Spain: reactionary, anti-government demonstrations polarise political mood
In December, left-wing party Unidas Podemos (UP) entered the Spanish government as junior partners of the Social Democratic PSOE. This coalition rested on a slim and shaky parliamentary majority comprising a motley assortment of nationalist and regionalist forces. Two years of rudderless Spanish politics after the fall of Mariano Rajoy thus came to an end. Pablo Iglesias, the leader of UP, hailed this coalition as “the most-progressive government” in recent Spanish history. Yet recent events have dispelled this euphoria. Spain gazes into the abyss of a devastating depression, which will dramatically narrow the government’s room for manoeuvre. It is increasingly hard to reconcile the radically contradictory demands of workers and bosses. Right-wing protests are further polarising the mood in society. Relations between the ruling parties are becoming strained.