Ciudadanos (Cs) has flatlined and won't be running in Spain's snap election on July 23rd. It is virtually the end for the Spanish political party that was born in Catalonia in 2006 with a vehement anti-independence line that first helped it rise to become the third largest party in the Spanish Congress in April 2019 (57 MPs) under leader Albert Rivera and then symbolized its ideological confusion, too hardline to take the opportunities that arose in Spanish politics for a real Liberal party, and ultimately outgunned on the right by the PP and the emerging Vox. Since that 2019 peak, its electorate has disintegrated a little more in every election in which it has stood.
After the absolute failure of Cs in the 28th May local and autonomous elections - losing 80% of its 2019 vote in Catalonia - the party announced on Wednesday that it would not be running in the snap general election called for July. Cs general secretary, Adrián Vázquez, said that it was now time to "reinforce" and "intellectually rearm" Ciudadanos for the future. "The Spanish do not see us as a transformational political alternative", one of the two leaders of the party acknowledged in a press conference, surrounded by a handful of long faces.
Nevertheless, the respirator is not being turned off just yet. Adrián Vázquez has stated this Thursday that a repeat of the 2023 General Elections next July 23rd is "plausible", and he is confident that in this way a "new political cycle" could be opened for Ciudadanos, which is why he considers it better to "wait" and does not contemplate dissolving the party for now.