CUP follows ERC's path and now wants to hide their acronym.

CUP has kicked off the race toward the 2027 municipal elections in Barcelona with an event under the slogan "Obrim Camí." A decade after their entry into the city council, the goal is to regain representation. In the last two elections (2019 and 2023), the anticapitalists have lost more than 26,000 votes and have fallen far short of the threshold required to enter the city council.

Those golden times are long gone, when, at the height of the Procés, CUP secured 51,945 votes and 3 councilors in the Catalan capital. In the most recent elections, they obtained only 25,341 ballots. Barcelona has been a true reflection of the disintegration of the cupaire project, which also failed to enter Congress and saw its weight in Parliament cut in half.

Being aware of this, the cupaires are now committed to promoting "a new political tool" that "goes beyond acronyms." They want to be the core that brings together organizations and social movements in favor of an "alternative and radical" city model. In the background, there remains the sense that, in reality, they want to hide acronyms that have become a handicap.

CUP is following the path of ERC, which considered running in the 2027 municipal elections under a different brand. After the commotion that arose, the leadership headed by Oriol Junqueras and Elisenda Alamany ultimately backed down. 

CUP, on the other hand, has an easier time justifying it, since the anticapitalists have always appealed to popular unity. Now they are trying to hide their acronyms by appealing to the unity of left-wing spaces and movements. At yesterday's event, they called on "agents of Barcelona's social and political left" to join their project.

CUP, in a difficult situation

Both in CUP and ERC, they are aware that right now their acronyms subtract more than they add. CUP already unveiled a new logo last month with the intention of renewing its image and relaunching a project that is adrift. Now it seems they also want to change their name.

CUP's situation is truly desperate, since the Procés de Garbí to refound the party has not yet borne fruit. The party has lost its narrative on social media, social muscle in the streets, and support in the polls. In Barcelona, they face an even tougher challenge, because they compete with another space, colauism, which broke their monopoly over social movements.

In fact, BComú currently controls a majority sector of social movements focused mainly on housing. At the campaign launch event for the municipal elections, CUP in Barcelona focused on pro-occupation movements. Like Can Batlló and Vallcarca, symbols of squatting and battlegrounds between CUP and the Comuns.