Article by Víctor Egío
End of the “progressive cycle” and rise of the Far Right
The political situation in Spain is far removed from that of a decade ago, when Podemos emerged as a left-wing populist alternative to Spain’s traditional two-party system. In July 2023, it was the right-wing Popular Party that won the parliamentary elections. However, the Popular Party and the far-right Vox did not have a sufficient majority to obtain a parliamentary majority and form a government. That majority was achieved by Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE), with the left-wing Sumar as a government partner and the external support of the Basque and Catalan nationalist parties.
Legislature without a left-wing majority and frustration among the working class
This majority is even more fragile when we consider that two of the nationalist parties that support the government, Junts per Catalunya (“Together for Catalonia”) and the Basque Nationalist Party, are right-wing parties. This, combined with PSOE’s own natural “limitations”, as a reformist party, has prevented the government from making significant social advances in labor or housing policies, which has led to great dissatisfaction among the working class. This dissatisfaction is also the trigger for the growth of the Far Right, which already accounts for around 20% of the vote.
From “Podemos” to “Sumar”
In the previous 2019-2023 legislative term, social progress was more significant, particularly the increase in the minimum wage and the extension of social benefits such as the Minimum Living Income, as well as a strengthening of public services.
However, Podemos has paid dearly for the judicial and media persecution it has suffered since its inception, with continuous smear campaigns and “lawfare” (29 spurious lawsuits have been filed). It has also suffered from its own shortcomings. The absence of a militant tradition among the Podemos grassroots and excessive personalism in making such momentous decisions as the change in the organisation’s leadership led to a huge disaster when Pablo Iglesias stepped down from the front line and appointed an independent figure, Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, as his successor. This spontaneous move was made without any internal process and without Yolanda Díaz herself making public her own vision for the future of the Unidas Podemos coalition (Podemos – Izquierda Unida-Partido Comunista – Comunes de Cataluña). Pablo Iglesias himself acknowledged this as his biggest mistake in politics.
Yolanda Díaz, a more reformist and conciliatory figure, quickly distanced herself from Podemos’ populism and founded a new party, Sumar (Summer), completely subordinate to PSOE, vetoing Podemos’ leaders who were critical of this operation and attracting the old leadership of Izquierda Unida (United Left) and the Communist Party. The result is a complete division of the parliamentary Left and great disenchantment among the left-wing electorate.
Pro-government trade unions, tools in the hands of the government
Lacking popular support, the new government that emerged from the polls in 2023 has maintained the support of the pro-government trade unions, Comisiones Obreras (Workers’ Commissions) and UGT (General Confederation, controlled by PSOE). In fact, both trade union confederations have become an appendage of the government and its labor minister, Yolanda Díaz, supporting its initiatives to reduce the working week from 40 to 37.5 hours, the extensión of the retirement age and cuts in unemployment benefits.
The rise of Vox, the Trumpist far right
If at any point it was thought that Spain was immune to the virus of the Far Right, this is no longer the case. The 2017 referendum on Catalan independence activated Spanish nationalism, identified first with Ciudadanos and then with Vox. After the collapse of Ciudadanos, it has been Vox that has capitalized on this nationalism, adding xenophobia and climate denialism to the mix.
Until the summer of 2024, Vox’s destiny seemed to be to become a partner of the Popular Party, gaining access to the governments of several autonomous communities such as Valencia, Castile and León, and Murcia. However, in July 2024, Vox decided to break away from all regional governments and distance itself from the traditional Right to embrace the program of the Trumpist far-right represented in the European Parliament by the Patriots group, which has Le Pen and Orban as its leaders.
The focus of its political program is on racism and Islamophobia, which led to intense ethnic conflicts this summer in the town of Torre Pacheco (Murcia). By placing immigration at the center of the political debate and thanks to social media, Vox has already gained the support of 1 in 5 voters, according to polls.
On the other hand, fear of the Far Right has been exploited by the Socialist Party, to concentrate the votes of the entire left as the only way to stop the reactionaries.
Social mobilizations for Palestine: a seed of hope
In this context of disaffection with the Left and the rise of the Far Right, only the mobilizations in solidarity with Palestine represent a glimmer of hope. Particularly intense in Spain, these mobilizations have exceeded official forecasts, even interrupting the Vuelta a España cycling race due to the participation of an Israeli team.
For the first time since the Indignados movement in 2011, the solidarity movement for Palestine has brought a broad layer of young people onto the streets, a sector in which Far-Right ideas are increasingly gaining ground. In this sense, it represents a seed of hope and fertile ground on which to continue building.
At the same time, this movement, by its very nature, is already surpassing the official position of Pedro Sánchez’s government, which, after assuring that it would recognize the Palestinian state, has ended up accepting Trump and Netanyahu’s colonial plan. The protests have become increasingly critical of the progressive government’s policy, which offers only statements and headlines, but few effective measures. One example is the supposed arms embargo approved in September, which does not prevent the transit of weapons from the United States and other countries through Spanish waters and allows for exceptions in the name of “national security,” making this measure a mere cosmetic operation.
Time to build and grow
Dissatisfaction with the parliamentary Left and the need for a catalyst in the face of the rise of the Far Right has led many young people to seek alternatives to organize and fight. This is reflected in the emergence of new social movements such as the Sindicato de Inquilinas (Tenants’ Union), which has organised protests that brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets in October 2024 and April 2025. Unfortunately, this search for alternatives is also being exploited by reactionary elements that present themselves as workers’ parties, when in reality they share the same cultural agenda as the far right: xenophobia, homophobia and machismo.
In any case, this also demonstrates that that we are living in a fertile moment for the growth of a genuinely socialist and internationalist extra-parliamentary left, with many young people who have just joined the political struggle through the fight for the Palestinian cause and who are seeking answers that they cannot find in the institutional left.
