Citizens (Spanish Political Party)
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Citizens ( es, link=no, Ciudadanos ; ca, link=no, Ciutadans ; eu, link=no, Hiritarrak; gl, link=no, Cidadáns; shortened as Cs—C's until January 2017), officially Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (''Ciudadanos–Partido de la Ciudadanía''), is a
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
political party in Spain This article serves as a list of the political parties in Spain. Spain has a multi-party system at both the national and regional level. Nationally, there are five dominant parties: United We Can ( Podemos– IU), the Spanish Socialist Workers' ...
. Founded in
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
in 2006, the party received 25.4% of votes and 36 deputies in the December 2017 Catalan regional election, making it the largest single party in the
Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...
. Nevertheless, it has never taken power so its actual political stance remains a source of debate between supporters and adversaries, beyond a strong opposition to Catalan nationalism and the
Catalan independence movement The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginnings ...
. The party used the phrase "Catalonia is my homeland, Spain is my country and Europe is our future" to outline the ideology which the party self-describes as
postnationalist Postnationalism or non-nationalism is the process or trend by which nation states and national identities lose their importance relative to cross-nation and self-organized or supranational and global entities as well as local entities. Although p ...
. In spite of that, it has been deemed by a variety of sources to profess a populist
Spanish nationalist The creation of the tradition of the political community of Spaniards as common destiny over other communities has been argued to trace back to the Cortes of Cádiz. Revisiting the history of Spain, after 1812 Spanish liberalism tended to take fo ...
ideology. The party has also been described as
populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...
, conservative-liberal and being in favour of
integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...
with the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. Citizens used to present itself as a
centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...
party that offered
social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
and progressive-liberal positions in its platform, but it dropped any mention of social democracy from its principles in February 2017 and by 2018 was judged by some to have experienced a further swing to the right, as it began to compete with the PP, and later also with Vox, to become the leading right-of-centre party in the country. It has recently been described by media and
CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...
(a Spanish public research institute) as right-oriented. Their party popularity collapsed after a poor performance in the
November 2019 Spanish general election The November 2019 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 10 November 2019, to elect the 14th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 265 seats in the Senate. ...
, and further after a failed attempt in Murcia to overthrow the regional government via an unexpected no confidence vote, losing all its seats in the
Assembly of Madrid The Assembly of Madrid or Madrid Assembly ( es, Asamblea de Madrid) is the unicameral autonomous legislature of the Autonomous Community of Madrid since the approval of the Madrid Charter of Autonomy in 1983. It is elected every four years durin ...
and the
Parliament of Andalusia The Parliament of Andalusia ( es, Parlamento de Andalucía) is the legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia instituted by the Andalusian Charter of Autonomy of 1981. It is elected by the residents of Andalusia every four years. ...
, 30 of its 36 seats in the
Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...
and all but one seat in the Cortes of Castile and León.


History

Citizens was formed in Catalonia in July 2006 in response to the call made in a manifesto by a group of well-known figures in Catalan civic society (among them Albert Boadella,
Félix de Azúa Félix de Azúa Comella (Barcelona, 30 April 1944) is a Spanish professor of aesthetics and philosophy, poet, novelist, essayist and translator, member of Real Academia Española. He taught Spanish literature at the University of Oxford from 1979 ...
, Francesc de Carreras and Arcadi Espada) in which they called for a new political force to "address the real problems faced by the general public". In this manifesto, they also warned that "the rhetoric of hatred promulgated by official
Catalan government The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label= Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed ...
media against everything Spanish is more alarming than ever" and that "the (Catalan) nation, promoted as an homogenous entity, has taken over the space where an undeniably diverse society lived". In July 2005, this group of personalities, almost entirely based in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, formed a political platform called ''Ciutadans de Catalunya'', or Citizens of Catalonia. They organised several round tables and conferences and by 2006 they had announced the formation of a new political party. In their first conference of 2006, Albert Rivera, a young lawyer from Barcelona, was elected president. In the 2006 elections for the Parliament of Catalonia, Cs won 3% of the votes and returned three MPs. In the 2010 elections, a similar result was achieved (3.4%, 3 MPs). Mainly as a counter to the growing public support for independence in Catalonia, Cs has since further grown substantially in support as one of the most outspoken opponents of this movement. In the 2012 snap elections, the number of votes more than doubled (7.6%, 9 MPs). All but one of these seats were in the
Province of Barcelona Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .2015 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015. Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burun ...
, Cs more than doubled its votes again (17.9%, 25 MPs), becoming the second largest faction in the Catalan parliament. In 2013, the party started organising in the rest of Spain with a manifesto called "La conjura de Goya" ("Confederacy of Goya") that took place in the Congress Palace of
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
. In the 2015 general elections, Cs entered parliament with 13.9% and 40 seats. As PP's
Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
refused the mandate to form a government, Cs promised the second-largest party PSOE support in parliament in exchange for a number of political concessions. However, this pact would have needed the support of Podemos and finally did not gain a parliamentarian majority, paving the way for a repeat election. In the 2016 snap elections, Cs lost 0.8% of the popular vote and 8 seats due to Spain's electoral system. After these elections, Cs could strike a deal with the conservative PP in supporting its government in exchange for a number of political concessions. After a 10-month political deadlock, PP leader Mariano Rajoy was able to become Prime Minister thanks to Cs support and an abstention of PSOE. In the
2014 European elections Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...
, the party received 3.16% of the national vote and elected two MEPs. Both MEPs joined the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...
(ALDE) group. In the 2019 European elections the party obtained 12% of the vote, and won a total of 7 MEPs (which, post-brexit, has become 8 MEPs). The party was accepted into the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
on 4 June 2016. Rivera resigned as party president on 11 November 2019 after the party lost 80% of its seats in the November 2019 general election. He was succeeded by
Inés Arrimadas Inés Arrimadas García (; born 3 July 1981) is a Spanish lawyer and politician serving as Member of the Congress of Deputies and Spokesperson of Citizens party in the Congress. She was previously the leader of the regional branch of the party ...
. In March 2021, Ciudadanos, together with
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...
, presented a surprise no confidence motion in the
Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; es, Región de Murcia ), is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in ...
against the regional coalition government of the People's Party and Ciudadanos. The motion failed due to defection of several Ciudadanos deputies, and triggered a "political earthquake" across the country, leading to a number of high-ranking members abandoning the party. In the aftermath, Cs also lost all its 26 deputies in Madrid in the 2021 Madrilenian regional election, and fell in country-wide polls from ~7% support (~10 deputies) down to ~3% (~1 deputy).


Ideology

At first, Citizens branded itself as a
centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...
party in its statement of principles (''ideario''). While Rivera refused to locate Citizens on the political spectrum for a time, he later placed Cs in the
political centre Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the ...
. Although some observers agreed with the party's ''ideario'' by describing Cs as centre-left and others agree with Rivera's last definition by describing the party as centrist, the vast majority of them have positioned Citizens on the
centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
. In a 2014 interview, Congress spokesman Juan Carlos Girauta explicitly stated that he did not perceive any significant differences between Citizens, the centrist
Union, Progress and Democracy Union, Progress and Democracy ( es, link=no, Unión, Progreso y Democracia , UPyD ) was a Spanish political party founded in September 2007 and dissolved in December 2020. It was a social-liberal party that rejected any form of nationalism, espe ...
and the far-right
Spanish nationalist The creation of the tradition of the political community of Spaniards as common destiny over other communities has been argued to trace back to the Cortes of Cádiz. Revisiting the history of Spain, after 1812 Spanish liberalism tended to take fo ...
party Vox.
Federico Finchelstein Federico Finchelstein is an Argentine historian and chair of the history department at the New School for Social Research and is director of the Janey Program in Latin American Studies. After receiving his undergraduate education at the Universi ...
identifies Citizens with a light brand of "
neo-liberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
populism Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
".


Official stance

Ideologically, Cs describes itself as a progressive,
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
,
constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...
, European federalist and
postnationalist Postnationalism or non-nationalism is the process or trend by which nation states and national identities lose their importance relative to cross-nation and self-organized or supranational and global entities as well as local entities. Although p ...
political party. Ciudadanos rejects the
autonomous communities eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...
' right to
self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...
outside of the Spanish state. As an originally Catalan party, it specifically opposes Catalan nationalism due to viewing it as an outdated, authoritarian and socially divisive ideology which fuels hatred among both Catalans and Spaniards. Rivera uses the phrase "
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
is my homeland,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
is my country and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
is our future" to describe the party's ideology. The party opposes separatist movements such as the
Catalan independence movement The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginnings ...
and federating the autonomous communities. Even though Citizens is currently a supporter of
European federalism The United States of Europe (USE), the European State, the European Federation and Federal Europe, is the hypothetical scenario of the European integration leading to formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of Americ ...
, it ran in the 2009 European Parliament election in coalition with the pan-European, Eurosceptic party
Libertas Libertas (Latin for 'liberty' or 'freedom', ) is the Roman goddess and personification of liberty. She became a politicised figure in the Late Republic, featured on coins supporting the populares faction, and later those of the assassins of ...
. Although reconsidering the current head of state is not a priority for the party, Rivera has said that Citizens is "a
republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
party which claims that Spanish citizens are who have to decide whether they prefer a once-modernized monarchy or a republic through a referendum in the context of a constitutional reform". According to its declared identity signs, Cs advocates four basic lines of action: # Defence of
individual rights Group rights, also known as collective rights, are rights held by a group '' qua'' a group rather than individually by its members; in contrast, individual rights are rights held by individual people; even if they are group-differentiated, which ...
# Defence of
social rights Economic, social and cultural rights, (ESCR) are socio-economic human rights, such as the right to education, right to housing, right to an adequate standard of living, right to health, victims' rights and the right to science and culture. Eco ...
as well as the
welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...
# Uphold the State of Autonomies and Europe's unity # Regeneration of
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
and of political life


Main tenets

Cs displays a political discourse mainly centered around opposition to Catalan nationalism, to the extent that it has been frequently criticised for being a
single issue party Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea. Political expression One weakness of such an approach is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of facti ...
, a label rejected by its members. In the 2006–2012 period, the number of Cs voters who had voted for centre-right parties in previous elections was similar to the number who had voted for centre-left parties, suggesting that the party's positions on general economic and social issues are not its main draw. Cs criticises any sort of nationalism, "including the Spanish nationalism that Mr. Ynestrillas defends". One of the main issues raised by the party is the Catalan language policy which actively promotes the use of
Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spa ...
as the sole working language of Catalan public administration. The party challenges this policy and defends equal treatment of the Spanish and Catalan languages. It also opposes the current language policy within the Catalan educational system in accordance with which all public schooling is delivered in Catalan. The party also supports strengthening the powers of the Spanish central institutions and curtailing the powers of regional administrations. Other topics include a thorough reform of the
electoral system An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and Referendum, referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political ...
with the aim of creating greater proportionality that would give less weight to single constituencies. They also support some changes in the 1978 Constitution, especially regarding regional organisation. Regarding the chartered autonomous communities' tax regimes, the party respects and does not want to remove the Basque Country's and Navarre's chartered regimes because it believes that "they aren't discriminatory in and of themselves". However, it criticises what it calls the miscalculation of the quota or contribution which is negotiated between governments and has been causing significant differences that they regard as having become outrageous. It proposes a review and a recalculation of the
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
and Navarrese Economic Agreements in order to stop the Basque Country and Navarre being "net beneficiaries". Among other policies, they also support legalisation of
marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
,
euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...
, and
gestational surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...
. Prominent meetings of the party have been reportedly picketed by Catalan separatist groups on several occasions. Its leader Albert Rivera has received anonymous death threats urging him to quit politics. Two members of the ERC Youth were sentenced to prison for it. Members of Ciudadanos have repeatedly taken part in violent attacks on Catalan targets and far-right and ultranationalist groups are usually present in their demonstrations. In one instance, a
Telemadrid Telemadrid is a public regional television station in the Community of Madrid, Spain, the flagship channel of the regional public broadcaster Radio Televisión Madrid (RTVM). It began its broadcast on 2 May 1989. History First years Telema ...
cameraman was assaulted, allegedly because he was mistaken for a member of Catalan broadcaster TV3.


Policies

The Cs outlined some policies for the 2015 general election: * Lower corporation tax to 25% * Lower and harmonise VAT to a rate between 16% and 19% * Cap the top-rate of income tax at 40% * Increase research and development spending to 3% of GDP * Abolish or merge municipalities with a population of less than 5,000 * Reduce bureaucracy and red tape * More transparent party funding * Crack down on corruption * Reform or abolish the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. * Instate an earned income tax credit to fight in-work poverty * "Austrian Backpack" transferable unemployment compensation where a worker accumulates funds throughout their career which are accessible upon job loss or retirement * Devolve training to the citizens from employers associations and trade unions * Ease immigration policies to attract talent and investors * Legalize marijuana


Spanish nationalism

Although the party defines itself as
postnationalist Postnationalism or non-nationalism is the process or trend by which nation states and national identities lose their importance relative to cross-nation and self-organized or supranational and global entities as well as local entities. Although p ...
, it has been deemed by a variety of sources (including peer-reviewed expert texts) to profess a
populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...
Spanish nationalist The creation of the tradition of the political community of Spaniards as common destiny over other communities has been argued to trace back to the Cortes of Cádiz. Revisiting the history of Spain, after 1812 Spanish liberalism tended to take fo ...
ideology. In a party conference held on 20 May 2018 to present its platform ''España Ciudadana'', Rivera said in a hall filled with Spanish flags:
I do not see reds and blues, I see Spaniards. I do not see, as they say, urban people and rural people, I see Spaniards. I do not see young or old, I see Spaniards. I do not see workers and entrepreneurs, I see Spaniards. I do not see believers or agnostics, I see Spaniards. ..So, compatriots, with Citizens, let's go for that Spain, let's feel proud of being Spaniards again.


Controversy


Alternative views and past membership

In 2006, the newspaper ''
El Periódico de Catalunya ''El Periódico de Catalunya'' (, ), also simply known as ''El Periódico'', is a morning daily newspaper based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The paper publishes separate daily editions in Spanish and in Catalan. The two editions combined sel ...
'' revealed that Rivera was a card-carrying member of the conservative People's Party (PP) between 2002 and 2006 and that he had left the PP only three months before running for election for the Citizen's Party. This was corroborated by ''El Mundo'' and ''El País''. Despite these revelations, Rivera denied having been a full member of PP and implied that he had voted for the
PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...
until recently. Past PP membership is common among Cs members. Former PSC activist Juan Carlos Girauta had joined the PP and became a prolific contributor to conservative journalism from his ''
Libertad Digital ''Libertad Digital'' (literally, ''Digital Freedom'') is an advocacy journalism online newspaper edited in Madrid, Spain. It does not follow a particular party line, but it claims to be classic liberal, It is published in Spanish. Origin ...
'' column before becoming a Citizens member and candidate in the 2014 European election. During his long tenure as ''Libertad Digital'' columnist and COPE debater, Girauta expressed strong sympathies for right-wing
Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
(to the point of calling then-President Zapatero an antisemite) and lent credibility to the now discredited book by Victor Farías dismissing socialist politician
Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...
as a racist and a
social Darwinist Social Darwinism refers to various theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economics and politics, and which were largely defined by scholars in W ...
, without clarifying that the quotations about genetic determinism in Allende's doctoral dissertation were themselves quotations from other authors (mostly
Cesare Lombroso Cesare Lombroso (, also ; ; born Ezechia Marco Lombroso; 6 November 1835 – 19 October 1909) was an Italian criminologist, phrenologist, physician, and founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology. Lombroso rejected the establis ...
) or the fact that Allende was highly critical of these conclusions in his thesis which was later published as a rebuttal to Farías' position. Farías was later sued for this,Extracts
from the suit filed by the Fundación Salvador Allende.
but Girauta never retracted his statements. In 2015, a member of the Citizens electoral list for
Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...
to the city council and regional elections posted pro-
Falangist Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS) and afterwards the Fal ...
, pro-
Blue Division The Blue Division ( es, División Azul, german: Blaue Division) was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain within the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated the Spanish Volunteer D ...
and pro-
Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
messages on Facebook. Those same elections carried news of at least five other former card-carrying
Falange The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco F ...
and/or
España 2000 España 2000 (E-2000) is a far-right political party in Spain which has never obtained national or regional parliamentary representation. The last time it ran for General elections was in 2011, where it obtained 9266 votes out of a total of 24,59 ...
members. An altercation took place in
Canet de Mar Canet de Mar () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Maresme in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the coast between Arenys de Mar and Sant Pol de Mar. and el Montnegre ranges. It is a tourist centre, but is also known for the cultivatio ...
on 21 Ma, 2018 between pro-independence local residents, who had planted yellow crosses on the beach to honor imprisoned and fugitive politicians; and anti-independence individuals who decided to remove said crosses. The altercation left at least three people wounded, including an 82-year-old man and a local
CUP A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...
councilor who explicitly accused Citizens and
Falange The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco F ...
militants from across the whole region to be among the provocateurs. Citizens Member of Parliament Carlos Carrizosa dismissed the claim that either "councillors or party activists" from the party were involved in the incidents. Four days later and despite admonishments and warnings by President of the Parliament Roger Torrent, Carrizosa himself removed a yellow ribbon from the seats reserved for absent Cabinet ministers, forcing the President to suspend the entire session.


Relations with the media

During the 2006 Catalan election campaign, the party's president Albert Rivera appeared completely naked in a poster in order to attract publicity to the party. In the beginning, the party frequently complained about an alleged boycott on the part of Catalan media. In their opinion, the party was given too little airtime to present its views on the Catalan public television.


2009 European election internal dispute

In 2009, it was announced that Cs would run for the European election allied with the
Libertas Libertas (Latin for 'liberty' or 'freedom', ) is the Roman goddess and personification of liberty. She became a politicised figure in the Late Republic, featured on coins supporting the populares faction, and later those of the assassins of ...
coalition. The party's association with
Declan Ganley Declan James Ganley (born 23 July 1968) is an English-born Irish entrepreneur, businessman, and political activist. He was the founder and leader of the Irish branch of the Libertas Party. Primarily a telecommunications entrepreneur, Ganley has ...
's
Libertas Libertas (Latin for 'liberty' or 'freedom', ) is the Roman goddess and personification of liberty. She became a politicised figure in the Late Republic, featured on coins supporting the populares faction, and later those of the assassins of ...
platform raised some concern on account of the coalition formed by the latter with nationalist and ultranationalist parties in each of its local European chapters, seemingly at odds with the professed ideology of Cs. Several intellectuals that had participated in the formation of ''Ciutadans'' later withdrew their support. For instance, Albert Boadella, became one of the co-founders of the
Union, Progress and Democracy Union, Progress and Democracy ( es, link=no, Unión, Progreso y Democracia , UPyD ) was a Spanish political party founded in September 2007 and dissolved in December 2020. It was a social-liberal party that rejected any form of nationalism, espe ...
(UPyD) party led by former Basque Socialist politician
Rosa Díez Rosa María Díez González (born 27 May 1952) is a Spanish politician from Union, Progress and Democracy, UPyD deputy in the Congress of Deputies from 2008 to 2016. Career She was a former Member of the European Parliament for the Spanish S ...
. According to some members of Cs, the negotiations prior to this electoral pact were led personally and secretly by the party leader Albert Rivera. This alienated the other two MPs (besides Rivera himself) and a significant part of the party from his leadership. In turn, the official stance of Cs is that the critics are using the dispute as a pretext to canvass support for the ideologically similar UPyD.


Position in the political spectrum

On June 24, 2019, the party's economics spokesman, Toni Roldán, announced that he was leaving Citizens and renouncing his seat in the Spanish parliament in protest at the party’s drift to the right and its willingness to enter alliances with the far right after regional and municipal elections. Following Roldán's resignation, MEP
Javier Nart Javier Nart Peñalver (born 19 August 1947) is a Spanish journalist and politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014, currently taking part in the Renew Europe group. From 2012 until 2019, he was a member of Citizens (Sp ...
and the Asturian leader Juan Vázquez stepped down as well, leaving their political offices in the party's committee and the Asturian Parliament, respectively. Some days later, Francesc de Carreras, one of the party's founders, and Francisco de la Torre, MP and economist, also announced that they would leave the party due to its stances against the PSOE and in favor of alliances with the far-right. This crisis came after the President of France
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
's government sent a warning to Citizens, which his
En Marche! Renaissance (RE), previously known as La République En Marche ! (frequently abbreviated LREM, LaREM or REM; translated as "The Republic on the Move" or "Republic Forward"), or sometimes called simply En Marche ! () as its original name, is a l ...
party is in a group with in the EU Parliament, over far-right ties.


Funding

A credit was requested for party funding in 2015 to
Banco Popular Español Banco Popular Español, S.A. () was the sixth largest banking group in Spain before it was bought by Banco Santander as part of a rescue package in June 2017. Components The group consisted of the following companies: national bank Banco Popular ...
, up to 2017 an
IBEX 35 The IBEX 35 (IBerian IndEX) is the benchmark stock market index of the Bolsa de Madrid, Spain's principal stock exchange. Initiated in 1992, the index is administered and calculated by Sociedad de Bolsas, a subsidiary of Bolsas y Mercados Espa ...
member. In 2017, the
Court of Audit A Court of Audit or Court of Accounts is a Supreme audit institution, i.e. a government institution performing financial and/or legal audit (i.e. Statutory audit or External audit) on the executive branch of power. See also *Most of those in ...
found irregularities in the accounting books of several political groups, Citizens among them. In respect of Citizens, the irregularities included illegal expenses for advertising on local television in 2015. Cs member
Jorge Soler Jorge Carlos Soler Castillo (born February 25, 1992) is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Soler has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, and Atlanta ...
appeared in December 2017 on the TV3 debate Preguntes Freqüents, during which journalist addressed him about the 2.1 million euros spent by Cs in the 21-D Catalan election campaign—higher than the budget spent by any other party on that election. Talegón inquired about the sources of this funding. Soler replied that this ample budget could be ascribed to the austerity of their party.


European representation

In the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
, Ciudadanos sits in the Renew Europe group with six MEPs.


Electoral performance


Cortes Generales


European Parliament


Regional parliaments


Results timeline


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * Published online. * * * * * *


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Citizens Webarchive template wayback links 2006 establishments in Spain Centrist parties in Spain Liberal parties in Spain Libertas.eu Political parties established in 2006 Political parties in Catalonia Republican parties in Spain Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party member parties Conservative liberal parties