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After a stunning breakthrough in the 2014 European election, Podemos became the third largest parliamentary party in Spain in the 2016 general election and achieved representation in all regions. This article examines how Podemos has adapted to the opportunities and dilemmas posed by Spain’s multi-level setting in several ways: its formation in early 2014 and its evolution since; its ideological principles and policy menu; its organisation; and its political strategies and electoral alliances. The hypotheses test the effects of adaptation to multi-level competition on the party electorate. The findings indicate the positive effect of support for more decentralisation on the likelihood of voting for Podemos, but also how this effect is territorially differentiated and could affect the party’s cohesion and internal debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ciudadanos, a party founded in Catalonia in 2006, has recently acquired a major role in the Spanish political system. This article examines why it was formed almost ten years ago and how it has evolved since; its ideological principles and policy menu; the party organisation and leadership; the main determinants of its vote, and the structure of opportunities faced by the party in the 2015 general election. It considers Ciudadanos in two different contexts ‒ Catalonia and all Spain ‒ and in two different ‘time zones’: before 2014, when the party was mainly a regional force, and after that date. In each context, the party seems to have responded to the unsatisfied demands resulting from the double electoral market failure of the last decade in Spain and Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]