The Leonese People's Union (, Leonese: ''Unión del Pueblu Llionés'', UPL) is a regional

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, ...

Castilla y León Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to: Places Spain * Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha * Kingdom o ...

, Spain. UPL strives to establish a separate autonomous community ( Comunidad Autónoma de León or ''Autonomous Community of León'') for the provinces of León, Zamora and

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

(center of the old

Kingdom of León The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when the Christian princes of Kingdom of Asturias, Asturias along the Bay of Biscay, northern coast of the peninsula ...

), now in the

Autonomous Community of Castilla y León In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...

. Such a movement is known as

Leonesism Leonesism (; ) is a social and political regionalist movement in the geographical Region of León, composed by the provinces of León, Zamora and Salamanca, with the aim of giving greater relevance to the Region of León within Spain and to ...

History

UPL was founded in 1986 by a group of people coming from different León regionalist movements and various statewide parties ( Popular Alliance, Union of the Democratic Centre,

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

). Initially it was known as Leonesist Union (''Unión Leonesista'', UNLE). It adopted its current name in 1991, when José María Rodríguez de Francisco took over the leadership of the party. In the municipality of León the party obtained three seats in the municipal council. It also won one seat in the provincial council. In the municipal elections in 2007, UPL obtained 10.88% and three seats in the municipal council of León. In the Castile and León autonomous elections the same year, it obtained 2.69% of the votes and two seats over 83. Its youth branch was Conceyu Xoven, an organization that promotes official status for the

Leonese language Leonese (''llionés, ḷḷionés, lionés'') is a set of vernacular Romance languages, Romance language varieties spoken in northern and western portions of the historical region of León (historical region), León in Spain (the modern provi ...

and the unity and self-determination for the Leonese Country. Conceyu Xoven was expelled from the party due to its radical positions, with the Leonist Youth being designated the new youth wing of UPL.

Electoral performance

Cortes of Castile and León The Cortes of Castile and León (Spanish: ''Cortes de Castilla y León'') is the elected unicameral legislature of the Autonomous Communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Castile and León. The tradition of the regional Cortes is traced ba ...

References

Notes

External links