The Broad Front starts in Madrid towards 29N: "We have 43 days to mobilize the working class and defeat the reaction"

The open-air auditorium of the Manzanares Linear Park was filled this Saturday to attend the launch of the Frente Amplio. Among the public were militants, ministers, deputies, representatives of civil society, and well-known faces from social media. The disappointment over the breakup with Podemos was still very present, just a few hours after negotiations ended without a state agreement for the general elections on November 29.

In the huddles, people spoke of the regret for the lost opportunity. There were long faces and a contained mood in a relatively small venue, despite the full stands and the applause that accompanied the speeches. From the stage, the leaders tried to shift the conversation towards housing, wages, and public services, with calls to regain the initiative after a week dominated by inter-party disputes.

Ada Colau acknowledged that she also expected a broader alliance. "That instead of 15 organizations, we could be at least 16 organizations," lamented the candidate for the Presidency of the Government. "I know there will be disappointed people, and I'm sorry," she added, before defending the work of those who negotiated until the last moment. She saved her most personal commitment for the end of her speech. "Wherever I can be most useful, I will be there, and I will not desert."

The missing agreement

Colau thanked the fifteen organizations for their participation and maintained that "everything was offered until the last minute." Her explanation included a reproach to Podemos, without explicitly naming the party. "If someone doesn't want to sit at a table, they cannot be forced." The former mayor of Barcelona presented dialogue and agreements as the working method of the coalition, which aims to electorally unite those who have been mobilizing in the streets for months.

Emilio Delgado, head of the list for Madrid, has tried to cut short that discussion with a direct message. "No more dramas. The dramas are over". He has asked to leave behind the settling of scores and has reminded those who are waiting for an operation, cannot emancipate themselves, or dedicate more than half of their income to housing. "Those people don't need soap operas," he stated. His conclusion has marked the change of stage that the Broad Front wants to convey. "The time for uniting parties is over. The time for uniting people begins."

Almost at the same time, Podemos offered an opposing explanation from its State Citizen Council. Irene Montero and Ione Belarra have accused the Frente Amplio of blocking territorial pacts that, according to their version, were advanced, while negotiating joint candidacies for the Senate with the PSOE. They have also claimed cooperation between Montero and Gabriel Rufián. The two appearances have shown that the closing of the deadline to register coalitions has put an end to negotiations, but keeps open the dispute over their responsibilities.

The unity between both spaces for the Congress has been limited to Canarias and the Comunitat Valenciana. In a large part of the country, they will compete for a similar electorate, with the risk of dispersing support and losing representation, especially in provinces that distribute fewer deputies. The Frente Amplio has 43 days left to also convince voters who asked for a shared candidacy and have received two opposing explanations about its failure.

Housing as the campaign's focus

Housing has occupied the center of Colau's discourse and a good part of the interventions. The candidate has connected rents that prevent making ends meet with evictions, precariousness, and difficulties in building a life project. "With these prices, one cannot continue living", she summarized when describing the discomfort of the working majority. She has also championed neighborhood organization, the Platform of People Affected by Mortgages, and tenant unions as drivers of the changes she wants to promote from institutions.

This defense has been accompanied by a warning to the PSOE. "It is not enough to mobilize fear to stop the far-right", Colau stated, demanding greater courage to combat the causes of social unrest. She has accused the socialists of slowing down housing measures and has resorted to her eight years as Mayor of Barcelona to defend mediation against evictions, the expansion of public housing, and use-assignment cooperatives.

Delgado has added concrete proposals to that discussion. Allocating 1% of GDP each year to create public housing and establishing indefinite rental contracts have been two of his proposals. He has also advocated for a 32-hour work week and taxation on extraordinary profits derived from artificial intelligence. His argument has linked productivity with the distribution of time and wealth, so that technological advances improve the living conditions of workers.

Verónica Barbero and Toni Valero have insisted on the need to exert pressure on the government's majority partner. The representative of Movimiento Sumar has pointed to the PSOE as a brake on housing policy and has claimed the streets and the ministers of her space as drivers of the approved measures. Valero has expressed it more harshly. "The PSOE must be forced to implement left-wing policies." The IU leader has also defended the effort of the negotiating teams, in a speech that has vindicated good faith and daily work within politics.

43 days ahead to try to stop the far-right

Pablo Bustinduy has delivered one of the most energetic speeches of the morning. "No one gives up here," proclaimed the Minister of Social Rights, who set the goal for the remaining 43 days to mobilize the working class and defeat the right. From the banks of the Manzanares, he recalled the workers' and neighborhood struggles of Madrid and argued that the electoral result directly affects those who depend on a salary, a pension, or a public service.

Ernest Urtasun has focused part of his speech on the defense of public pensions and tax reform. The Minister of Culture has accused the PP and Vox of preparing cuts and has vindicated the action of the ministers of his space, with special recognition to Yolanda Díaz. He has also defended a new increase in the minimum wage before the elections and higher taxes on the extraordinary profits of energy companies. The government's advances have thus served as an argument to demand more parliamentary strength and capacity for action.

Tesh Sidi, who opened the meeting, and Jorge Pueyo have incorporated technological and territorial issues into the discourse. Sidi has called for sharing the benefits of automation and protecting democracy, while the representative of Chunta Aragonesista has warned about the consequences of the right-wing and far-right government in Aragon. He has denounced sexist and racist policies and has demanded that energy projects and data centers generate benefits for the territory.

Colau closed her speech by referring to Federica Montseny and her decision to join the republican government despite the contradictions that this entailed for an anarchist leader. The candidate linked that memory with her own decision to assume the leadership of the Broad Front. "I am an imperfect woman, I am a woman with contradictions, but I am also a woman of firm principles," she stated. "What I can guarantee you is that in this historical moment I will not fail you."