Article for Socialist Worker - Spanish elections 2019

Yesterday saw very important elections to the Spanish Congress. They were one more step in the
long running political crisis in which the Catalan conflict and the ongoing effects of the
economic crisis have been key factors.

Pedro Sánchez of the Labour type Socialist Party (PSOE) came to office in June 2018, replacing
the conservative PP government. The right fell to a no confidence motion supported by a very
diverse range of forces: PSOE, Unidos-Podemos and the Basque and Catalan parties. However
Sánchez’s refusal to respect Catalonia’s right to decide its future led to the Catalan parties
refusing to support his budget, and thus to these elections.

The big fear of many people was a victory of the right wing alliance of the PP, Ciudadanos and
the new far right party, VOX. These came together in Andalucía last December, replacing the
PSOE in the regional government. This fear was one factor in pulling to the ballot boxes many
people who normally abstain. Participation rose from below 70% in the 2016 elections to over
74%. In Catalunya the increase was from under 66% to over 76%; the right has Catalunya in its
sights, threatening it would suspend Catalan self government again if it took power.

It is still early to say what government will be formed but it is almost certain that it will again be
led by Pedro Sánchez, and he will still have no solutions to either the Catalan national question
or the economic crisis.

Sánchez used the fear of the right as a reason to vote for him. There were reasons to worry about
the right, but many of the PSOE’s policies actually cede the argument to the right, and even the
far right. To give only a few examples, he has kept the Catalan political prisoners —who has still
not been condemned of any crime— in jail; after a brief photo opportunity welcoming refugees,
he has stopped the rescue ships from operating…

When it was launched in 2014, Podemos was the presented as the great new hope for the left.
But it very quickly started to betray people’s hopes, and over the last few years it has become just
another reformist party, far from its origins in the indignados movement. Their main aim in the
elections was to obtain enough seats to form a government with the PSOE. Many people
followed the logic that if what was needed was a PSOE government, they should vote PSOE.

Spain is not so different

In any case, the biggest news of the night is the entry of the far right into the Spanish congress.

VOX was originally a right wing split from the PP, a right wing populist and racist party.
However, its growth —itself a product of the political crisis and the breakdown of the two party
system— has made it attractive to outright fascists, who have freely entered the party, and
several have been selected as candidates for the council elections at the end of May. There have
been some headline cases of VOX taking action against fascists, such as one notorious Holocaust
denier, but this only happens in cases of extreme embarrassment.

https://www.abc.es/economia/abci-pozuelo-y-majadahonda-ciudades-rentas-medias-mas-
altas-espana-201603011207_noticia.html