The 6th General Assembly of Citizens was held between 9 and 15 January 2023, to renovate the leading bodies of the Citizens Party (Cs) and refound the party. On 21 June 2022, Inés Arrimadas called for a process of refoundation of the party following the succession of defeats in the Madrilenian, Castilian-Leonese and Andalusian elections where the party saw its representation drop to 0 or 1 seats. Following the conclusion of the refoundation, a bicephalous leadership was enforced separating in the positions of Secretary-General and Political Spokesperson.

On 26 December 2022, it was announced that the congress slogan would be "Radicalmente Libres" (). The leadership election saw the joint list formed by Patricia Guasp and Adrián Vázquez and supported by the outgoing president Inés Arrimadas win with 53.3% of the vote, thus defeating the candidacy of Edmundo Bal, who got 39.3% of the vote. A grassroot candidacy formed by Marcos Morales and Laura Alves managed to get 7.4% of the sare.

Candidates Candidate Age Notable positions Announced Eliminated Campaign Elected Candidates elected as Secretary-General and Political Spokesperson.Patricia Guasp Regional Coordinator of Citizens Balearic Islands (since 2020)Member of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands for Mallorca (since 2019) 23 December 2022 Elected Adrián Vázquez Member of the European Parliament for Spain (since 2020) Proclaimed Candidates who met the endorsement requirement and were officially proclaimed to contest the primary election. Edmundo Bal Vice-Secretary General of Citizens (since 2021)Member of the Congress of Deputies for Madrid (since 2019) 2 December 2022 12 January 2023 Santiago Saura 48 City Councillor of Madrid (since 2019) 21 December 2022 Marcos Morales19None 27 December 2022 12 January 2023 Laura Alves 29 City Councillor of El Álamo (since 2022) Announced Candidates who announced an intention to run for the primary election, but were rejected as a result of not meeting the endorsement requirement. Pablo Biarge? None 28 December 2022 29 December 2022 —

Declined

The individuals in this section were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but publicly denied or recanted interest in running: Inés Arrimadas (age ) — President of Citizens (since 2020); Member of the Congress of Deputies for Barcelona (since 2019); Spokesperson of the Citizens Group in the Congress of Deputies (since 2019); Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Catalonia (2015–2019); Spokesperson of the Citizens Group in the Parliament of Catalonia (2015); Member of the Parliament of Catalonia for Barcelona (2012–2019). José Ramón Bauzá (age ) — Member of the European Parliament for Spain (since 2019); Senator in the Cortes Generales appointed by the Parliament of the Balearic Islands (2015–2019); Deputy in the Parliament of the Balearic Islands for Mallorca (2011–2015); President of the Balearic Islands (2011–2015); President of the PP of the Balearic Islands (2009–2015); Mayor of Marratxí (2005–2011); City Councillor of Marratxí (1999–2011); Vice President of the PP of the Balearic Islands (2007–2009); Deputy Mayor for Urbanism and Health of Marratxí (2003–2005). Jordi Cañas (age ) — Member of the European Parliament for Spain (since 2019); Member of the Parliament of Catalonia for Barcelona (2010–2014). Francisco Igea (age ) — Member of the Cortes of Castile and León for Valladolid (since 2019); Vice President of Castile and León (2019–2021); Minister of Transparency, Land Management and External Action of Castile and León (2019–2021); Spokesperson of Castile and León (2019–2021); Member of the Congress of Deputies for Valladolid (2016–2019). Begoña Villacís (age ) — Deputy Mayor of Madrid (since 2019); City Councillor of Madrid (since 2015).

Endorsements

Total Candidates seeking to run were required to collect the endorsements of at least 1.5% of the total party members (115 endorsements).

+Summary of candidate endorsement results Candidate Endorsements Count Patricia Guasp/Adrián Vázquez 1,367 17.89 60.89 Edmundo Bal/Santiago Saura 679 8.89 30.24 Marcos Morales/Laura Alves 142 1.86 6.33 Pablo Biarge 57 0.75 2.54 Total 2,245 Valid endorsements 2,245 29.38 Not endorsing 5,397 70.62 Total members 7,642 Sources

Public endorsements

Edmundo Bal/Santiago Saura

Patricia Guasp/Adrián Vázquez

Campaign

Election debates + 6th Cs General Assembly debates Date Organisers Moderator(s) #CdN #RtP #LBdC 4 January Cs David Ferrero 9 January Cs David Ferrero

Opinion polls Poll results are listed in the tables below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the candidate's colour. In the instance of a tie, the figures with the highest percentages are shaded. Polls show data gathered among Cs voters/supporters as well as Spanish voters as a whole, but not among party members, who are the ones ultimately entitled to vote in the primary election.

Cs voters Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead Primary election 11–12 Jan 2023 – 39.3 – 53.3 7.4 – 14.0 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 9 Jan 2023 434 – 32.1 – 57.2 10.7 – – 25.1 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 9–13 Dec 2022 1,007 29.559.5 – – – – – 11.0 30.0 SocioMétrica/El Español 6–10 Dec 2022 3,042 24.6 24.5 34.3 – – – 16.6 9.7

Spanish voters Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead ElectoPanel/Electomanía 9–13 Dec 2022 1,007 25.054.1 – – 20.9 29.1 SocioMétrica/El Español 6–10 Dec 2022 3,042 16.3 27.2 23.2 33.3 4.0

Results + Summary of the 11–15 January 2023 Cs national assembly results Candidate Primary Assembly Votes % Votes % Patricia Guasp/Adrián Vázquez 2,021 53.25 Unopposed Edmundo Bal/Santiago Saura 1,493 39.34 colspan="2" Marcos Morales/Laura Alves 281 7.41 colspan="2" Total 3,795 colspan="2" Valid votes 3,795 100.00 rowspan="4" colspan="2" Invalid and blank ballots 0 0.00 Votes cast / turnout 3,795 49.66 Abstentions 3,847 50.34 Registered voters 7,642 390 Sources

Notes

References