The coalition government of PSOE — Unidos Podemos is in a state of shock, after disastrous regional and local elections.
The left have lost the regional “autonomous” governments of Aragón, Cantabria, Canarias, the Balearic Islands, Valencia, Extremadura and La Rioja; while retaining Castilla-La Mancha, Asturias and Navarra. The right-wing Partido Popular will continue to govern the Region of Murcia and the Community of Madrid, with an absolute majority for right-wing populist Ayuso in Madrid.
The electoral arithmetic is stark. Four years ago, in the municipal elections, 22,964,058 people voted, with a turnout of 65.2%. Of these, 6,657,119 voters (29.26%) voted for the PSOE and 5,058,542 (22.23%) for the PP. Today, the PP has more than 31.5% of the vote and PSOE less than 28%. Last Sunday, 22,452,378 people voted for their local councils, 63.92%. The fact that 37% of the population did not vote reflects the disillusionment of the working class and young people in the record of various parties which claim to be left but have failed in power — on national, regional and local level — to make real improvements to working peoples’ lives during years of crisis.
The right-wing PP, led by Alberto Feijóo will govern with the ultra-right VOX party led by Santiago Abascal in Aragon, Extremadura, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Cantabria. Abascal’s party is consolidating its position as a governing force, regionally and locally. In the Region of Murcia, too, the PP could share the government with VOX.
The polarised political situation has almost wiped off the map the more moderate right populist party Ciudadanos (Citizens Party) which was originally a ruling class project to confuse and block movements to the left after the original rise of Podemos.
The ghost of ETA
The elections were marked with demagogic and empty sloganeering by the right. In Madrid Ayuso claimed Sánchez is only in power with the ‘votes of (dissolved Basque nationalist paramilitaries) ETA.’ The PSOE — UNIDOS Podemos coalition relies on the votes of the left nationalist Baque Party BILDU. ETA gave up the armed struggle over a decade ago and BILDU — which includes many former members of Batasuna, the party which supported ETA — are pursuing an electoral path. Included in their electoral lists were ex-prisoners. It is significant that the sterile discourse of the right-wing relied on conjuring up the ghosts of the past to con the electorate.
This tactic did not work in the Basque Country. The left retained Navarra and in the Basque capital Vitoria-Gasteiz BILDU obtained the most votes in the city for the first time. Here, VOX did not reach the threshold of votes to obtain a council seat. In the whole of the Basque Country BILDU has achieved the best results in its history and has taken its number of councillors to an all-time high. Previously, the neoliberal Basque nationalist party PNV had dominated Basque institutions. The rise of BILDU takes place against the background of an increasingly combative working class in the Basque Country.
Class Struggle Continues in the Basque Country
There was a general strike of health workers on May 18th and 19th against the dismantling of the Basque public health service Osakidetza, carried out by the ruling bourgeois nationalist party PNV. BILDU and pro-independence trade unions ELA and LAB are seen as strong defenders of the health service and have gained electorally from this position. The bitter dispute to defend the health service is ongoing.
Similarly in Navarra, 10,000 teachers were on strike demanding the reduction of temporary employment contracts to below 8%, reducing the overload of work with more resources and recovering purchasing power after having lost 20% since 2010, which requires salary improvements.
Waves of women workers such as cleaners, who were declared ‘essential’ during the pandemic are stepping forward to fight against the pauperisation of living conditions. Two days before the elections the Basque capital was paralysed with a tram strike which had massive support.
In the Basque Country BILDU have managed to attract former Podemos voters and so have achieved results beyond all expectations. The key factor is that Podemos, although born out of the Indignados movement in 2011 and the wave of mass movements which followed, moved decisively over to purely electoral politics and alliances which has meant they have lost their base in the Basque Country where a more fighting alternative is offered by Bildu, to especially young people.
PNV Lehendakari (President) of the Basque Country, Iñigo Urkullu declared that the Basque Country is the “leader in strikes and demonstrations” — and added that 50% of all strikes in Spain are concentrated there — when it is a “leading” community in terms of income, low poverty and social cohesion. This comment reveals that even the leader of a bourgeois nationalist party understands that the class struggle has affected support for his party and is hinting that workers should be thankful for what they have and accept cuts. However, workers in the Basque Country understand that relatively higher living standards and better public services were fought for by the Basque working class and they are not going to give them up without a struggle.
It is also significant that in the Basque Country a sizable, combative and socialist youth movement is developing. Gazte Koordinadora Sozialista. GKS are critical of the more reformist positions taken by BILDU and their policy of trying to build a ‘national consensus’ with the bourgeois nationalist ruling party, PNV. They also criticise BILDU’s lack of a strong orientation towards the working class with clear socialist solutions. The recent electoral breakthrough for BILDU against the backdrop of industrial struggles means an important and meaningful debate on the way forward for the left will take place in the Basque Country at least.
Ada Colau Loses Power in Barcelona
In Catalonia, Ada Colau, will not continue as mayor of Barcelona where the centre-right Junts, the pro independence party most associated with the fight for independence, won the the most councillors; Ada Colau’s coalition, En Comú (which includes Podemos’ Catalan affiliate) came third with nine councillors. This is another example of the failure of left forces to take advantage of power when they were raised up by the movement on the streets. Colau was one of the founding members and spokespeople of the Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) (Platform for People Affected by Mortgages), which was set up in Barcelona in 2009 in response to the rise in evictions caused by unpaid mortgage loans and the collapse of the Spanish property market in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. This movement had created the space for Colau to be elected. Unfortunately, the gradual watering down of her left programme has resulted in disappointment and defeat.
This defeat for the left in Catalonia also took place during ongoing industrial battles and movements. Six small unions called for a general strike on International Women’s Day this year. Although UGT and CCOO did not participate, it is an indication of the consciousness of workers and a coming together of industrial struggles and women fighting against their double exploitation. However, Ada Colau and En Comú are largely disconnected from these developments.
A similar process has taken place in the city of Valencia with bad results for the left. The new mayor is from the PP, who obtained an absolute majority by making a pact with Vox. Unides Podem (which includes Podemos in Valencia) have lost all their seats in Valencia, both locally and regionally.
Why?
How is it that the right have been able to make gains given the situation in the Spanish state with 2.8 million in absolute poverty, sky-rocketing energy and food prices?
It is not the case that Spanish workers are passive or not fighting back. It is not only in the Basque Country where industrial disputes are taking place.
According to Spanish government statistics in all age groups there have been significantly more women on strike than men, 62% compared to 38%. Most strikes, (94.9%) have been in the service sector which includes the health service.
While health and social service workers have been waging bitter and massive strikes against the various Spanish provincial governments which run the health services, there have been struggles in other sectors including education and also manufacturing.
The breadth of the strikes in the Spanish state is wide. On April 17th 45,00 civil servants in the Ministry of Justice went on indefinite strike, which paralysed 130,000 cases in the system.
There has been an ongoing bitter battle in the Madrid health service. Due to cuts and privatisation by previous administrations health service workers are doing the same work without 20% of the jobs covered. The Populist President of the Madrid region, Ayuso calls the health workers ‘left-wing agitators.’ The workers have the whole of the working class behind them. On Sunday, February 12th, up to a million people came out onto the streets of Madrid in defence of the health service. The main call on the demonstration was; ‘Ayuso out!’
Yet, Ayuso was able to win an outright victory in Madrid in these recent elections. The rhetoric about ETA obviously had an effect but these results mainly reflect the disappointment of the working class at the PSOE-UNIDOS Podemos coalition and its local and regional equivalents to tackle the fundamental problems facing people.
New General Election
Pedro Sánchez responded to this electoral defeat by calling a snap general election. This tactic is intended to scaremonger at the prospect of a PP-VOX government without really offering a clear alternative. Unfortunately, Podemos do not seem to have learned from their slow decline. Former leader Pablo Iglesias proposes a left-wing front led by Sánchez with yet another split from Podemos, Sumar led by coalition minster Yolanda Díaz and Mas País, another split-off led by Iñigo Errejón.
Unfortunately, the lack of unity around a clear fighting left programme is debilitating. Millions of workers and youth in the Spanish state fear and oppose the rise of the right and a possible PP -VOX government after July 23rd but are not inspired by the left alternative on offer.
Ultimately, the far right and Francoist ideas will only be defeated by the unity of the working class around a programme to transform society. A call to maintain the capitalist status quo does not inspire and will only embolden reaction.
There is a complex and contradictory situation. Many despair at what seems the inevitability of a far-right government in Spain. However, the right’s rise and the continuing setbacks of Unidos Podemos should not be taken as proof that left wing ideas are unpopular. VOX is gaining precisely because the left is NOT offering a clear alternative to the working class.
Podemos has been tainted by its participation in the PSOE coalition. They should have criticised the PSOE from the left in parliament and above all on the streets.
Whatever the outcome of the electoral mathematics in these and the forthcoming general election, social and political polarisation continues in the Spanish state.
A victory for the far-right will provoke regional and national fissures. Many sections of the working class and youth will not accept the reactionary policies of PP-VOX. Attacks on the right to abortion and the misogynistic and racist rhetoric of VOX will not go unanswered.
