Opportunities and Risks for the Left in Spain

Following a short term of office, Social Democrat Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for elections in Spain in the midst of a deeply volatile political period, just one month before the European, regional (except in Catalonia, Galicia, Andalusia and Comunidad Valenciana) and local elections. Next Sunday 28 April, the Spanish Parliament will be re-elected ...

The Permanent Care Crisis and Its Effects on Gender Equality

The international financial crisis that began in 2007 hit the Spanish economy hard, accelerating the housing market's collapse and increasing unemployment (which rose from 9.6% in 2008 to 26.9% in 2013) and the risk of poverty. The European Union intensified its pressure on Spain in spring 2010, as Zapatero's government approved the first package of austerity measures in May of that year, along with labour market and pension reforms later on ...

"Without women the world would stop."

Millions second the feminist strike in Spain: and now what? 13 March 2018: It is almost impossible not to hold your breath when you see the images of the streets of Spain full of women and men on 8 March 2018. The newspapers and TV chains at global level have these images in their openings and front pages ...

Municipalism in Spain

In Spain's municipal elections of May 2015, a constellation of new political forces emerged. For the first time in almost 40 years of Spanish democracy, the country’s major cities would no longer be ruled by either the Partido Popular (PP) or the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), or any of the other long established political forces, but by new "Municipalist Confluences" such as Ahora Madrid, Barcelona en Comú, and Cadiz Si Se Puede, to name just a few ...

Catalonia Conflict

During the European Summer School in Madrid (4-8 October 2017) we had the opportunity to speak about the situation in Catalonia with several representatives from the Spanish left and social movements. Videos Interview with Sol Sánchez (Izquierda Unida), who gave insight to the background of the events around the Catalan referendum process and a view from the left on the issue ...

Labour rights guidelines for agricultural workers in Southern Spain

Big parts of Europe are taking the fruits – in the literal sense – of labor of many agricultural workers for granted. Take Madrid, Berlin, Paris, Brussels or any other place: the shelfs in supermarkets are filled with fruits and vegetables from Southern Spain. But almost anybody is aware of the conditions under which those are being produced, of the poor wages for the grinding work and its consequences for the health of the workers ...

Resisting Evictions Across Europe - now in French!

As this report makes depressingly clear, the forcible eviction of people from their homes – whether rented, owned or occupied – is on the rise in Europe. In some respects, Europe has arrived late to the global eviction party that each year sees millions of people displaced from housing across the world ...

European unions support Coca Cola En Lucha in Spain

NGG from Germany, CGT from France and LBC/NVK from Belgium together with the international organisation IUF participate in a working session and an action day in Madrid. After the merging of different bottlers in the Coca-Cola Iberian Partners, the company is undertaking a significant restructuration of the production chain in the region ...

Resisting Evictions Across Europe

As this timely report makes depressingly clear, the forcible eviction of people from their homes – whether rented, owned or occupied – is on the rise in Europe. In some respects, Europe has arrived late to the global eviction party that each year sees millions of people displaced from housing across the world ...

Spain’s Indignados

For three years now, Europe has been in the throes of the worst economic crisis since the end of the Second World War. Especially in the poorer countries of the EU, the crisis has struck with full force. In preparatory obedience, to make sure it would indeed fulfil all the expectations of international speculators, Spain brutally slashed its public budget ...