Spain's Broad Front runs out of room for everyone (Rosa Martínez in Vozpópuli)

Izquierda Unida, Más Madrid, Movimiento Sumar and the Comuns announced on October 12, 2026 their proposal for Ada Colau to run as candidate for Prime Minister in the November 29 election. Podemos responded the next day that it will not join that Broad Front and that it already has a deal with Esquerra Republicana.

Spain's left has managed something that seemed difficult: putting together a Broad Front that doesn't have room for everyone. Or, to be precise, everyone fits, as long as they come in through the door they're told to and agree to sit where they're told. On Monday, **Izquierda Unida**, **Más Madrid**, **Movimiento Sumar** and the **Comuns** announced they want **Ada Colau** as their candidate for Prime Minister in the **November 29** election. And, being inclusive people, they invited **Podemos** to join the project. "Nobody here is surplus to requirements," they said. A lovely message, especially since they had spent days arguing over who should lead the ticket and still hadn't even clarified which constituency Colau would run in. First we choose the future prime minister, then we'll see where we put her on the ballot. Let's not lose perspective over a mere administrative detail.

## Podemos' response: a deal with ERC and its own primaries

**Irene Montero**'s response came on Tuesday and was quite clear: no. Podemos will not join the Broad Front. It already has a deal with **Esquerra Republicana** and plans to work with **Gabriel Rufián**. That said, it has also invited the Broad Front parties to join that agreement. So now we have two groups of people phoning each other to say exactly the same thing: "Come with us." And both convinced they are making a tremendously generous effort for unity.

This reminds me of those families who spend three months trying to organize Christmas dinner. One suggests hosting it at her place, another says hers would be better, a third demands a vegetarian menu, and in the end they all end up eating their nougat alone on the sofa, convinced it's everyone else's fault. The difference is that a family argument doesn't usually end up in the **Congress of Deputies**. Although listening to some sessions, I'm not entirely sure.

There is also a small issue with the candidate. Ada Colau had explained that she would only agree to lead the Broad Front if a united ticket of the whole left was achieved, Podemos included. The four parties proposed her anyway, and Podemos has already said it has no intention of joining. I don't know whether they'll convince Montero, convince Colau, or find a third person they haven't yet convinced of anything. What I do know is that there are only a couple of days left before the deadline to register coalitions, and they're still arguing over who has to walk down the hall and sit next to the other.

## Open primaries for some, a political deal for others

Montero, for her part, insists that the right way to choose a common ticket is open primaries, which Podemos proposes to hold on **October 14 and 15**. It's a splendid defense of democratic participation. But it is rather curious that reaching an agreement with Rufián took nothing more than a political deal, while agreeing with their former coalition partners apparently requires organizing a vote. I suppose internal democracy has its quirks, depending on who intends to keep the job.

The deal with ERC, by the way, has its own originality. Podemos will not run in Catalonia and will support the Republican ticket there. In exchange, Rufián will appear at campaign events with Montero outside Catalonia. Perfectly reasonable as an electoral strategy. Less reasonable is selling it as a decisive step toward a unity that, for now, none of the parties Podemos would have to share a ballot with across much of Spain have joined. And let's not forget that the Comuns, one of the members of the Broad Front, compete against ERC in Catalonia. So all this talk of everyone coming together has fine print.

## Stopping the right while arguing over who's in charge

The funniest part is hearing them talk about the historic responsibility of the moment. The right must be stopped, vote splitting must be avoided, people's needs must be answered, and they must rise to the occasion. I agree on one thing: reaching agreement is hard. But it's perhaps not very reassuring that those who aspire to govern a country cannot decide, among four organizations and one guest, who's in charge, where they'll run, and at which table they'll sit. And that's before anyone has even asked them to pass a budget.

On Friday we'll find out how many ballots this formidable exercise in generosity has managed to produce. They may still reach a deal. Politics has seen more improbable reconciliations, especially when seats are at stake. But if they end up running separately, I hope they at least stop telling us that Spain's problem is a lack of unity. Because they have shown a very precise idea of what it means: all together, yes, but behind me.