A little over a year ago they appeared in society in Barcelona, where they were born. Shortly after they made the leap to Madrid. And now they intend to expand throughout Spain. They are Lideremos, a youth lobby that seeks to act as a pressure group for the benefit of young people. Its creators aspire to place on the agenda the issues that concern youth - housing, decent salaries, mental health... - and thus become a reference for this group. Currently, they have about 2,500 members, and they aim to reach 15,000 by the end of 2024.
How do they intend to do it? Setting foot, progressively over the next two years, in each of the capitals of the different autonomous communities of Spain. “Our young people have asked us for it,” explains Tomàs Güell (25 years old), president of the platform. “We have members from all over Spain and they want Lideremos to reach every corner so that young people, wherever they are born, have the maximum opportunities,” he adds.
They are still planning which Spanish city they will land in first. “It could be Seville,” says Güell. “And then Pamplona,” adds Xavier García, 27 years old and vice president of strategy. Clàudia Tarinas (27), general secretary and spokesperson, and Paloma Martín (30), head of Madrid, are other members who form the hard core of the entity.
They know that growing up will be a challenge. To start, financial. At the moment, they have been financing themselves, and continue to do so, with the contributions of various partners and collaborators (such as the Fundació la Caixa, Engel
Their presentations have included ministers, such as José Manuel Albares, other politicians -Salvador Illa, Artur Más, Borja Sémper and Xavier Trias-, former politicians, such as Manuela Carmena, and also businessmen -Enrique Lacalle, Anna Gener, Rosa Tous, Jaume Guardiola or Josep Sánchez Llibre-.
The monthly fees paid (8 euros) by its driving members – “people who trust in the project and contribute to it day by day,” explains Tarinas – are another source of income.
Although they are now focused on expansion, they do not forget their main objective: to act as a pressure group for the benefit of young people. In this sense, they announce that they will carry out “two very important actions a year,” says Güell. They have already executed the first: a document of proposals (called Less Bureaucracy 2023) that aims to reduce bureaucracy in public administration and promote entrepreneurship and which they have presented to the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, to the general secretary of UGT , Pepe Álvarez, and the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni. The next step is to get it to the different parliamentary groups. “We want our proposals to be supported by social agents and civil society,” says Güell.
They claim that they have already been tempted to join some political acronyms, but they reject that option. “We are not a political party, quite the opposite,” says Güell. “We are a totally independent organization, we owe ourselves to the interest of youth, and that is what allows us to be attractive to young people.”
He acknowledges that they carry out “strategic collaborations”, but affirms that they do not affect their independence. Recently, they have started a collaboration with the Princess of Girona Foundation. They will visit five different cities with her: Lleida, Salamanca, Cádiz, Santander and Madrid. “We will document the problems that affect their young people,” says Xavier García.
They argue that they do not want to benefit on a personal level from “the pull” that, they claim, the platform is having (this year it has been chosen among the 100 most creative projects by Forbes magazine). “We have not established this organization to get rich,” Güell argues. “This project is not about names or specific young people. It goes from young people to collectives, and we have created it so that it remains over time,” he adds.
Expanding does not make them dizzy. The idea is to “take steps and consolidate them,” says Paloma Martín. “Dying of success is not an option. We believe that we must bring opportunities closer to talent, not make talent relocate to go where the opportunities are,” she emphasizes.
It is not easy to establish a new brand and a youth lobby, but they say that they are achieving it and that, therefore, they are going in the right direction. “And the best thing: we are tireless,” says Güell. So much so that they have even organized the first Lideremos awards, whose first edition ceremony will be held on February 22 at the CosmoCaixa in Barcelona. “We want to reward the capacity that many young people have. There are great talents and they deserve to be recognized,” concludes Tarinas.
