The PSOE leadership has named Mariluz Martínez Seijo its lead candidate in Palencia, replacing the choice of local members, Álvaro Bilbao. Four people on the slate have withdrawn, forcing the party to rebuild it.
The PSOE had to draw up a complete list for Palencia after the candidates in second and third place, along with both substitutes, withdrew. Their departures followed the national leadership’s decision to put Mariluz Martínez Seijo at the top of the ticket instead of Álvaro Bilbao, the choice of party members. On 16 October, the PSOE’s Federal Lists Commission chose Martínez Seijo to lead the slate, replacing Bilbao, whom Cadena SER described as the candidate with the strongest support from provincial party members. The provincial committee had approved the local proposal naming Bilbao, with 77 votes in favour and one abstention. The Federal Committee confirmed the decision over the weekend of 17–18 October.
Martínez Seijo has been a deputy since 2016 and is described in the source as loyal to Pedro Sánchez. Bilbao is a PSOE councillor responsible for urban planning in Palencia. The list is for the elections scheduled for 29 November. On 20 October, Ferraz publicly defended its authority to change lists proposed by provincial party groups. After the withdrawals, the PSOE registered a newly assembled slate, with Martínez Seijo at the top, Agustín Martínez García in second place and Rut Pérez Martín in third. José Luis Pedreira Massa took one substitute place. María Ángeles Fombellida Cabesudo and Julio Rascón Quirquis filled the other two. Cadena SER reported that the federal leadership rebuilt the list after the earlier candidates withdrew.
Juan Lobato, the PSOE senator and former secretary general of the party in Madrid, criticised the decision on Espejo Público. He challenged the use of gender parity to justify changing the Palencia choice: seven lead candidates in Castilla y León are men, he said, and questioned why the criterion was applied only in this province. Lobato backed Bilbao, a 32-year-old engineer who paused his professional career to enter politics. He argued that local members are best placed to judge who can represent them, drawing on their knowledge of their communities.
Palencia mayor Miriam Andrés also criticised the federal leadership, accusing it of disregarding local party members’ wishes. Lobato said the party’s strength lies in bringing together people with different views. He argued that this diversity should be nurtured, not restricted. The dispute centres on who gets to make the choice: the national leadership or the party’s members in Palencia.
Separate reporting on the pre-election agenda has covered planned benefit changes; the Palencia dispute concerns the selection of a local candidate.
