With the recent victory of Alexis Tsipras and his anti-austerity party Syriza in Greece, eyes are now watching the direction the Spanish may take in their upcoming December elections. A new political party with a politically savvy young leader is taking Spanish politics by storm. Recently CNBC aired a segment called “Who is Pablo Iglesias”. In their piece they discussed Iglesias’ visit to the United States and his near miraculous rise in Spanish polls over the last year. As the leader of Spain’s left-wing political party PODEMOS (We Can), founded in 2014, the highly educated Iglesias is garnering support from many in Spain, particularly the youth. His anti-austerity views have become popular with a population who is exhausted of chronic unemployment. With Spain’s current rate of unemployment at 23.7% and with a youth unemployment rate over 50%, the country’s current conservative party faces the real possibility of losing the December elections to PODEMOS backed candidates.
As a left-wing political leader and accused ETA sympathizer, one cannot help but wonder if Iglesias will accomplish something the current prime minister could not, the complete disarmament of ETA. Even after ETA announced a definitive cessation of armed conflict On October 20th 2011, they still possess large arsenals of arms in France and Spain. Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy—leader of the conservative Partido Popular (PP)—has refused to negotiate with ETA until they surrender unconditionally. ETA is holding out on surrendering their weapons until former ETA members are released from jail or are moved to prisons closer to the Basque Country. This current stalemate between ETA and the Spanish government is likely to continue while a member of the PP is in office.
This leaves some wondering if Iglesias will lend a compassionate ear to ETA’s cause. Last July Spain’s former PP Mayor of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, who is not immune to accusations of scandal, attempted to link PODEMOS leader Iglesias to the former terrorist organization. Iglesias denied these accusations and claimed that PODEMOS’ condemnation of terrorism is clear and known. Further efforts by the Spanish right-wing to discredit Iglesias as an ETA sympathizer has fallen upon deaf ears when it comes to his party base and likely followers.
Perhaps the best hope to bring a final peace to the Basque Country lies with the election of Pablo Iglesias as Spain’s next Prime Minister in December. Politics in Spain, however, can be unpredictable and with Iglesias’ support leveling out, one cannot definitively say if 2016 will be the turning point in which healing can finally begin in the Basque Country.