Publications

Abstract: Este artículo aborda, desde un punto de vista electoralista, un tema en pleno auge: la España vaciada. Tomamos Teruel Existe! y Soria ¡Ya! como selección de caso, al ser estas las únicas candidaturas de la Plataforma de la España Vaciada que han conseguido representación parlamentaria. Adoptando una perspectiva exploratoria, tratamos de conocer cuáles fueron los factores que a nivel municipal influyeron sobre el éxito de las Candidaturas de la España Vaciada (CEV). Para abordar esta cuestión empleamos una metodología combinada. Primero, realizamos un análisis clúster que nos permite clasificar los municipios en función de su naturaleza. Seguidamente, mediante un modelo de regresión lineal exploramos cuáles de estas características influyeron en el rendimiento electoral de las CEV. Los resultados muestran que estas formaciones cosechan el éxito en municipios cercanos a las capitales de provincia, con un tamaño superior a la media y con una reducida presencia de desempleados. No obstante, el factor que muestra tener un mayor peso en todo el trabajo fue la realización de actos políticos durante la campaña electoral.

Abstract: Voting for Populist Radical Parties (PRPs) in Europe has been a frequent subject of study in recent decades. However, little research has analysed the common factors between ideologically opposed PRPs. In this article we fill this gap in the literature from an ecological perspective at the municipal level. Using the cases of Podemos and Vox in Spain, we analyse whether the same characteristics at the municipal level explain the electoral performance of both parties. To address this question we use the results of the four general elections in which both parties have run. The results confirm an archetype of municipal-level characteristics that explain the success of both PRPs in Spain. These parties had more support in (sub-)urban contexts; with high levels of political disaffection and high incomes. Furthermore, we compare these findings with the pre-existing literature for their European peers and test the peculiarity of the Spanish case.

Abstract: Over the last years, political parties have increased their efforts to garner electoral support in the so-called ‘empty Spain’. A part of Spain, where recent depopulation dynamics have been intense, allocates 79 parliamentary seats in the Spanish Congress of Deputies and it has emerged as an important electoral asset. Yet, what is the relationship between depopulation and political behaviour? Has the decrease in population benefited or damaged certain parties? As a result of it, has electoral participation increased or decreased? Using a new dataset that includes the share of the votes of different parties and the depopulation dynamics between 2008 and 2019, this article aims at contributing to the existing literature by analysing a phenomenon which we still know little about. To do so, we use the five regions that, according to Sergio del Molino (2016), make up Empty Spain. The analyses indicate that depopulation is related to a significant increase of mobilization and vote for the conservative parties, an effect that is fundamentally driven by demographic compositional changes triggered by young people, who are more likely to be left-wing, but also more likely to move out to urban areas.

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a case study based on empirical evidence on political demand factors that allow us to analyze the political-electoral success of Vox in Castilla y León. We develop a multilevel logistic regression analysis using data from the CIS pre-electoral survey on the 2022 regional elections in the region. The results show that the characteristics of the Vox electorate in Castilla y León do not fully match those of Vox in the Spanish scenario, nor those of the European Populist Radical Right. Finally, we discovered that Vox's moment of political and electoral apogee is explained by the fact that the formation draws on a very transversal and volatile electorate. Vox has been able to attract voters with two specificities. First, unlike its European peers, it has managed to mobilize the region's economic elite. Second, it has attracted voters critical of the current situation in Castilla y León and disaffected with the management of the Junta's government.