News > Analysis
The
Indignados fight against austerity, raising their arms as they fill Madrid's
Puerta del Sol. | Photo: Reuters
Published 22 June 2016
The profound economic
crisis has given birth to a strong social movement along with a Left bloc in
Spain.
In February 2013, anti-eviction
activist Ada Colau—unknown to the vast majority of Spaniards at the time—called
a representative of Spain’s banking industry a criminal during a hearing on
evictions in the Chamber of Deputies. At the time, more than 100 people a day
were being thrown out of their homes.
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The speech made lawmakers’ jaws drop
and got her reprimanded by parliament. But her voice of protest resonated with
millions of Spaniards and she became a regular on television talk shows.
Today Ada Colau is the mayor of
Barcelona.
Colau's case is perhaps the most
remarkable example of a wave of ordinary people that have gone into politics in
Spain in recent years. The truth is that the interest in politics among Spanish
youth has increased since the economic crisis, as confirmed by several studies.
One study, by the Reina Sofia Center of
Adolescence and Youth, found that 46.1 percent of Spaniards between the ages of
18 and 25 do not trust “conventional politics” and defend alternative forms of
participatory citizenship.
How and why did this happen?
The profound economic crisis that the
country is living has sprouted many issues: an unemployment level that exceeds
25 percent, with almost 30 percent of the population living under the poverty
line; large budget cuts affecting basic social services like health, education
and public housing.
To this must also be added the mass
indignation over the innumerable cases of political corruption involving
Spain's traditional parties, the right-wing Popular Party and the center-left
Socialist Party.
The birth of the 15M movement in 2011,
the Indignados, against austerity—whose main slogan was, "They don't
represent us"—and the creation of the Podemos party, which organizes
assemblies in most cities, neighborhoods and districts to encourage grassroots
participation, are two key factors that helped politicize many Spaniards.
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This grassroots political force is
what's now transforming state institutions. Besides the case of Ada Colau in
Barcelona, in other Spanish cities like Madrid, Cadiz, A Coruña and Zaragoza,
formations arising from social movements won municipal elections last year.
In Madrid, for example, Judge Manuela
Carmena became mayor last year thanks to Now Madrid, a platform that unites
representatives of political parties like Podemos and United Left, with social
activists on the ground.
This victory ended 24 years of
right-wing governments in the capital of Spain.
Since she took power, Carmena has been
curbing the political elite’s access to special privileges.
“There was an overbearing respect for
power, which we are trying to change simply by being who we are: ordinary
people,” Mario Munera, a member of Carmena’s political platform, told teleSUR.
“From there you also have to make sure
to resist, so that the institutions don't end up changing you," he added.
During Carmena’s past year in office,
Madrid has increased its budget for social spending 16 percent, from 516 to 600
million euros. Meanwhile, Madrid's multi-billion euro debt has been reduced by
more than 20 percent.
In May, Podemos and the older left-wing
party United Left announced that they will run on a joint platform, called
Unidos Podemos, or United We Can. This powerful coalition is now running
second, ahead of the Socialist Party according to recent polls.
In a statement read to the press, party
representatives said the alliance aimed to "take back the country" in
favor of the "working classes and social majorities." The coalition
has been applauded by leftists across Spain and Europe. If victorious, they
will displace the long-established Socialist Party, which has been accused of turning
its back on leftist policies for years.
The new government will have to face
challenges like the independence movement in Catalonia, demands by many to
revisit the Constitution—the current Spanish Constitution dates to 1978, the
fight against unemployment and Spain's intervention in Syria.
Whether significant change comes or not
on Sunday June 26, what is clear is that the political system in Spain has
definitely changed. As Munera said, "The two-party system is not the
dominant system of government anymore. Politics is not as dichotomous and
binary as it used to be, and that favors the discussions, the little details
that are so important. So, in this sense, it enriches the system of
representation."
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