The newcomer is now represented with one or two seats in two major provincial capitals and in a single regional council. Espana Vaciada is a coalition of various regional political groups that since 2019 has held one seat in the Spanish parliament (Tomas Guitarte, from the Teruel district).
This year, its provincial party merged into the national rural umbrella organization, with the main focus being increased government investments to maintain the viability of rural areas.
In recent decades, an increasing number of Spaniards have moved to large cities or even abroad due to unemployment and poverty. This time, the coalition of local parties registered candidates in 234 municipalities, 50 regional councils, and 13 provinces.
Because the ruling Social Democratic PSOE party of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez suffered a significant defeat throughout Spain, he has decided to call early parliamentary elections. These must be held by the end of this year at the latest, but the PSOE leader has brought them forward to 28 July. The conservative PP party (Partido Popular) emerged as the largest party not only in the capital Madrid but also in many other densely populated cities and areas.
The parliamentary elections in two months will mainly be contested between these two political rivals, as two left-wing and center-right faction parties were practically wiped out. According to commentators, Spain is returning to a two-party system. Only the far-right Vox party still holds up reasonably well; it can already help the PP secure a majority in some provinces.
Espana Vaciada has not yet responded to the early national elections but said earlier this year that 'the whole of Spain suffers from rural depopulation,' and that it planned to register throughout Spain. If so, the national elections could serve as a practice run for the European elections in Spain in June 2024.