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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRuling Party Loses Hold as Leftists Surge in Spain
Viva Espana!
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/world/europe/ruling-party-loses-hold-as-leftists-surge-in-spain.html?_r=0
MADRID — Underlining the rising fragmentation of Spanish politics, two left-wing politicians appeared poised to take charge of the city halls in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain’s two largest cities, according to the preliminary results of Spanish regional and municipal elections on Sunday.
In Barcelona, Ada Colau, a left-wing politician, narrowly defeated Mayor Xavier Trias. After wiping away some tears, Ms. Colau raised her fist in victory and told supporters, “We have shown you can do politics in another way.” Ms. Colau, a former activist who opposed housing evictions during Spain’s banking crisis, added: “Ordinary people, who normally don’t have any power, had a historic opportunity and used it. Congratulations.”
In Madrid’s municipal election, the outcome of Sunday’s vote was less certain. The Popular Party came out on top, but not by a sufficient margin to guarantee that its candidate, the veteran politician Esperanza Aguirre, would become the new mayor of Spain’s capital. Instead, Manuela Carmena, a retired judge, could win in Madrid if she can agree to join forces with the Socialists.As the last votes were being counted around midnight, Ms. Carmena, 71, thanked her supporters, saying: “The victory is yours.” She said that she would work hard to “seduce those who didn’t vote for change.”
The elections underlined the rise of Podemos, a far-left party that was founded in 2014, but has since led the crusade against corruption among established parties. Podemos backed both Ms. Colau and Ms. Carmena. Pablo Iglesias, the national leader of Podemos, told supporters on Sunday that “the big cities are the big engine of change in Spain.” He said Sunday’s election results amounted to “a magic and historic night” that showed Spain’s bipartisan system was coming to an end.
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malaise
(269,050 posts)Rec
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)is "going radical" with the surprising LGBT vote. And for the first time a day or so ago, I heard the term Brexit...and that's been simmering since the Euro was dreamed up. The European currency fiasco may be teetering, as well.
Maybe it's the Western European/American people are tired of the Corporatocracy. That's what Bernie Sanders is fighting, as well. Maybe it's a trend. The Europeans are fighting Germany and the US Corporate Money Ownership. Austerity/fleecing the Middle/Lower class isn't working very well any more.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Then the bankers stepped in.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)when they lost their currency...imagine the US being told that as of next year all of our dollars would be gone and we would be using "estidos". Going off the gold standard was hard enough, but the changes were subtle on our currency.
Can anyone imagine being American and not having dollars in our pocket? It just doesn't compute. I remember when they started putting some color on some of the bills and some people went nuts. They are supposed to be "greenbacks"...another conspiracy, as I recall. When I was in France, they had small, highly colored bills with cool people's pictures on them and I felt like I was playing Monopoly.
Same shuck and jive as over here, but we just printed more dollars and paid them off and dumped the bad debt on the Europeans.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)I like to tell them three almost forgotten words just to send them over the edge.
It's only money.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)Get ready people, we have to do it too.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)change, this time around.
