The alternative left, positioned to the left of the PSOE, in the municipality of Los Realejos is not only consolidating its unity ahead of the local elections in 2027, but seeks to serve as an example to other localities and administrations across the Canary Islands. Their primary focus is on recovery, involvement, and maintaining close connections with the neighbourhoods and their residents. In line with this, they have scheduled a first assembly in the Tigaiga area for 20th June, where they aim to centre the discussion around the locals’ needs, proposals, priorities, and demands to the electoral list for the city council.
This coalition is promoted by groups such as Izquierda Realejera, Izquierda Unida Canaria (IUC), and Podemos, and remains open to any other party or entity that wishes to join. They consider that a larger concentration of progressive formations is crucial, particularly given the current context of the left in the Canary Islands, Spain, and globally, amidst a rising far-right and an increasingly compliant conservative right, which aligns with extreme viewpoints such as the concept of “national priority”.
The groups advocating for this unity believe that the only chance to regain representation in the Los Realejos municipality lies in forming a broad coalition that can inspire and mobilise a progressive electorate. This electorate, which once granted power to the PSOE, also provided representation to parties like ICU, ICAN, or IU. In fact, the socialists governed with absolute majorities from 1979 to 2003, returned to power in the 2007-11 term through a poorly received pact with CC, and since 2011, they have watched as the PP established increasing absolute majorities, with the PSOE averaging 5-6 councillors, CC having just one, and the alternative left failing to secure any seats in recent mandates, as is currently the case.
Consequently, the formations pushing for unity have been meeting for months. They have received a positive response to the announcement of this possibility and have already begun presenting their project. Above all, they aim to listen to residents from various key neighbourhoods and areas, such as central Realejo Bajo and Alto, in order to align closely with the social pulse and the needs of local residents, while always considering different age groups.
“Why are the needs of residents being heard less and less?”
The first meeting is set for Saturday, 20th June, at 12:00 noon, at the Tigaiga Residents’ Association headquarters. They organise this under an explicitly provocative question: “What is happening in our neighbourhoods? Why are residents’ needs counted less and less?” They also convey a deeper message (“Our neighbourhoods, in the face of drift”) and announce the participation of Pablo Esteve Hernández as leader of a talk and debate aiming to establish an alternative for the municipality from a transformative left perspective, with a clear guiding idea: that neighbourhoods “are not abandoned, but defended”.
According to their promoters, the meeting will share analyses and proposals to address the main challenges facing the municipality’s neighbourhoods. The aim is to open “a space for reflection and dialogue” about the situations prevalent in many areas of Los Realejos, “characterised by issues such as the deterioration of public services, difficulties accessing housing, a lack of places for community participation, mobility problems, and the need to strengthen social and community cohesion”.
During the event, proposals will be presented for the defence and revitalisation of the neighbourhoods, “focusing on policies centred around social justice, citizen participation, the improvement of public services, and the creation of a more liveable, inclusive, and sustainable municipality.” From the Realejero Confluence, they emphasise a call to citizens, community organisations, and resident groups to participate in this meeting, which is intended as a starting point for promoting collective solutions to the challenges faced by the residents of Los Realejos.
Moreover, they insist that they wish to set an example for other municipalities in northern Tenerife and across the Canary Islands to foster unity among the alternative left, distancing themselves from the fragmentation that has so adversely affected them in 2023 in regional administrations, the Cabildo de Tenerife, and several municipalities with three, four, or more lists to the left of the PSOE.
