Gabriel Rufián launches a new party in Spain: Sumar Más País, the separatist's gambit

Rufián formalizes his candidacy: Sumar Más País, the party nobody believed in

ERC MP Gabriel Rufián has confirmed that his political project is serious: the creation of a new party under the name, according to sector sources, of "Sumar Más País", a breakaway grouping disgruntled members of Podemos, Más País and moderate independence supporters. The announcement, which months ago was taken as a joke or a boast, has forced Spain's left to reconfigure its alliances ahead of an election scenario still without a date.

What began as a rumor on social media —"Rufián's farce", people said— has materialized into a movement that, according to early analysis, seeks to capture the young, disenchanted vote tired of the traditional parties. Skepticism, however, is the dominant tone: many doubt the viability of a party led by an avowed separatist in the rest of Spain, and there is speculation that the operation responds to a PSOE (Spanish Socialist Party) strategy to fragment the left even further.

A Sánchez maneuver to control the vote on his left?

One line of analysis holds that the new party is in fact a play by Ferraz (PSOE headquarters) to prevent the vote that no longer goes to Podemos or Sánchez from scattering too widely. Sumar Más País would act as a "vacuum cleaner" for votes to the left of the PSOE, much as the creation of Podemos did in its day. But the choice of Rufián as the public face raises hackles: his separatist profile and his track record in ERC make him unattractive in regions like Castilla-La Mancha or Extremadura, where the left is more traditional.

Other analysts point to the real goal being to siphon separatist votes in Catalonia and the Basque Country, writing off the remaining constituencies. Rufián, who has lost much of his credit in Catalonia, would need a cushion of votes outside his region to keep his seat in Madrid.

The mirage of renewal: "more of the same"

Skepticism cuts across the board. For many, Sumar Más País is nothing more than the last resort of a politician who, after years on the public payroll, refuses to return to the private sector. The lack of work experience outside politics of most of its members —Rufián included— feeds the perception that this is a refuge for freeloaders. The "new party" label is used as bait for gullible voters, but the faces are the same old ones.

What is clear is that the move has already set knives flying within the left: Frente Obrero has ruled out joining, and tension with Podemos's hardcore is at its peak. Although the project was presented with a professional staging —social media events, TikToks and tweets— the question hanging in the air is whether it will reach the polls with any real chances or end up as just another drawing-room contraption.

What now?

With a hazy electoral horizon —Rufián has mentioned "18 months" without being specific— Sumar Más País will have to prove it is not just another whim. Spain's left, already fragmented, faces a new split that, according to some electoral engineering, could benefit Sánchez by bundling up the vote on his left. But it also runs the risk, as so often, of the new party fizzling out with a sigh. For now, the only consensus is that Rufián is gambling his political future: if he fails, his return to civilian life will be, to put it mildly, uncomfortable.

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