Podemos is entering a decisive phase in Madrid, where its future in regional politics is at stake. After failing to win seats in the 2023 Madrid Assembly elections, the party is now relying on its secretary general, Ione Belarra, who has announced her candidacy for the regional elections scheduled for May 2027. The scale of the task is clear from the 28 May 2023 result: the Podemos-IU-Alianza Verde list won 161,032 votes, or 4.77%, but no seats after falling short of the regional threshold. The Partido Popular, led by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, won 70 of the Assembly’s 135 seats, securing an absolute majority. The figures, reported by Democrata from official election results, left Podemos outside the regional parliament, while Más Madrid and the Socialists retained representation.
Belarra’s candidacy has drawn skepticism from other left-wing parties in Madrid. The Socialists argue that splitting the progressive vote further is unnecessary, while Más Madrid sees Podemos as a force of the past and backs its own parliamentary record. Unlike Podemos, both parties currently hold seats in the regional parliament, showing the scale of the challenge facing Belarra and her team. More broadly, negotiations over a Frente Amplio involving Izquierda Unida and Más Madrid, as well as Comuns and Movimiento Sumar, have exposed divisions among parties to the left of the PSOE. Murcia Economía reported that the groups would run separately after efforts to agree on a joint candidacy failed. In Madrid, competing lists could make the shortfall against the 2023 threshold especially consequential.
Podemos has struggled to regain momentum since its peak in 2014, when it disrupted Spain’s traditional two-party system. Its decline became clear in the 2023 Madrid elections, when it failed to enter the Assembly after a brief recovery in 2021 under Pablo Iglesias. The latest electoral cycle exposed further weaknesses, with disappointing results in Andalucía and Aragón, as well as in Castilla y León. In Andalucía, Podemos formed a coalition with Izquierda Unida and Movimiento Sumar but failed to win any seats, while its rival Adelante gained greater support. Reporting on Aragón has also pointed to a sharp loss of votes for Podemos there, although results from different elections and electoral systems cannot be directly compared with the Madrid Assembly figures.
Leadership within Podemos remains concentrated around Ione Belarra and Irene Montero, who share responsibility for the party’s direction. Their basic political opponent in Madrid is Isabel Díaz Ayuso, whose leadership of the regional government has shifted the political balance to the right. Belarra has also used disputes over public education to define the party’s opposition to Ayuso’s government ahead of the 2027 contest. In October 2026, during an indefinite teachers’ strike in Madrid, Belarra said the teachers “are simply defending public education” and drew attention to their demands for better working conditions and smaller class sizes. Europa Press reported her criticism of the regional government’s rhetoric toward education workers. The prospect of a left-wing government in Madrid now depends on Podemos regaining representation and forming alliances with other progressive parties. The party’s recent electoral record and divisions on the left make that harder.
National political uncertainty adds to the challenge. Although the government insists it will serve its full term, ongoing corruption scandals surrounding the PSOE have raised questions about the stability of Pedro Sánchez’s administration. Meanwhile, discussions about alliances involving Izquierda Unida and Comuns, alongside Más Madrid and Movimiento Sumar, continue without clear outcomes. Basic decisions on leadership and programme remain unresolved. Polls suggest a PP and Vox majority is likely, posing a threat to politics at both national and regional levels.
In Madrid, the Partido Popular aims to repeat its absolute majority from 2023, but Vox’s rise has intensified competition on the right. Recent disputes between Ayuso and Vox spokesperson Isabel Pérez Moñino, particularly over immigration, have brought that rivalry into focus. Podemos is making its opposition to both Ayuso and Vox basic to its campaign, positioning itself as a defender against the far right while seeking a role in the broader reorganization of the Spanish left. Whether the left should unite or maintain separate party projects remains unresolved. Más Madrid member of Congress Tesh Sidi rejected Belarra’s criticism of the proposed Frente Amplio, calling it an “insult” and saying the programmatic differences were “non-existent,” information from Democrata.
Podemos faces the dual challenge of overcoming its internal crisis and countering Ayuso and Vox’s dominance in Madrid. Its ability to win Assembly seats and take part in left-wing alliances will be impressive to its survival. The 2023 result makes the scale of the recovery clear: 4.77% of the vote and no seats, against a PP majority of 70 in a 135-member chamber. Madrid’s regional parliament is a basic battleground in Spanish politics, and the 2027 election could influence the national field. Fragmentation on the left and consolidation on the right have made the political environment more volatile, with consequences for governance and policy, as well as for progressive voters’ representation in the region.
