Ada Colau opens Frente Amplio campaign in Seville, rejects PSOE's 'useful vote' pitch

A first rally in Seville

On Saturday, 14 November, Frente Amplio held the first event of its official general election campaign at El Fuerte, the restaurant area of the Isla Mágica theme park in Seville. The rally was first planned for the Tiro de Línea area but was moved because of the risk of rain, and it began about 25 minutes after the scheduled time, according to ABC. Attendance estimates differ by outlet: about 700 according to organisers as cited by eldiario.es, about 600 according to El País and about 300 according to ABC.

Speeches by Enrique Santiago, Verónica Barbero, Toni Valero and Emilio Delgado came before Ada Colau, the alliance's candidate for prime minister. Colau, who was mayor of Barcelona from 2015 to 2023, attacked the right in strong terms.

“We are facing a right that is very cruel, very hard, very full of itself, but also very cowardly.”

She said the right would not debate on a public television programme unless it picked the audience, and that it would not even face the YouTuber Jordi Wild.

Setting the alliance apart from the PSOE

Colau said the alliance agrees with the PSOE that a far-right government must be stopped, but that this is not its only goal. She argued that Frente Amplio wants to recover tax privileges at the top and expand social housing, and she said the alliance would expropriate vulture funds. Her health proposals included adding dental care, eyesight and hearing aids to the public system and creating a protocol for women from perimenopause. El País placed the rally a year after the breast cancer screening crisis, in which thousands of women were not called in or faced serious delays in follow-up mammograms.

Toni Valero rejected the idea of a 'useful vote', arguing that the question is what a seat is for rather than who wins it. Enrique Santiago said a vote for the alliance counts twice, once for a left majority and once to put the right in its place.

Polls and the seat math

ABC reports that the latest surveys put the alliance at close to 7 seats, compared with the 31 that Sumar won in 2023. El País says the polls give Frente Amplio one seat in Andalusia, against six in 2023, while the rival Adelante Andalucía aspires to three or four. eldiario.es adds that the alliance has not reached the 10% in polls that it had set as a goal.

Colau dismissed polls predicting poor results and said the social majority can still surprise.

2023 result6

Latest polls1

2023 result

6 seats

Latest polls

1 seats

Data from the article text

Sumar 202331

Alliance polls (close to)7

Sumar 2023

31 seats

Alliance polls (close to)

7 seats

Data from the article text

Colau's return and her Barcelona record

In an interview with laSexta Xplica, Colau said she had promised not to return to front-line politics, but that mobilisations after an eviction changed her mind. She added that if she can be useful, she will take on the responsibility, even for four years.

“If I can be useful, I will take on the responsibility.”

An interview she gave to Jordi Wild has drawn attention to her record as mayor, with more than 2 million views in its first 12 hours according to ABC. In the podcast Búscate la vida, José Elías, a Catalan businessman, criticised her time at the city council.

“I think Colau's years at the City Council have wrecked the city.”