đ° Podemos Are Weirdo Rancid CommiesâŠOr Hitler
(28/05/2014) Pablo Iglesias and Podemos have suddenly won five seats at the European Elections.
(Originally published on May 28, 2014)
It began on Sunday night with an editorial in right-wing online newspaper Libertad Digital titled âDisastrous Omensâ. The editorial writer spoke of âgenuine convulsionâ, the âastonishing emergency of the extreme left, radical nationalism, friends of terroristsâ. It was, said the newspaper âa nightmare situationâ.
âThe most fiercely anti-Spanish forces come out of this stronger, with terrifying results in the Basque Country, Navarre and Catalonia (âŠ) these elections will only deepen the political instability the nation has been suffering for too long now. Spain is living one of its decisive moments (âŠ) There is no way of attenuating the gravity of the challengeâ.
The rest of the political establishment was slower off the mark, but the criticisms and chiding are now pouring in from most of the parties that are not Podemos.
Rosa DĂez, the leader of Union, Progress & Democracy, said âchestnuts are chestnutsâ, before comparing Podemos and Mr. Iglesias to Syriza and Tsipras in Greece, Beppe Grillo in Italy and Marine Le Pen in France, with whom, she thundered, there is: âan enormous degree of coincidence as regards the euro, not paying the debt, nationalising strategic sectorsâ.
Pedro Arriola, the Spanish prime ministerâs chief political adviser, said this morning at a conference that Podemos :âis full of all the weirdos in the worldâ, adding that: âthey all end up hovering around Madridâ.
âIt is good that in politics uneasiness is expressed with votes and not stonesâ, he said. âIn Germany they have a neo-nazi, here we have another type of weirdoâ.
The editor of another right-wing newspaper, La RazĂłn, is also horrified at the rise of Podemos. âWith stupour, almost horrorâ, said Mr. Marhuenda: âpolitical and business groups welcome the success of Ponytail boy (âŠ) the ultra-left guy called Pablo Iglesias (âŠ) no one knew who he was a year ago and he has now become the most media-hyped commie in the countryâ
The secretary general of the Popular Partyâs youth wing, New Generations, Javier Dorado, appeared to agree with Mr. Marhuenda: âitâs worrying that in Spain populism hasnât won but it has triumphed. The most rancid, authoritarian communism has won 1.25 million votesâ.
Senior Popular Party figures also joined in the fun. âNot very long agoâ, said Mr. GonzĂĄlez Pons, the partyâs deputy secretary general: âPodemos was asking people to overrun Parliament and take part in raucous protest demonstrationsâ.
Carlos Floriano, the Popular Partyâs chief European election strategist, said: âweâre worried because there are a million people who vote for a party whose model is Maduroâs Venezuela or Castroâs Cubaâ.
Even the former Socialist Party prime minister, Felipe GonzĂĄlez has said, in reference to Hugo ChĂĄvez, that the Bolivar revolution âis now becoming fashionable in Spainâ.
And yes, Hitler has been mentioned.
Esperanza Oña, the Popular Party mayor of Fuengirola, tweeted that: âHitler won the elections in Germany by taking advantage of general discontent and turning it into hope in his favour (âŠ) Pablo Iglesias, almost without a party, without management and as one of Maduroâs not-at-all democratic consultants, has given hope to manyâ.
For his part, Mr. Iglesias has so far taken the verbal thrashings in his stride. The prime ministerâs chief adviser, Mr. Arriola: âis an intelligent man capable of doing a bit better analysis than thatâ, said Mr. Iglesias: âIf thatâs the intellectual level of PP ideologists, itâs going to go badly for them as Podemos growsâ.
đ° Subscribe now:
đ„ Understand the stories changing Spain better
đ Access all the articles & đŹ Substack chat with Matthew
đȘ Guarantee this independent reporting & analysis