• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Spain Says ¡No Pasarán! and Halts the Advance of the Far Right – For Now

Andrew Dowling by Andrew Dowling
04/30/19
in Opinion
Spain went to the polls on Sunday to vote in a general snap election

Photo: Oscar del Pozo, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

As the results of Spain’s snap election poured in on Sunday night, the most heard slogan from parties of the left was the internationally famous ¡No Pasarán! (they shall not pass) coined during the fight against fascism at times of the Spanish Civil War.

The general election came in the context of the first real emergence of an extreme right formation, which broke through in regional elections in Andalusia just four months earlier. While the far-right Vox party entered the Spanish parliament for the first time, obtaining 10 percent of the votes and 24 seats, its breakthrough was more modest than expected.

One of Spain’s highest ever turnouts since the return of democracy in the 1970s, at 75 percent, saw a clear mobilization of liberal and leftist Spain to block a potential rightist coalition. This right alliance was to include Spain’s two mainstream right parties, allying with the far-right Vox. However, the combined forces of the Spanish right fell well short of forming a government, totaling 43 percent of total votes cast, with the Partido Popular losing half of its seats and votes. Plural Spain represented some 52 percent of voters.

Spanish Society

The latest Spanish election was widely interpreted as an opportunity to communicate the type of society that Spaniards wish to see in the following years. The choice was framed as between a Spain that is open, plural, and comfortable with diversity or a Spain that closes in on itself, seeking to reduce rights for minorities and exhibiting intolerant nationalism.

This battle is one that is being played out in many western societies and Spaniards gave a clear message on Sunday: tolerance, openness, and dialogue around political difference. For now, the hard-right populist tide has been held back.

Spain’s Democratic System

For the first time, conservative features of Spain’s democratic system favored the left. The electoral system designed in the late 1970s benefitted rural over urban voters and rewarded unity over fragmentation. For most of the time since 1977, conservatives clearly benefitted from this inbuilt bias.

New Spanish parliament after the April 28 legislative elections

However, this time the Spanish right was fragmented across three parties, and this internal division facilitated the victory of plural Spain. The emergence of the far-right Vox saw Spain’s right parties radicalize to prevent losses but this shift rightwards also opened up the center ground to the social democrats of the PSOE.

The principal political battle to watch in the coming years will be to see who emerges strongest across the Spanish right. This internal division and the battle for supremacy on the right is new, and it might just allow for progressive governments in Spain for many years.

Given its character as an election framed around values rather policy, this was a campaign heavy on emotion, with very little debate around more traditional bread and butter issues. Spain is still recovering from a deep economic crisis and austerity, but these issues remained peripheral. Spanish national unity, rights for women, and the question of immigration were high profile non-economic issues.

Catalonia

Spain continues to face a national crisis around the question of Catalan secession. The attempted break from Spain in October 2017, though in practice more rhetorical than real, remains the greatest current issue of Spanish democracy.

Spain’s rightists explicitly campaigned on a strategy of suspending Catalan autonomy and re-imposing central rule from Madrid. The Catalan challenge was to be met by a belligerent response. This threat produced an exceptionally high turnout in Catalonia.

The failure to achieve Catalan independence in the autumn of 2017 has also produced contrasting responses amongst the two main pro-independence parties. The center-left Esquerra won a clear victory on Sunday and support for its program of building greater social support for independence. The neo-liberals and hard-line nationalists centered around former president of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont suffered a major defeat, and the new Spanish government can happily ignore this faction.

People wave pro-independence Catalan flags 'Esteladas' while holding letters reading 'independence' during a pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona, Spain
On September 11, around one million Catalans rallied in Barcelona in a show of support for independence nearly a year after a failed attempt to break away from Spain. Photo: AFP

The electoral results overall provide a real opportunity to find a solution to the Catalan question. Yet this also poses dangers as any negotiated solution in the years to come will be used by the Spanish right to claim that national unity is being betrayed.

For the moment, the limits to the apocalyptic messages of Spanish conservatism have been revealed. The forward march of the extreme right has been halted.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
ShareTweet
Andrew Dowling

Andrew Dowling

Senior Lecturer in Catalan and Spanish History at Cardiff University in Wales. Author of 'The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain's Territorial Crisis,' Routledge, 2017

Related Posts

A woman stocks a bathroom with free pads and tampons
World

Spain Passes Law for Europe’s First ‘Menstrual Leave’

by Staff Writer
February 17, 2023
Spain migrants
Refugees

Spain Prosecutor Opens Probe Into Melilla Migrant Deaths

by Staff Writer
June 28, 2022
Samuel Luiz
World

Two More Suspects Arrested Over Killing of Gay Man in Spain

by Staff Writer
July 9, 2021
Catalan students hold a banner reading "For an education to serve the Catalan people".
Opinion

‘Enough Is Enough:’ Ideological Harassment in Catalan Universities

by Carlos Conde Solares
September 4, 2020
Carrie Lam press conference in Hong Kong
World

Hong Kong Reimposes Social Distancing as Global Cases Continue to Rise

by Alexandra Marquez
July 14, 2020
People wave pro-independence Catalan flags 'Esteladas' while holding letters reading 'independence' during a pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona, Spain
Featured

Spain’s New Government to Tackle Catalonia via Negotiation

by Staff Writer
January 13, 2020
Next Post
Venezuelan opposition activists clash with the police during a protest against the government of President Nicolas Maduro on April 6, 2017 in Caracas

Maduro Appears to Maintain Control in Venezuela Following 'Attempted Coup'

Julian Assange

Assange Jailed for 50 Weeks for UK Bail Breach

Recommended

Damage from a series of powerful storms and at least one tornado is seen on March 25, 2023, in Rolling Fork, Mississippi

After Tornado Kills 25, Mississippi Faces More Extreme Weather

March 26, 2023
Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
participants of an artificial intelligence conference

How AI Could Upend the World Even More Than Electricity or the Internet

March 19, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
Heavily armed police inspect the area near a Jehovah's Witness church where several people have been killed in a shooting in Hamburg, northern Germany

Eight Dead in Shooting at Jehovah’s Witness Hall in Germany

March 10, 2023
Myanmar Rohingya refugees look on in a refugee camp in Teknaf, in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, on November 26, 2016

US Announces $26M in New Aid for Rohingya

March 8, 2023

Opinion

Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Top view of the US House of Representatives

‘Cringy Awards:’ Who Is the Most Embarrassing US House Representative?

February 13, 2023
Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, outside of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit, Michigan, on January 27, 2023

How Do Violent ‘Monsters’ Take Root?

February 3, 2023
George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post