Revolting Europe
united left
Spanish radicals ‘ready to govern the exit from neo-liberalism’ – Interview with Cayo Lara
Interview with Cayo Lara, leader of Izquierda Unida (United Left) Cayo Lara, 61, is general co-ordinator Izquierda Unida (United Left). During the party’s last Congress he was re-elected by a unanimous vote to lead the party, that in parliamentary elections in November 2011 achieved almost 7% of the vote, winning 11 seats. Since then, under his … Continue reading
Spain’s indignados at the crossroads
One of the great weaknesses of Spain’s indignados movement, which this week celebrated its second birthday, has been its failure to pursue a strategy that turns power in the streets into the real power needed to change the world. In the November 2011 general elections, six months after Spaniards occupied town squares across the country, … Continue reading
Spaniards give thumbs down to Rajoy’s first year in power
Seven out of ten Spaniards have given the thumbs down to Mariano Rajoy’s stewardship of the country a year after he was swept to power. The CIS poll for El Mundo newspaper showed the prime minister’s rating is now even worse than his socialist predecessor Jose Luis Zapatero at his lowest point last autumn. Unpopular … Continue reading
Spain’s socialists get a drubbing but PM Rajoy shouldn’t be smug
Rather than a confirmation of Mariano Rajoy’s self-perpetuating austerity policies, this weekend’s local elections in Galicia and the Basque country confirmed the Spaniards’ enduring distrust of the socialists. The party that ruled Spain for almost eight years during the build-up of its ruinous bank debt fuelled real-estate bubble, saw its share of the vote fall … Continue reading
ECB plan is to rescue German banks not Spain, says radical left
The European Central Bank’s bond-buying programme is actually a German banking rescue not a rescue of the Spanish people, United Left economic spokesman, Alberto Garzón, said Thursday. It was important to know the conditions of the ECB’s programme, to know how much Spanish citizens will have to pay to save German banks, argued Garzón, La Nueva Tribuna reported. … Continue reading
Spain: a long, hot summer – and an even hotter autumn
As the financial crisis accelerates in Spain, resistance to austerity is growing Spain is living through the sharpest period of unrest in a generation. Mass protest is now a daily fact of life. Millions having filled the streets and plazas. Job centres and mines have been occupied, and roads blocked. Thousands have marched on the … Continue reading
Rajoy’s new austerity drive pours ‘gasoline onto the streets’
Right-wing prime minister Mariano Rajoy has unveiled the biggest attack on Spain’s welfare state in history in a move described by radical opposition MPs pouring ‘gasoline onto the streets’. The measures include a swathe of new taxes and spending cuts designed to reduce the budget deficit by 65 billion euros by 2014 in line with … Continue reading
‘Lying’ Rajoy must explain why Spaniards ‘paying ransom’ of bank bail out, say radical left.
United Left has called on Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy to ‘stop lying’ and demanded an explanation as to why the citizens are to ‘pay the ransom for a giant property scam’. The party’s federal coordinator Cayo Lara stated Sunday that the Spanish people would end up paying a debt that ‘wasn’t theirs’ and be … Continue reading
Time for ‘truth commission’ on Spain’s banking black hole
Spain’s radical left calls for ‘truth commission’ on the ’causes’ and culprits for the country’s giant banking ‘hole’ United Left has reiterated calls for a ‘truth commission’ on the causes and responsibility for Spain’s banking crisis amid the mounting bail out bill. The latest estimates are that the sector that gambled on the housing market … Continue reading
Spain’s radical left joins positive European trend, opinion polls show
First France, then Greece and Italy and now Spain: radical left politics is getting a lift as the people of Europe reject austerity and look for genuine alternatives. The latest Metroscopia opinion poll published for El Pais newspaper over the weekend shows an impressive and consistent rise in support for the communist-led United Left opposition … Continue reading
No more bailouts, time to nationalise the banks, say Spanish radicals
United Left called Tuesday on Spanish MPs to back its proposals to nationalise the country’s ailing banks and create a ‘public bank’ to start digging Spain out of recession. Alberto Garzón, economic spokesman of the Communist-led coalition, rejected plans to bailout the country’s third largest bank, Bankia, and said it should be taken into public … Continue reading
Socialists and Popular Party have delivered a death sentence to the Constitution of 1978
‘This crisis is about capital against labour and capitalism against the state. It is time for a ‘social, democratic and anti-capitalist alternative,’ say Spanish Communists. It’s time to move towards a new constituent process. More
More protests predicted as Rajoy unveils budget for privileged
Opposition parties have slammed the right-wing government’s tax and spending plans for 2012 with the radical United Left party seeing them as demonstrating ‘intolerance’ towards the majority’ and a ‘give-away’ for a ‘privileged few’. The administration of Mariano Rajoy, elected last November in a landslide victory against the Socialists, revealed Tuesday details of one of the most … Continue reading
Andalusia election signals reverse for Rajoy as radical left gets boost
Socialists say voters have given the Government ‘the bill’ for austerity programme They presumed victory in Sunday’s elections but in the end the Popular Party that swept to national power in November failed to win enough votes to govern in Spain’s largest and most populous region. An outright win in Andalucia could have strengthened prime … Continue reading
‘Rebel’ against Madrid, Spain’s regions are urged
Spain’s regional governments should ‘rebel’ against demands by Madrid for further cuts to schools and hospitals, says the Communist-led United Left. The 17 ‘autonomous’ regions of Spain, who spend 37% of the total outlay by the public purse and are responsible for budgets on education, health and social services, are facing an unprecedented financial squeeze … Continue reading
THE EURO
The Dossier
FRANCE
GERMANY
GREECE
ITALY
PORTUGAL
SPAIN
