Ara Més, Movimiento Sumar and Esquerra Unida agree on a joint list for 29N in the Balearic Islands, still without Podemos

The Balearic left is moving towards a joint candidacy for 29N, although it still needs to incorporate Podemos. Ara Més, Sumar, and Esquerra Unida reached a preliminary agreement this Thursday to run together for the Congress of Deputies. The understanding must be submitted to the MÉS per Mallorca assembly convened this afternoon in Palma and keeps open the possibility of adding the purples before the deadline for coalitions closes, this Friday, October 16.

The progress comes after Nueva Canarias, Podemos, IU, and Movimiento Sumar announced their joint candidacy as Unidad del Pueblo Canario. This pact offers a precedent for the Balearic conversations and other territorial negotiations. Irene Montero and Pablo Iglesias celebrated it on social media with messages that coincide on the need to extend the agreements, while in the Balearic Islands, discrepancies continue on how to share the representation that the candidacy may obtain.

The disagreement over the seat

Ara Més brings together MÉS per Mallorca, Més per Menorca, and Ara Eivissa, who advocate for leading the list and maintaining the Balearic character of the alliance. Lluís Apesteguia and Josep Castells have reaffirmed that the main candidate must come from the sovereignist federation. This territorial demand has accompanied the conversations from the beginning, with the intention of having its own voice in Madrid and preventing the agreement from being subordinated to the decisions of the state leaderships.

Podemos's proposal is to occupy the second position and establish a rotation if the candidacy obtains a deputy, so that Ara Més and the purples share the legislature for two years each. The sovereignist interlocutors have so far rejected this formula and argue that whoever is elected should maintain representation for the four years. The difference affects the effective distribution of the seat that the organizations aspire to achieve together.

Conversations remain open and the incorporation of Podemos can still be negotiated until the deadline closes. Sources familiar with the dialogue also point out that an understanding between the purples and the state-level Frente Amplio would facilitate their adhesion in the Balearic Islands, although that possibility remains unresolved. The pre-agreement between Ara Més, Sumar, and Esquerra Unida allows these forces to advance while trying to expand the candidacy.

The electoral background explains what is at stake. In 2023, the Sumar-MÉS candidacy obtained 83,487 votes and one deputy, Vicenç Vidal, out of the eight corresponding to the Balearic Islands. PP and PSOE each won three seats, and the far-right Vox, one. A division of that space would force its candidacies to compete separately for representation and would increase the risk of losing it, with effects on the majority that could be formed in Congress. The result will also depend on participation and the ability to mobilize the electorate, in addition to the agreement between parties.

Canary Islands and the pending unity

The Canarian pact shows that Podemos and the forces of the Sumar space can find a shared territorial formula. The four organizations have agreed on a candidacy with priorities in housing, public services, and defense of the archipelago's interests. Noemí Santana has asked that this step serve as a reference for the negotiations that remain open. "Unity is built by putting what is important ahead of differences," she wrote, before expressing her wish that the Canary Islands set the path for the entire State.

Montero has presented the agreement as a step forward that she intends to extend. "And we continue to seek agreements in more territories," she said on X, where she thanked those who participated in the negotiation and added that "it is the way." The incorporation of Podemos in the Canary Islands allows all these forces to present themselves in a single candidacy, while in the Balearic Islands the integration of the purples still remains to be resolved.

Iglesias has defended that the pacts adapt to the political and electoral reality of each place. "And this should be done in each territory taking into account its particularities, the correlation of forces, the existing parties there and the effects of the electoral system in each type of province," he wrote. His message ends with an appeal that fully reaches the Balearic negotiations. "With flexibility and without impositions from Madrid, unity can be built."

Parallel to the Congress, the progressive forces are negotiating joint candidacies with the PSIB for the Senate, with the aspiration of obtaining five of the six positions that are elected in the Balearic Islands. The socialists have chosen Catalina Cladera as a candidate for Mallorca and conversations continue on the different islands. In Ibiza, the candidacy of Juanjo Ferrer has already been presented, backed by PSOE, Ara Eivissa, Esquerra Unida and Sumar, with the support of Podemos. Francina Armengol said this Thursday she was "convinced" that the negotiations for the Upper House will bear fruit. "It won't be for lack of trying on our part," she stated.