History
The Bloc was formed in 1998 as a result of the federation of several parties in a coalition formed for the 1995 regional elections. That group of parties was headed by Unitat del Poble Valencià (UPV, founded in 1982) which is the main predecessor of the current Bloc, together with other smaller parties, often locally based, such as the Valencian Nationalist Party (1990) or Alcoi Nationalists (1994).
The Bloc has historically defined itself as a left-wing party. This position shifted to a centrist or center-left position in the late nineties, as part of a strategy to appeal to a broader audience.
Then, for the 2007 Valencian regional elections to the Corts Valencianes, the Valencian regional parliament, the Bloc returned to a more left wing agenda as it ran in coalition with EUPV, the Valencian branch of Izquierda Unida, a coalition whose main member is the Communist Party (PCE). This coalition operated under the name of Compromís pel País Valencià. Compromís' results (seven seats) did not achieve their goal of growing and forming a front alongside the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) to oust the Partido Popular from the regional government, but allowed Bloc to enter the autonomous Parliament (two seats) and secured EUPV representation as well (the remaining five seats).
However, a schism occurred soon after within the EUPV between the two more nationalist and social democratic MPs on the one side and the more communist and less nationalist remaining three members on the other. The former MPs were finally expelled from EUPV and went on to create a new party Iniciativa del Poble Valencià IdPV (Valencian People Initiative). In turn, they allied themselves with the Bloc, thus effectively gaining a majority for the nationalists in the coalition while creating a climate of frigid relations between EUPV and Bloc for the remainder of the term making the renewal of the pact for future polls unlikely in the short term.
For the 2008 General election the Bloc ran in coalition with other left wing, regional and green parties, as Iniciativa del Poble Valencià. However despite the fact that the list was headed by a sitting deputy, Isaura Navarro, their vote fell relative to 2004.
For the 2011 Valencian Regional elections, they stood in an electoral alliance with Iniciativa del Poble Valencià and other Green parties in a new coalition called Coalició Compromís. This coalition won a record of six seats in the Valencian parliament, and also won the first seat in history for a Valencian Nationalist force in the Spanish national parliament at the 2011 Spanish General Election.
Read more about this topic: Valencian Nationalist Bloc
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