Volt Spain

Volt Spain (short name: Volt, Spanish: Volt España) is a political party in Spain. It is part of the pan-European party and movement Volt Europa, which advocates for closer European and cross-border cooperation and is characterised by its supranational character.[2] As part of Volt, it has a Member of the European Parliament, Damian Boeselager, who represents the party there.

Volt Spain
Volt España
LeaderRachele Arciulo, Ferry Djamchidi [1]
FoundedJanuary 25, 2019 (2019-01-25)
HeadquartersMadrid
IdeologySocial liberalism
Pro-Europeanism
European federalism
European affiliationVolt Europa
Colors  Purple
Website
https://www.volteuropa.es/

History

Volt Spain was officially registered as a party on 25 January 2019,[3] as the third national section, and contested the 2019 European Parliament elections for the first time.[4] It obtained 32,291 votes (0.14%) and thus did not win a mandate.[5] In May 2021, the party contested the municipal elections in Madrid for the first time since the European elections, but did not win a mandate.[6] During the municipal elections, representatives of the right-wing populist Vox warned against confusing Volt with their own party, as the placement of the ballot papers next to each other was, according to them, intended to cause confusion.[7] In fact, the order of the ballot papers was based on the order of the candidacies submitted.[8]

Volt Europa electoral ballot for the Madrid community elections

In September 2021, the party supported the referendum for the legalisation of euthanasia in Italy and collected signatures for the initiative in Spain.[9] The party took part in a local election for the first time in May 2023.[10]

The average age of Volt in Spain is 35.[11] The party plans to run in the 2024 European elections with top candidate Clara Panella Gómez.[6][12]

Policies

In its programme, the party strongly advocates European federalism with the goal of a federal European state. Volt sees close European cooperation as a central necessity in order to successfully meet challenges such as digitalisation, the fight against climate change and social inequality.[2] Further demands of the party are more transparency in politics and an improvement of public administration, which is to be digitalised and built on open-source software.[11] Gender, religion or origin should have no influence on social status.[7]

Judiciary

The party calls for a reform of the judiciary. In order to avoid politicisation and deadlock, a specialised committee of judges' associations, universities and bar associations should be introduced to elect members of the General Council of the Judiciary. In addition, the Attorney General should be appointed by parliament, not by the executive, to ensure that public interests are paramount.[13]

Social policy

In order to support students, senior citizens and low-income families, subsidized housing, modelled on Austria, is to be promoted and the privatisation of public resources in the housing sector is to be stopped.[14]

Agriculture, environmental and animal protection

The welfare and dignity of animals should be enshrined in the constitution and animal rights should be enshrined in civil law. Bullfighting is to be banned in Spain and, along the way, tax breaks and financial state subsidies are to be eliminated.[15] The party also advocates hunting restrictions and the design of a more sustainable agriculture with a common European food policy to avoid food waste and environmental damage.[11]

Marine protected areas are to be expanded to protect flora and fauna from intensive shipping. Nature conservation is to be promoted to counter the advancing desertification and climate crisis and to preserve Spain's biodiversity.[16]

EU reform

Volt proposes that the EU president be directly elected in future. The European Union should evolve and be governed by a European government headed by a prime minister elected by the European Parliament. To this end, the EU should first become more transparent and form a complete economic and monetary union. Migration is to be organised through binding admission quotas.[17]

Catalonia

The party has spoken out against Catalan independence and sees no currently existing restrictions and violations of civil rights in Catalonia that would justify a unilateral declaration of independence. Instead, the leaders call for dialogue to end the political deadlock.[2]

Elections

European Election 2019
Year Election Leader Votes  % Seats
2019 European Parliament Bruno Sánchez-Andrade 32.291 0,14 %
0 / 55

Parliamentary election in Andalusia 2022

Volt contested the parliamentary election in Andalusia with a 40-page manifesto, but only fielded candidates in Málaga, and thus only in one of the 8 provinces.[18] The party received 904 votes (0.14% in Málaga, 0.02% in all of Andalusia).[19][20]

References
  1. "Directiva – Volt España". www.volteuropa.es. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  2. "Volt, el partido que sueña con una Europa federal, despega en los Países Bajos". El Independiente (in Spanish). 2021-03-26. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  3. "Registro de Partidos Políticos". sede.mir.gob.es. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  4. 20minutos (2021-05-04). "Qué significa Volt, el partido paneuropeo que se presenta a las elecciones de Madrid 2021". www.20minutos.es - Últimas Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  5. "Resultados Electorales en Total España: Elecciones Europeas 2019 en EL PAÍS". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  6. "Rachele Arciulo: «Somos de centroizquierda y en el 2023 queremos entrar en el Congreso»". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  7. lainformacion.com (2021-05-04). "Qué es Volt, el partido que "confunden" con Vox en las papeletas de los comicios". La Información (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  8. Serna, Patricia Blázquez (2021-05-07). "Así es Volt, el partido cuyas papeletas se confundieron el 4-M: "Ha sido un error de los votantes de Vox"". COPE (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  9. González, Enrique (2021-09-03). "Volt España apoyará el referéndum de eutanasia en Italia". www.gndiario.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  10. Región, La (2023-04-27). "Amoeiro, el concello más dividido para las próximas elecciones municipales". La Región (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  11. "Volt, un partido 'millennial', tecnológico, verde y paneuropeo para las elecciones en Madrid". Nius Diario (in European Spanish). 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  12. "Van Lanschot weer Volt-lijsttrekker voor Europese verkiezingen". Leidsch Dagblad (in Flemish). 2023-09-23. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  13. González, Enrique (2021-09-07). "Volt España ha lanzado medidas para renovar el CGPJ". www.gndiario.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  14. Informativos (2022-06-09). "Volt apuesta por crear más viviendas públicas en Andalucía" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  15. Noticias, Córdoba Buenas. "Volt propone acabar con las corridas de toros en Andalucía". Córdoba Buenas Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  16. Noticias, Córdoba Buenas. "El partido europeo Volt propone evitar el 'ecocidio' en la legislación andaluza". Córdoba Buenas Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  17. Sanjuan, Laura Martin (2022-06-17). "Qué es Volt, el partido que se 'confunde' con VOX en las elecciones de Andalucía". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  18. "22 partidos y cinco coaliciones aspiran a lograr escaños en las elecciones andaluzas". elcorreoweb.es (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  19. "Elecciones al parlamento de Andalucía". resultados.eleccionesparlamentoandalucia2022.es. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  20. "Elecciones al parlamento de Andalucía". resultados.eleccionesparlamentoandalucia2022.es. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
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