The Navarrese People's Union (; ), abbreviated to UPN, is a regional

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Until 2008, it was a

fraternal party A fraternal party is a political party officially affiliated with another, often larger or international, political party or governmental party, or several of them, notably when these share a political ideology. They may express this 'fraternity' ...

of the People's Party (PP), acting as the latter's Navarrese branch. UPN is a strong opponent of

Basque nationalism Basque nationalism ( ; ; ) is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the political unity of the Basques, today scattered between Spain and France. Since ...

, and supports a Spanish regional identity for Navarre with a marginal

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 ...

component and separate from the Basque Country. The party's regionalist tradition dates back to the nineteenth century, in which the Spanish nation is seen to be based on 'regional liberties'. During the 1991–2008 period, UPN acted as the Navarrese branch of the PP, which, in return, did not run at Navarrese elections as a part of their agreement. Since 1991, UPN has been the largest party in elections for the regional

Parliament of Navarre The Parliament of Navarre ( Spanish ''Parlamento de Navarra'', Basque ''Nafarroako Parlamentua'') or also known as ''Cortes de Navarra'' (in Spanish) or ''Nafarroako Gorteak'' (in Basque) is the Navarre autonomous unicameral parliament. Functi ...

and was the ruling party of the

Autonomous Community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

from 1996 to 2015.

History

The UPN was a Navarrese splinter group of the Union of the Democratic Centre. Its president,

Miguel Sanz Miguel Sanz Sesma (born 16 September 1952) is a conservative Spanish people, Spanish politician of the Navarrese People's Union (UPN) and the president of the Autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Navarre from 1996 to 2011. Bio ...

, had been the head of the Navarrese government from 1996 to 2015. Juan Cruz Alli was elected president of the Navarrese government for UPN, but later disagreed with the orientation the party was taking and founded another party Democrats' Convergence of Navarre.

Pacts with the PP

As part of an agreement held over the 1991–2008 period, the PP did not run in any elections in the Navarra Congress Electoral District and

People's Party of Navarre The People's Party of Navarre (, PP) is the regional section of the People's Party (PP) in Navarre. It was first formed in 1989 from the re-foundation of the People's Alliance, and in 1991 it was merged into the Navarrese People's Union The ...

(founded in 1989) was dissolved, while UPN were on the same national ticket as the PP at the Spanish national elections. The national Deputies and Senators elected as part of UPN's ticket were part of the PP Parliamentary Group. Also, UPN members were eligible –and indeed chosen– for national leadership positions in the PP. The pact was terminated in October 2008 as a result of UPN refusal to vote alongside the PP in the

Spanish Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

to reject the government budget presented by

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...

's cabinet. One of the two MPs elected under the UPN-PP ticket refused to follow UPN's instructions and a number of UPN elected representatives defected to join the PP. The new situation led to the PP setting up its own office in Navarre. The two parties ran separate lists in the 2011 regional elections in Navarre with the UPN receiving 34.5% against the 7.3% that the PP received. On 8 September 2011, the two parties reached an agreement to renew their alliance for the

2011 Spanish general election A General elections in Spain, general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 20 November 2011, to elect the members of the 10th . All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate of Spain, ...

.UPN encabezará la coalición con el PP
El Mundo, 8 September 2011 Under the agreement, the UPN would take the first and third places on the list for Congress while the PP would have the second. For the Senate, the UPN would have the top two places on the list, with the PP taking the third place. A major factor in the new agreement was the two parties' desire to prevent

Bildu EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu (English language, English: 'Basque Country Gather' or 'Basque Country Unite'), is a Left-wing politics, left-wing, Basque nationalism, Basque nationalist and Separatism, pro-independence federation of poli ...

from winning enough seats to form a parliamentary group.

Electoral performance

Parliament of Navarre

Cortes Generales

Notes

References

External links

Navarrese People's Union official site

Parliament of Navarre
{{Authority control Conservative parties in Spain Political parties in Navarre Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) Political parties established in 1979 1979 establishments in Spain Catholic political parties