page_title: Union, Progress and Democracy
section_title: Elections
hierarchical_section_title: Union, Progress and Democracy / Elections
caption_attribution_description: Español: Rueda de prensa y celebración de UPyD en el Hotel Villa Real de Madrid, tras las elecciones autonómicas y locales de 2011.
context_page_description: Union, Progress and Democracy is a Spanish political party founded in September 2007. It is a social-liberal party that rejects any form of nationalism, especially the separatist Basque and Catalan movements. The party is deeply pro-European and wants the European Union to adopt a federal system without overlap between the European, national and regional governments. Besides, the magenta party wants to replace the State of Autonomies with a symmetric and highly centralized, albeit still federal, system in Spain as well as substituting a more proportional election law for the current one.
  Mikel Buesa, at a 2007 party presentation, and Rosa Díez, in a 2007 interview for a magazine, explained the origin of the three concepts which make up the party's name: Union, because of their "unconditional defence of the union of Spain as a necessary condition for all Spaniards' equality before the law". Progress, because they affirm to be "a progressive party respectful of individual freedom". And Democracy, on account of their "commitment to radical regeneration of democracy".
context_section_description: The party's national spokesperson, Rosa Díez, won a seat in the general election of 2008 from Madrid Province with 3.74 percent of the vote. Other prominent candidates were writer Álvaro Pombo (for the Senate) and Carlos Martínez Gorriarán, both of whom failed to win seats.
  In 2009, the party gained representation in the European Parliamentary election and the Basque Regional Elections. Their MEP, Francisco Sosa Wagner, sat in the non-aligned group in the European parliament. In the Basque elections, Gorka Maneiro was elected to represent Álava.
  In 2011, Luis de Velasco Rami and 7 other UPyD members were elected to the Madrid Assembly, with UPyD becoming the fourth-largest party. In the 2011 local elections, the party won seats in Madrid, Burgos, Ávila, Granada, Alicante and Murcia. UPyD received the fourth-largest number of votes in the 2011 general election: 1,143,225, or 4.70 percent. Of the five seats won, four (held by Rosa Díez, Carlos Martínez Gorriarán, Álvaro Anchuelo and Irene Lozano) were in Madrid; actor Toni Cantó was elected in Valencia Province.
  In the 2014 European Parliament Elections, Francisco Sosa Wagner was re-elected, and UPyD won three extra seats (for Maite Pagazaurtundúa, Fernando Maura and Beatriz Becerra), consolidating their support nationwide. The party's MEPs planned to join the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group.
caption: Luis de Velasco Rami, Rosa Díez and David Ortega
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