The PSOE candidacy of Palencia for the Congress of Deputies has been left without the members of the list initially proposed by the grassroots. Luis Ángel Marín Paredes and Alicia García Alonso communicated this Monday their irrevocable resignation from the candidacy, a decision also taken by the two substitutes, Luis Fernando Cantero Mena and Mireia Barrios Bernardos.
El Comité Provincial del PSOE de Palencia ha aprobado casi unánimemente las candidaturas al Congreso y al Senado encabezadas por Álvaro Bilbao y Rosa Aldea
— PSOE de Palencia (@psoepalencia) October 14, 2026
Alicia García y Luis Ángel Marín completarán la lista al Congreso y Jesús Manuel López y Belinda Mencía la del Senado pic.twitter.com/DqEJO1E7KX
The decision comes after the federal leadership of the PSOE replaced Álvaro Bilbao as head of the list with María Luz Martínez Seijo, current deputy. The change has caused a confrontation between the national leadership and the party in Palencia, where the initial candidacy had received practically unanimous support: 77 votes in favor and one abstention in the Provincial Committee.
The candidates who have resigned consider that the decision of the federal bodies does not respect the will expressed by the grassroots. With their departure, the party will have to look for new names to complete the list that will run in the general elections on November 29.
The federal leadership removes the candidate backed by the grassroots
Álvaro Bilbao had been chosen to lead the socialist candidacy for Congress after a voting process in the 21 local groups of the province. According to data released by the Palencia PSOE, he was proposed in all of them and came in first position in 20. Subsequently, the Provincial Committee ratified the proposal with 77 favorable votes and a single abstention.
However, the Federal List Commission decided to place María Luz Martínez Seijo in the first position, who has already been a deputy for Palencia. The decision was subsequently ratified by the Federal Committee, leaving Bilbao out of the top of the list despite the support he had obtained in the province.
The change has reopened the debate on the weight of militancy in the preparation of electoral candidacies. The socialists who have resigned maintain that the federal decision clashes with the majority will of the local groups and means discrediting the result of the internal votes.
Miriam Andrés lashes out at Ferraz: "You have ignored the voice of the militancy"
The discomfort had also been made public days before through Miriam Andrés, provincial secretary of the PSOE and mayor of Palencia. The leader criticized the decision of the federal leadership in a message published on X, in which she reproached that the result of the grassroots votes had not been respected.
Andrés wrote: "Palencia has debated, has participated to exhaustion. And you, for the fifth time, have ignored the voice of the militancy. Long live internal democracy". The message was accompanied by a video of Pedro Sánchez in which the president defended participation and debate within the party.
Palencia ha debatido, ha participado hasta la extenuación. Y vosotros por quinta vez os habéis pasado la voz de la militancia por el forro. Viva la democracia interna! pic.twitter.com/8UGOUW9nZi
— Miriam Andrés (@mndres) October 16, 2026
The resignation of the four members of the candidacy increases pressure on the socialist leadership to resolve the conflict. The PSOE of Palencia will now have to find new names to accompany Martínez Seijo on the list for Congress, after the dispute over the first position ended up causing the departure of those who initially appeared in the following positions and as alternates.
