Communist brings together multiple groups under Sumar banner and aims to become country’s first female PM
A new political party has launched in Spain, composed of more than a dozen left-leaning groups and led by a lifelong communist who aims to become the country’s first female prime minister.
Yolanda Díaz, the deputy prime minister and minister of labour, has drastically changed Spain’s political landscape with the formation of the Sumar (Unite) party.
Continue reading...Leader calls legislation ‘greatest blow to civil and political liberties’ since return to democracy
The leader of Spain’s Podemos party has defended the coalition government’s push to change its predecessor’s “gag law”, calling it “the greatest blow to civil and political liberties” since the country’s return to democracy.
Ione Belarra, who serves as the minister for social rights in the Socialist-led minority government, said the public security legislation had eroded basic democratic rights since it was introduced by the conservative People’s party (PP) six years ago.
Continue reading...Protests, citizens’ assemblies, local referendums and mutual aid groups are pushing back against attacks on civil society
The past decade has been a bruising one for the health of European democracy. The dramatic authoritarian turns in Hungary and Poland have attracted most attention, but nearly all European governments have chipped away at civil liberties, judicial independence and civil society.
With Covid accentuating many of the challenges posed by populism, disinformation and a collapse in public trust, the narrative of democracy labouring in deep crisis is now well established. Yet as the threats have mounted, so have efforts to defend and rethink Europe’s democratic practices.
Continue reading...Ten years after the indignados took to the streets, the fortunes of their political heirs are flagging
Spain’s regional elections in May 2011 were a lively affair, to say the least. As post-crash austerity led to soaring unemployment and abject poverty for millions, the indignados movement was born, filling Madrid and other cities with protesters night after night. It was out of this ferment of discontent and anti-capitalist idealism that the Podemos party was born, quickly rivalling and briefly threatening to surpass the Spanish Socialist Workers’ party as the country’s main leftwing force.
Ten years on, political drama is on the cards again, as Madrid goes to the polls on 4 May. The conservative regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has called a snap election to consolidate her majority, after threatening manoeuvres from a junior coalition partner. Podemos’s leader, Pablo Iglesias, has stepped down from his role as a deputy prime minister in Spain’s socialist-led government to take her on. The Madrid region has been run by the right since 1995, so Mr Iglesias has his work cut out. He has suggested his candidacy is motivated by a need to head off a possible extreme-right administration in the capital, which could include the far-right Vox party. But there are almost certainly other considerations at work as well.
Continue reading...Protesters burn barricades in centre of Barcelona as case of Pablo Hasél risks dividing ruling leftwing coalition
Spanish police and protesters have clashed for a third night as the backlash against the jailing of a rapper for controversial tweets continued.
Dozens of people have been arrested since Tuesday night when angry demonstrations erupted after police detained Pablo Hasél, 32, who had been holed up in a university in Catalonia to avoid going to jail in a highly contentious free speech case.
Continue reading...Podemos leader enlists Portugal and Italy to lobby for policy as depression looms for coronavirus-ravaged southern Europe
It’s been proposed, probed and pushed to the margins of the European Union for more than two decades. Now, as Europe reels from tens of thousands of coronavirus deaths and millions of lost jobs in the worst recession for generations, ministers from Spain, Italy and Portugal say the time has come to revive a radical idea: a pan-EU minimum income.
“This is the moment for debates about social protection,” Pablo Iglesias, Spain’s deputy prime minister for social rights and leader of Podemos, told the Guardian. “Anyone who finds themselves in a vulnerable situation should have access to protection mechanisms that allow them to fill their fridge and care for their family.”
Continue reading...Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez appears to have failed in bid to form a stable government
Spain looks set to return to the polls for the fourth time in as many years in November after last-ditch efforts to break the deadlock following April’s inconclusive vote came to nothing late on Tuesday.
Although the Spanish socialist party (PSOE), led by the acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, won the most votes five months ago, it fell well short of a majority in the country’s 350-seat congress.
Continue reading...Socialist party leader Pedro Sánchez fails to win support of anti-austerity Unidas Podemos
Spain’s Socialist party leader, Pedro Sánchez, has failed in his first attempt to form a new government after the anti-austerity Unidas Podemos party abstained in a parliamentary vote.
Sánchez, who has been acting prime minister since an inconclusive election in April, needed an absolute majority of at least 176 votes in his favour in the 350-seat house to be confirmed as PM. Instead he received 124 votes in favour and 170 against, and there were 52 abstentions.
Continue reading...PSOE aims to govern alone with support of Podemos after rival People’s party loses seats in face of far-right surge
Spain’s socialist party has begun weighing up its options for government after storming past its traditional conservative rival in Sunday’s snap general election but failing to win a majority.
The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, led his socialist PSOE party to its first victory since 2008, winning 123 seats and taking 29% of the vote.
Continue reading...PSOE wins 123 seats on 75% turnout and likely to seek coalition to reach 176-seat target for working majority
Spain’s ruling socialists won the most votes but fell short of a majority in Sunday’s snap general election, a contest marked by the breakthrough of the far-right Vox party and a disastrous performance by the country’s traditional conservative party.
Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) won 123 seats, the conservative People’s party (PP) 66, the centre-right Citizens party 57, the anti-austerity Unidas Podemos and its allies 42, and Vox 24.
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