United Left-Madrid).^[15] Izquierda Unida de la Comunidad de Madrid (United Left of the Community of Madrid) was expelled in 2015. The new federation, IU-M, was created in 2016.^[16]
Melilla: Izquierda Unida - Federación de Melilla (United Left - Melilla Federation)
Murcia: Izquierda Unida-Verdes de la Región de Murcia (United Left - Greens of the Region of Murcia)
Navarra: Izquierda Unida de Navarra - Nafarroako Ezker Batua (United Left of Navarra)
Valencian Community: Esquerra Unida del País Valencià (United Left of the Valencian Country)

Remove ads

Cortes Generales

More information Election, Leading candidate ...

Election	Leading candidate	Congress					Senate		Gov.
Cortes Generales
Election	Leading candidate	Votes	%	#	Seats	+/–	Seats	+/–	Gov.
1986	Gerardo Iglesias	935,504	4.6	5th	7 / 350	3	0 / 208	0	Opposition
1989	Julio Anguita	1,858,588	9.1	3rd	17 / 350	10	1 / 208	1	Opposition
1993		2,253,722	9.6	3rd	18 / 350	1	0 / 208	1	Opposition
1996		2,639,774	10.5	3rd	21 / 350	3	0 / 208	0	Opposition
2000	Francisco Frutos	1,263,043	5.4	4th	8 / 350	13	0 / 208	0	Opposition
2004	Gaspar Llamazares	1,284,081	5.0	6th	5 / 350	3	1 / 208	1	Confidence and supply
2008	Gaspar Llamazares	969,946	3.8	6th	2 / 350	3	1 / 208	0	Opposition
2011	Cayo Lara	with Plural Left			7 / 350	5	0 / 208	1	Opposition
2015	Cayo Lara	with Popular Unity			2 / 350	5	0 / 208	0	New election
2016	Alberto Garzón^[a]	with Unidos Podemos			8 / 350	6	2 / 208	2	Opposition (2016–18)
2016		with Unidos Podemos			8 / 350	6	2 / 208	2	Confidence and supply (2018–19)
Apr-2019		with Unidas Podemos			5 / 350	3	0 / 208	2	New election
Nov-2019		with Unidas Podemos			5 / 350	0	0 / 208	0	Coalition (PSOE–UP)
2023	Alberto Garzón^[b]	with Sumar			5 / 350	0	0 / 208	0	Coalition (PSOE–Sumar)

Close

European Parliament

More information Election, Leading candidate ...

Election	Leading candidate	Votes	%	#	Seats	+/–	EP Group
European Parliament
1987	Fernando Pérez Royo	1,011,830	5.3	4th	3 / 60	—	COM
1989	Fernando Pérez Royo	961,742	6.1	4th	4 / 60	1	COM (EUL)
1994	Alonso Puerta	2,497,671	13.4	3rd	9 / 64	5	EUL
1999	Alonso Puerta	1,221,566	5.8	3rd	4 / 64	5	GUE/NGL
2004	Willy Meyer	643,136	4.1	4th	2 / 54	2
2009		with The Left			2 / 54	0
2014		with Plural Left			4 / 54	2
2019	Sira Rego^[c]	with UPCE			2 / 54	2
2024	Manu Pineda^[d]	with Sumar			0 / 61	2	—

Close

[1]
Fernández, Por David (November 27, 2023). "La hegemonía de la izquierda también se mide en cifras: Sumar alcanza los 70.000 inscritos, en Podemos votan 55.000 e IU tiene 18.000 afiliados". infobae.
[2]
Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Spain". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
[3]
"European Social Survey 2012 - Appendix 3 (in English)" (PDF). European Science Foundation. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
[4]
"Spanish voters wake up to new political landscape". openDemocracy. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
[5]
"Democratic defender". POLITICO. 25 November 2009.
[6]
^[4]^[5]
[7]
"Européennes : poussée du parti d'extrême gauche Izquierda Unida en Espagne". 25 May 2014.
[8]
"Espagne : Podemos s'allie avec l'extrême gauche pour les législatives". 10 May 2016.
[9]
^[7]^[8]
[10]
"Electoral incentives and organizational limits. The evolution of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and the United Left (IU) (in English)" (PDF). Institute of Political and Social Sciences. 2002. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
[11]
RTVE.es (2023-06-09). "IU alcanza un acuerdo con Sumar para concurrir juntos a las elecciones". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-08-09.
[12]
Topaloff, L (2012) Political Parties and Euroscepticism, pp192-193
[13]
Entre coalición y partido, la evolución de modelo organizativo en IU, Luis Ramiro Archived March 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
[14]
Following the tradition of the Spanish left since the formation of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) in 1936 (when communists and socialists joined forces in Catalunya), IU doesn't have any organization of its own in Catalonia. Until 1998, the referent of IU in Catalonia was Initiative for Catalonia (Iniciativa per Catalunya, now known as IC-V). But IC eventually broke relations with IU. A split in PSUC followed, and a new Catalan alliance, United and Alternative Left (Esquerra Unida i Alternativa, EUiA), was formed as the new Catalan referent of IU.
[15]
IU rompe "a todos los efectos" con su federación madrileña. El Diario, 14/06/2015 - 10:48h. Aitor Rivero.
[16]
La militancia de IU Madrid elige a Mauricio Valiente y Chus Alonso al frente de la nueva formación. Público, 03/05/2016.

Remove ads

Garzón was the leader of IU in the Congress, the leader of the Unidos/Unidas Podemos coalition was Pablo Iglesias Turrión.
Garzón was the leader of IU in the Congress, the leader of the Sumar coalition was Yolanda Díaz.
Rego was the leader of IU in the EP, the leader of the UPCE coalition was María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop.
Pineda was the leader of IU for the EP, the leader of the Sumar coalition was Estrella Galán.

[auto-1] [1]
Fernández, Por David (November 27, 2023). "La hegemonía de la izquierda también se mide en cifras: Sumar alcanza los 70.000 inscritos, en Podemos votan 55.000 e IU tiene 18.000 afiliados". infobae.

[Nordsieck-2] [2]
Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Spain". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.

[essa3-3] [3]
"European Social Survey 2012 - Appendix 3 (in English)" (PDF). European Science Foundation. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[4] [4]
"Spanish voters wake up to new political landscape". openDemocracy. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2024.

[5] [5]
"Democratic defender". POLITICO. 25 November 2009.

[6] [6]
^[4]^[5]

[7] [7]
"Européennes : poussée du parti d'extrême gauche Izquierda Unida en Espagne". 25 May 2014.

[8] [8]
"Espagne : Podemos s'allie avec l'extrême gauche pour les législatives". 10 May 2016.

[9] [9]
^[7]^[8]

[icpslrf2002-10] [10]
"Electoral incentives and organizational limits. The evolution of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and the United Left (IU) (in English)" (PDF). Institute of Political and Social Sciences. 2002. Retrieved 11 May 2014.

[11] [11]
RTVE.es (2023-06-09). "IU alcanza un acuerdo con Sumar para concurrir juntos a las elecciones". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-08-09.

[tl2012-12] [12]
Topaloff, L (2012) Political Parties and Euroscepticism, pp192-193

[13] [13]
Entre coalición y partido, la evolución de modelo organizativo en IU, Luis Ramiro Archived March 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

[14] [14]
Following the tradition of the Spanish left since the formation of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) in 1936 (when communists and socialists joined forces in Catalunya), IU doesn't have any organization of its own in Catalonia. Until 1998, the referent of IU in Catalonia was Initiative for Catalonia (Iniciativa per Catalunya, now known as IC-V). But IC eventually broke relations with IU. A split in PSUC followed, and a new Catalan alliance, United and Alternative Left (Esquerra Unida i Alternativa, EUiA), was formed as the new Catalan referent of IU.

[15] [15]
IU rompe "a todos los efectos" con su federación madrileña. El Diario, 14/06/2015 - 10:48h. Aitor Rivero.

[16] [16]
La militancia de IU Madrid elige a Mauricio Valiente y Chus Alonso al frente de la nueva formación. Público, 03/05/2016.

[17] Garzón was the leader of IU in the Congress, the leader of the Unidos/Unidas Podemos coalition was Pablo Iglesias Turrión.

[18] Garzón was the leader of IU in the Congress, the leader of the Sumar coalition was Yolanda Díaz.

[19] Rego was the leader of IU in the EP, the leader of the UPCE coalition was María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop.

[20] Pineda was the leader of IU for the EP, the leader of the Sumar coalition was Estrella Galán.

[10]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[6]

[9]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[4]

[5]

[7]

[8]