European Authorities' Failed Economic Policies Hit Resistance in Spain

The Spanish elections in December provided proof, if anyone needed it, that the fight over the economic and social future of Europe is far from over.

For the first time in three decades, each of two major parties that had ruled Spain since its incomplete transition to democracy was unable to form a governing coalition. The incumbent right-wing Popular Party (PP)--with roots in Francisco Franco's fascist dictatorship--remained the largest party in the parliament but saw its representation shrink by a third. The center-left Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), which had lost its majority to the PP in 2011 due to its support for austerity, fared even worse. Their defecting voters went mostly to Podemos, a new left party, less than two years old, which grew out of the mass protests against austerity. Podemos surprised pollsters and most of the media by winning 20.7 percent of the vote, just 1.3 points behind the PSOE. The PP won 28.7 percent, and a new party called Ciudadanos (Citizens), which some have called "the Podemos of the right," got 13.9 percent.

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