The victory of the Spanish right-wing in the European elections came as no surprise. The majority was as expected. Spain did not reach the point of France and Germany, where the advance of the far right made the respective governments tremble. But the possibility of certain alliances poses a threat.
The euphoria of the conservative People’s Party (PP) contrasts somewhat with reality, because although it was the triumphant Spanish organisation to join the new European Parliament (EP), with 22 seats, it was barely two seats ahead of the socialists of the PSOE.
Although there is one unquestionable fact that calls for reflection in some cases, restraint in others, and quite a few fears: the PP won by a small margin, but the far-right Vox won six seats and another extremist organisation, Se acabó la fiesta (The party is over), won three. “Polarisation has not weakened the far right. Before it had two faces, now it has three. The combination of Feijóo with Abascal is now joined by Alvise. This is not good news for Spanish society”, admitted the PSOE candidate and third vice-president of the government, Teresa Ribera.
She was referring to the leaders of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, of Vox, Santiago Abascal, and of the agitating group Se acabó la fiesta (The Party is Over), Luis Alvise Pérez.
However, Ribera pointed out that “if Mr Feijóo has presented these elections as a plebiscite against the president of the government (Pedro Sánchez), it is clear that he has lost it”.
In any case, the PP won 22 seats in the new European Parliament (EP).
The most significant, if expected, growth was with Vox, which achieved 9.62% support and six seats, overtaking the left-wing movement Sumar (4.65% and three MEPs), one more than Podemos, another left-wing grouping, which achieved 3.27% support.
Similarly, the extreme right as the sixth national political force, now in the EP, with Se acabó la fiesta (The Party is Over), with 4.58%, obtained three representatives in the European Parliament. Also joining the EP were the Republics Now Alliance (Republican Left of Catalonia, Basque Country Gather and Galician Nationalist Bloc), Together for Catalonia and the Coalition for a Solidary Europe (CEUS) formed by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and the Canarian Coalition.
The centre-right Citizens, a party that lost its eight MEPs, with just 0.69% of the vote, was left out of the European Parliament.
The PP congratulated itself on its success and claimed that the left suffered “a crushing defeat in Europe”, a statement by its secretary general, Cuca Gamarra, who also seemed to endorse the advances of the far-right.
The biggest warning came from Núñez Feijóo himself. “With these results a new political cycle is opening in the country, we will win in the next general elections,” he said. PL
(Translated by Cristina Popa – Email: gcpopa83@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
.jpg)
