Germán Cantabrana

Germán Cantabrana González (born 12 February 1974)[1] is a Spanish former politician. He led Podemos in the Parliament of La Rioja from 2015 to 2019. After being excluded from his party's primaries for the 2019 Riojan regional election, he sued and was awarded €160,231 for violation of the right to political participation. He was expelled from Podemos in 2021 for self-proclaiming a rival leadership body.[2]

Biography

Born in Logroño in La Rioja, Cantabrana set up his own information technology company around 2005.[3] He ran on local election lists for the Riojan Party (PR+) in his hometown and in Alberite.[3]

At the start of 2015, Cantabrana took 55% of the vote to be the secretary general of Podemos in his hometown.[4] On 14 April that year, the party's secretary general at regional level, Raúl Ausejo, was suspended from leading Podemos in the 2015 Riojan regional election due to alleged fraud, and was replaced by Cantabrana.[5] Both Podemos and Citizens entered the Parliament of La Rioja for the first time, with four seats each.[6]

In October 2018, Cantabrana was not accepted for the Podemos primaries for lead candidate in the 2019 Riojan regional election, over alleged lack of payment.[7] The following month, a judge paused the primaries, due to Cantabrana's complaint over violation of his right to political participation.[8] The court found in Cantabrana's favour and Podemos appealed, before unilaterally appointing Raquel Romero as lead candidate in March 2019.[9]

Cantabrana joined forces with Sara Carreño, another unsuccessful candidate from the 2019 Podemos regional primaries, to allege fraud in the party leadership; they self-proclaimed their own leadership body in June 2020. They were among 13 members expelled for this action in April 2021.[2] In October 2021, Cantabrana's lawsuit against Podemos for impeding his candidacy concluded; he was awarded €160,231 for violation of his rights.[10]

In March 2022, Cantabrana launched Ganar La Rioja. He said that the new organisation was modelled on Teruel Existe and Soria ¡Ya![11]

References

  1. ^ "Germán Cantabrana González" (in Spanish). Parliament of La Rioja. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b Ruiz, Luis J. (14 May 2021). "Podemos expulsa a Sara Carreño por crear una dirección paralela tras perder en las primarias" [Podemos expels Sara Carreño for creating a parallel leadership after losing in the primaries]. La Rioja (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Sin palabras: Germán Cantabrana" [Without words: Germán Cantabrana] (in Spanish). Nueve Cuatro Uno. 18 May 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  4. ^ "Germán Cantabrana, elegido secretario general de Podemos Logroño" [Germán Cantabrana, elected secretary general of Podemos Logroño]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Europa Press. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  5. ^ "Podemos anula su candidatura en La Rioja por un posible fraude y suspende a la dirección regional" [Podemos annuls its candidacy in La Rioja due to possible fraud and suspends the regional leadership]. El Correo (in Spanish). Europa Press. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  6. ^ Álvarez, Pablo (24 May 2015). "El PP pierde el dominio absoluto de La Rioja" [PP loses absolute dominion over La Rioja]. La Rioja (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  7. ^ Martín, Manuel (18 October 2018). "Primarias en Podemos sin Cantabrana: Garrido, Carreño y Dueñas" [Primaries for Podemos without Cantabrana: Garrido, Carreño and Dueñas] (in Spanish). Nueve Cuatro Uno. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  8. ^ "Un juez paraliza de forma cautelar las primarias de Podemos en La Rioja" [Judge paralyses Podemos's primaries in La Rioja in a precautionary measure]. La Rioja (in Spanish). 7 November 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  9. ^ Sáenz, Teri (19 March 2019). "Podemos achaca no convocar primarias a la «judicialización» del proceso" [Podemos blames the decision to not run primaries on the "judicialisation" of the process]. La Rioja (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  10. ^ "Podemos indemnizará a Germán Cantabrana con 160.000 euros por excluirlo de las primarias" [Podemos will pay Germán Cantabrana 160,000 euros for excluding him from the primaries] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  11. ^ "Ganar La Rioja, una plataforma que se mira en Soria Ya y surge por el "desencanto" en los partidos políticos" [Ganar La Rioja, a platform based on Soria Ya and arising from "disenchantment" with political parties] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
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