| Teruel Exists | |
| Native Name: | Teruel Existe |
| Spokesperson: | Tomás Guitarte |
| Founded: | November 1999 29 September 2021 |
| National: | Empty Spain |
| Headquarters: | 44002, Teruel |
| Ideology: | Regionalism[1] |
| Position: | Big tent |
| Colors: | Green |
| Seats1 Title: | Congress of Deputies (Teruel seats) |
| Seats2 Title: | Senate of Spain (Teruel seats) |
| Seats3 Title: | Cortes of Aragon (Teruel seats) |
| Seats4 Title: | Local government in Teruel |
| Country: | Spain |
Teruel Existe (English: Teruel Exists, TE)[1] is a Spanish political party based in the province of Teruel. It was founded in November 1999 as a citizen platform with the goal of demanding a fair and equal treatment for the province of Teruel.[2] [3] In 1999, Teruel still had no motorways, and on the only railway line (which was single-track without electrification) the train had derailed eight times in a year.[2] [3]
Encouraged by the success of the strike called for 4 October 2019 in twenty Spanish provinces, to protest the "forgetfulness" suffered by the so-called "empty Spain",[4] [5] the platform chose to establish itself as a grouping of electors to contest the upcoming November general election in the province. It became the most voted provincial force, securing one out of the three Teruel Congress seats and two out of its four directly-elected senators,[6] as well as becoming the first grouping of electors since the Spanish transition to democracy to be successful in entering the Spanish parliament.[7]
The platform was instrumental in the investiture of Pedro Sánchez as Prime Minister of Spain on 5–7 January 2020,[8] [9] for whose support its leader Tomás Guitarte received intense threats and coercion from right-wing to far-right groups, which resulted in the Ministry of the Interior having to provide him with a police escort for security reasons.[10] [11]
The platform was registered as a political party on 29 September 2021.[12]
| Cortes Generales | |||||||||
| Election | Leading candidate | Congress | Senate | Government | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Seats | +/– | ||||
| Nov. 2019 | Tomás Guitarte | 19,761 | 0.08 (#19) | 1 | 2 | ||||