A Valencian coalition without dependency ties to Spanish parties achieved an unprecedented and unexpected success in yesterday's election to the Corts (autonomous Parliament of the Valencian Country) as it secured 19 seats out of 99 -up from 6 in 2011- and polled third, right after two main Spanish parties PP and PSOE. The Compromís coalition, made up of the Valencian Nationalist Bloc and two green parties, is now holding the key to government formation if left-wing parties are to put an end to the current, 20-year-long hegemony of PP's conservative Spanish nationalism in the Valencian Country.

Besides a commitment to deeper democracy, fight against corruption, transparency, social justice, gender equality and ecology, the Compromís manifesto includes measures such as a Spain-Valencian Country economic agreement, Valencian linguistic immersion in schools, reopening the Valencian public broadcaster, and the creation of a Valencian public bank.

So far, results by Valencian-only parties had been mild. In the 1987 and 2007 elections, coalitions made up of Valencian nationalists on the one side and Spanish federalist Izquierda Unida on the other had garnered some 8% of the votes. At that time, PSOE was unchallenged in its leadership of the Valencian left: from 1983 to 2007 the party had never received less than 34% of the votes. The Valencian Nationalist Bloc, meanwhile, had never managed to enter the Corts leading a list of its own, although the party was left 0.2 points short of doing so in 2003.

This began to change in the 2011 election to the Corts. PSOE saw its hegemony over the leftist camp eroded as the party could only manage to retain 29% of the votes. Meanwhile, Compromís in its current makeup entered the Corts with 7% of the votes.

That 22-point gap came to nothing yesterday, as PSOE only received 20.3% of the votes and 23 seats, while Compromís rocketed to 18.2% and 19 MPs. Another leftist party (Podemos) captured 11.2% of the votes and 13 seats, thus leaving PSOE for the first time ever in minority within the Valencian left.

To this landmark change, the historical result in the local election of the city of Valencia must be added. For the first time ever, Compromís emerged as the largest left-wing party, with 23.3% of the votes and 9 councilors, only one behind PP. If all leftist parties in the Valencian municipality reach a deal, Compromís's Joan Ribó will likely be the next Valencian mayor.

Spanish nationalist right fails

Even if it will still be the single largest force in the Corts, PP was yesterday dealt a heavy blow as it received 26.2% of the votes, down from 48% in 2011. The Spanish nationalist party only retained 31 of its former 55 seats in the Valencian Parliament. Even if another minor Spanish nationalist paty (Citizens) made it into the Corts (13 MPs), their combined number of seats will not be enough to prevent left-wing parties from forming a government of their own.