Marinaleda is a Spanish municipality of the province of Seville that belongs to the region of Sierra Sur, located in the basin of Genil, in the autonomous community of Andalusia.

It is noted for its left-leaning principles based on a leftist ideology led by Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, mayor from 1979 to 2023 and a member of the Unitarian Candidacy of Workers (CUT).

[3] Critics claim that this economic and social progress is due in part to the fact that almost 66% of the income received by the City of Marinaleda is from administrative superiors such as the state, the autonomous community, and the Provincial Council of Seville.

Marinaleda belongs to the comarca of Estepa and is situated between this latter town and Écija, in the eastern part of the province of Seville, in the basin of the Genil river.

The first indications of human settlement in the territory now covered by the Marinaleda municipality go back to the late Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, about 5,000 years ago.

The Roman road connecting the villages of Astigi (present-day Écija) and Ostippo (Estepa) ran by Marinaleda, and there have been many discoveries from the period.

Marinaleda then grew as a population centre due to the influx of day labourers working for large landowners, especially the Marquesses of Estepa.

In 1984, the Cordobilla marsh was occupied for 30 days to demand irrigation for a farm called El Humoso, property of the Duke of Infantado, facilitating its later expropriation.

Three years later, a food processing plant was set up, supplied by the raw materials of the cooperative: piquillo pepper, beans, artichokes, and olives.

The social and political system that has been implemented in the community, and the good results obtained in terms of economic development and well-being of the inhabitants, has brought Marinaleda to the attention of the media in Spain and abroad.

The "Social Democracy" tab on the town's website states the following:[10] And while we were struggling for land, for industry, for employment, we realised that there were other basic rights that had to be won.

It seemed to us that in this principle there should be no limits; that the people should have a dream of collective welfare and that it should be realized by struggle, because no popular aspirations, no matter how unreachable they may seem, can be rejected either in thought or in action by a genuinely revolutionary Left.

Additionally, political murals and revolutionary slogans adorn the town's whitewashed walls and streets are named after Latin American leftists.

Now, we see we have to put the economy at the service of man.Marinaleda has a long tradition of sociopolitical struggle by agricultural labourers, which has decisively influenced the attainment of diverse political and social advances.

The farm is located seven miles (11 km) north of Marinaleda, and grows labour-intensive crops like artichokes, hot peppers, broccoli, and broad beans, as well as wheat.

[12] The Ayuntamiento (local government) of Marinaleda bought and expropriated thousands of square metres of land, now communal property, for the construction of new houses.

[12] Marinaleda's citizens reside in a colony of neat houses, each with three bedrooms, one bathroom, and a garden of 100 m2 (1,100 sq ft), allowing for future expansions.