After remaining outside the entire process to repeat the Por Andalucía coalition, Podemos is now putting pressure on Izquierda Unida (IU) to join the alliance at the last minute. The state leadership of the purple party, through its spokesperson, Pablo Fernández, expressed this Monday morning “absolute support” for its candidate in Andalusia, the former civil guard Juan Antonio Delgado, who has said that he has his “hand extended” to IU to enter the coalition. Podemos, which has just been left without representation in Aragon, with 0.94% of the vote, and in Castilla y León, with 0.74%, now places “absolutely no” requirements on IU, said Fernández at a press conference in Madrid, who was willing to share a candidacy with Movimiento Sumar, a party that is part of Por Andalucía and which the purples usually present as a burden for the left.
Time is scarce. The deadline to present coalitions ends this Friday at midnight. From IU, where Antonio Maíllo has been emphasizing that no one has kicked Podemos out of Por Andalucía and that if the purple party wants to be part what it has to do is “not leave”, an official spokesperson avoided speculating on Monday about whether or not there is the possibility of an agreement. Meanwhile, two IU sources, without ruling out or confirming that the pact is possible, agree in expressing their skepticism about Podemos’s “outstretched hand”, which they attribute to an attempt to present IU as responsible for a hypothetical fracture of space. “Everyone has seen that they have been the ones who have stepped aside and have only reacted on the edge of the abyss,” says one leader.
From coldness to “reflection”
For much of the Andalusian legislature, the state leadership of Podemos has maintained a cold attitude towards the Por Andalucía coalition, which has a parliamentary group where three of the five deputies are its own. In May 2025, while the leadership of Podemos in Andalusia was leaning towards reissuing the agreement, the state-run company established as a position on a possible confluence that its task was to oppose the “Government of War”, a message that marked distances with IU and Movimiento Sumar, members of that government. In summer, the general secretary of Podemos in Andalusia, Raquel Martínez, and other members of the regional leadership signed a manifesto in favor of the unity of the left. But the state leadership stated that this was nothing new. The parliamentarian for Córdoba José Manuel Gómez, a supporter of unity, announced in September that he will not compete in the next elections, an announcement that came after not seeing his commitment to confluence supported by the state leadership.
The tone of the state leadership of Podemos has introduced changes after the failure in Castilla y León, where IU did not obtain representation either, although it tripled the percentage of the vote for the purple party. “It is evident that we have to reflect,” Fernández conceded then. Finally, and after Por Andalucía has taken multiple steps without Podemos, including the election of the candidate, Antonio Maíllo, the purple party has made its public pact offer. With the leader of Podemos, Raquel Martínez, on medical leave, the person in charge of making the negotiation proposal has been Delgado, who in February, in an interview on 7TV, stated that since he was not general secretary or a member of the Andalusian leadership, negotiations with other political parties were not his responsibility. Despite this, on Sunday the former civil guard offered an “outstretched hand” for a negotiation that would allow Podemos to get on the train in which IU, Movimiento Sumar and the Andalusian People’s Initiative are already together.
Delgado’s offer received this Monday from Madrid “full” support from Fernández, who stated that his party does not place “absolutely any” requirements on IU to enter. In addition, he accepted that “the framework” of the negotiation is Por Andalucía, not just IU, which made him open to joining Movimiento Sumar. This represents a change with respect to Podemos’s usual discourse, which uses United for Extremadura as an example of a desirable coalition, where Movimiento Sumar had a residual role.
A Podemos spokesperson points out that the proposal has not been produced only through the media, but has been transferred to IU by both the Andalusian leadership of the purples and the state. From both directions of Podemos they agree in emphasizing that, once this step has been taken, the ball remains in the court of Izquierda Unida, from which they expect a response shortly.
“Pure story”
Although without ruling out last-minute agreements, IU’s message is one of skepticism. “We have been working on repeating the coalition since October 2024. Podemos’s outstretched hand? After having ignored the voices that from Andalusia were asking for unity, after having been left out of the negotiations, now they want it to appear that if there is no unity it is the fault of others. It is pure story to have something to say to their own,” says a leader, who believes that for Podemos’s proposal to have more credibility it would be convenient for the general secretary, Ione Belarra, to express it.
Another member of IU attributes Podemos’s turn to “nerves” in the face of “evidence” – he claims – that the purples alone will be left without representation in Andalusia, where by not having officially formed part of the For Andalusia coalition in 2022 – their candidates entered as independents after not registering on time – they could be excluded from debates on public television. “Alone, they know that here they compete with PACMA,” says this IU member, who recalls that, unlike Aragón and Castilla y León, in Andalusia their formation has “very deep roots,” with 62 mayors and some 5,100 militants.
Forward Andalusia
The third force to the left of the PSOE is Adelante Andalucía, the one founded by Teresa Rodríguez, former leader of Podemos in the community, who now has the parliamentarian for Cádiz José Ignacio García as a candidate for the presidency of the Board.
An official spokesperson places Adelante on the margins of speculation about alliances and points out that the party will go alone to the elections to enjoy total autonomy with respect to political forces in Madrid and greater room to criticize, in addition to the Andalusian Government of Juan Manuel Moreno (PP), the state government chaired by Pedro Sánchez (PSOE).
So to the left of the PSOE there will be at least two ballots. But there could be three, if Podemos finally does not enter Por Andalucía and presents Delgado as a candidate.
