Spain

Spain Says “No”

December 29, 2015 Conn Hallinan, www.counterpunch.org Resist! Banks, European Union (EU), Spain

By Conn Hallinan for Counter Punch - For the third time in a year, the tight-fisted, austerity policies of the European Union (EU) took a beating, as Spanish voters crushed their rightwing government and overturned four decades of two-party reign. Following in the footsteps of Greek and Portuguese voters earlier this year, Spaniards soundly rejected the economic formula of the Troika—the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund—that has impoverished millions of people and driven the jobless rate to almost a quarter of the country.

Two Party System In Spain Comes To End

December 21, 2015 Ashifa Kassam, www.theguardian.com Create! Democracy, Podemos, Spain

By Ashifa Kassam for The Guardian. Spanish politicians are gearing up for what could be weeks of complicated negotiations after the general election resulted in a deeply fragmented parliament, with the conservative People’s party losing ground to national newcomers Podemos and Ciudadanos. Anti-austerity Podemos, barely two years old and born from the Indignado protests that saw thousands rally against a political establishment felt to be out of sync with the people, finished in third place with 69 seats and 21% of the vote, while the centre-right Ciudadanos won 40 seats and 14% of the vote. “Spain is not going to be the same anymore and we are very happy,” the Podemos leader, Pablo Iglesias, said on Sunday. “The bipartisan political system is over.” The PP and Socialists won a combined vote share of about 50%, compared with the 70-80% of past general elections.

5,000 March In Madrid Anti-War Protests As France Lobbies Spain

November 30, 2015 Staff, www.thelocal.es Resist! Militarization, Spain

By Staff of The Local, Some 5,000 people protested in Madrid on Saturday, wary that joining France in attacks on ISIS strongholds in Syria would once again make the country a target for militants. Many Spaniards believe the Al-Qaeda-inspired bomb attacks in the Spanish capital in 2004, which killed 191, came in retaliation for their country's involvement in the Iraq war. The protests were organized by the collective #NoEnNuestroNombre (#NotInOurName), and were attended by some of the country's leading actors, journalists and politicians. More than 30,000 people signed the collective's petition condemning both the Paris attacks and retaliatory bombing against Syria.

Newsletter: Transformation – Elections & Movements

September 20, 2015 Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter Black Lives Matter (BLM), Bolivia, Democracy, Ecuador, Elections, Great Britain, Greece, Honduras, Jeremy Corbyn, NED, Occupy, Podemos, Scotland, Spain, Syriza, United Kingdom (UK), USAID, Venezuela

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance - The United States has unusual challenges for movements working in the electoral system. The two party system is deeply embedded in law and political consciousness so it is very hard for a party challenging Wall Street to be successful. Wall Street and big business are the dominant funders of both parties, the corporate media echoes their message and debates managed by the two parties through a phony “debate commission” keep out alternative views. People challenging that system have little opportunity to get their message out and be viable in the rigged US democracy. The relationship between movements and elections is complicated to navigate but to succeed we will need both an electoral and non-electoral movement that are independent of the corporate duopoly.

Podemos Madrid Mayor Halts Social Housing Evictions

August 2, 2015 Sonya Dowsett, www.reuters.com Resist! Evictions, Housing, Madrid, Podemos, Spain

By Sonya Dowsett for Reuters - The newly-elected left-wing mayor of Madrid on Tuesday overturned eviction orders for 70 families living in social housing and safeguarded more than 2,000 similar rental contracts. The move is the latest by the administration of Manuela Carmena, backed by anti-austerity party Podemos, to protect housing in a country where a property boom-and-bust has resulted in tens of thousands of families losing their homes. "There were 70 processes under way, but today those families have recovered their homes. Nobody is going to be thrown out on the street," Carmena said after meeting activists. Carmena took office in June after her Ahora Madrid ('Madrid Now') alliance of community activists formed a coalition with the opposition Socialists to end 24 years of centre-right People's Party (PP) rule in the capital.

The PAH: Defending The Right To Housing In Spain

July 25, 2015 Timothy Ginty, www.roarmag.org Resist! Barcelona, Housing, Public, Spain

By Timothy Ginty in RoarMag - In February 2009, after the Spanish government had shown itself incapable of enforcing Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution — declaring that “all Spaniards have the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing” — a citizens’ assembly was held in Barcelona to establish the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages, or the PAH (Spanish: Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca), a social movement which would wait for neither government action nor market corrections for this right to be enforced. The PAH’s immediate aims are simple — the prevention of the systematic eviction of tens of thousands of debtors across Spain — but its larger dream is bolder: the achievement of the socio-economic conditions in which the human right to housing may be secure.

Spain: Welcome To The Post-Party Political Era

July 18, 2015 Bernardo Gutiérrez, www.occupy.com Resist! Local, Podemos, Politics, Spain

By Bernardo Gutiérrez in Occupy - Madrid, Barcelona and other major Spanish cities are now governed by independent citizen fronts called “confluences.” Ahora Madrid, Barcelona en Comú, Zaragoza en Común and La Marea Atlántica (A Coruña) are confluences weaved together by the M15-Indignados social ecosystem. Other political parties, like Podemos and Equo, have joined these confluences while leaving political party logic at the door. The results from Spain’s latest local elections, which saw the decline of the conservative Partido Popular, have the potential of modifying the course of European politics. The municipalist effort was well underway before the Podemos tsunami – a new political party cobbled together for the European elections of May 25, 2014 – surprisingly gained five seats in European Parliament. Here's why.

Spaniards Continue Protesting As New ‘Gag Law’ Takes Effect

July 10, 2015 Ashoka Jegroo, www.wagingnonviolence.org Resist! Freedom of Expression, Human Rights, Journalism, Spain, United Nations

By Ashoka Jegroo in Waging Non-Violence - Spain’s controversial new “Public Security Law,” known as “La Ley Mordaza,” or the “gag law,” officially went into effect on July 1 following protests around the country by thousands of protesters. The law, which has been the target of much criticism from journalists, lawyers associations, the opposition Socialist Party, UN experts and human rights groups, criminalizes and penalizes many common acts of protest like protesting outside of government buildings, disrupting public events, photographing or being openly disrespectful to police officers, trying to stop an eviction, and using social media to make calls for a protest. Those who break this new law face fines ranging from 100 euros ($111) to 600,000 euros ($665,139) and may also face up to one year in jail for some offenses.

Spain: March Against New Law Criminalizing Protest

July 3, 2015 Mary Scully, www.maryscullyreports.com Resist! Freedom of Expression, Law, police brutality, Repression, Spain

By Mary Scully - Despite massive protests in cities across Spain for months, the regime has installed a new security law criminalizing protests. It’s a sweeping, draconian law that does more than silence opposition to the EU-IMF austerity policies but is a frontal assault on civil liberties & democracy. Activists are given steep fines for protests in front of government buildings; fines for obstructing police officers evicting families & seniors from public housing sold to private investors; fines for taking photos of police engaged in abusive behavior; fines for showing lack of respect for police; the homeless & prostitutes will be fined; & immigrants & refugees will be returned to Morocco without the due process required by international law.

Citizens Take Power In Spain’s Largest Cities

June 14, 2015 Staff, www.euronews.com Create! Austerity, Madrid, Spain

By Staff for Euro News. “We are servants of the people of Madrid”, said Carmena. “We are here because they have chosen us to represent them. We cannot forget it.We are at their service. Therefore I would insist and remember that we want to listen as well as govern”. Pablo Iglesias, the leader of the anti-austerity anti-corruption Podemos party was there to the witness the event. He can claim much of the credit for the changes taking place across the country. The victory for the left wing citizens’ alliance in the Spanish capital is the fall out from the dismal ruling right-wing Partido Popular results in the local and regional elections last month. Similar citizen-driven left-wing alliances are now also in power in Barcelona and Valencia. What amounts to a political revolution in Spain can be traced back to the ‘indignados’ protests against austerity measures introduced by the PP Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in 2011.

Anti-Eviction Activist Ada Colau Becomes Barcelona’s Mayor

June 14, 2015 Maria Sanchez Diez, www.qz.com Create! Barcelona, Elections, Housing, Spain

By Maria Sanchez Diez for Quartz. Colau, a well-known housing and anti-eviction activist, is the leader of the leftist coalition Barcelona en Comú (Barcelona Together). During Spanish regional elections in May, Colau’s party edged out the coalition lead by former Barcelona mayor Xavier Trias. Colau was helped by endorsements and support from new anti-austerity party Podemos, as well as the left-wing Catalan Green Party. Meanwhile in Madrid, 72-year-old judge and leader of a similar leftist alliance Manuela Carmena was sworn in as mayor thanks to support from the Socialist party. Carmena’s victory signals the end of 24 years of conservative leadership in the Spanish capital. Both Colau and Carmena have promised to cut their salaries and stop evictions. If Colau’s past record is any indication, she just might give banks a run for their money.

Urban Electoral Revolt In Spain Leads To New Urban Agenda

May 29, 2015 Carlos Declós, www.roarmag.org Resist! Elections, Local, Populism, Social Change, Spain

In Barcelona, the prominent anti-evictions activist Ada Colau won the city’s mayoral race. In Madrid, once a stronghold of the Popular Party, the former judge Manuela Carmena also has a chance to govern, depending on whether her platform and the deteriorating Socialist party are willing to strike a deal. In the four largest cities, it is quite possible that the mayor will belong to neither of the two major parties. The same is true in Galicia’s major cities, Santiago and A Corunha. In Cádiz, Spain’s unemployment capital, another new, anti-austerity platform finished a close second. Much of the right-wing Spanish press is already attributing these spectacular results to a cult of personality around the people leading these platforms, accompanied by the typical references to populism and Venezuela, with an occasional shout-out to North Korea for extra flavor (as if the resort to these arguments weren’t the epitome of populist rhetoric).

Militants Who Reject The Ballot Box In Spain Form New Network

May 25, 2015 Mark Bray, www.roarmag.org Resist! Elections, Grassroots, Podemos, Politics, Spain

Four years ago this month, the 15-M movement, commonly referred to as the indignados, burst forth in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. The movement united a wide variety of political factions and tendencies. It managed to gain momentum behind a widespread critique of the austerity measures of the two ruling parties (the PP and the PSOE, which many 15-M signs refer to collectively as the PPSOE) and a desire for “real democracy now!” (¡Democracia real ya!) embodied in directly democratic assemblies and a rejection of hierarchy. In May 2014, Podemos surged onto the scene as a new political party that attempted to channel the popular democracy of the 15-M into the ballot box, winning five seats in the European parliament. Although Podemos claims to be the legitimate heir to the fading 15-M movement, Left critics have argued that the new party has hastened popular demobilization by selling the notion that social ills can be simply voted away and that this new party isn’t like the ones who came before it.

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