“¡Democracia Real YA!”

Puerta del Sol, Madrid.

On May 15^th Barcelona and Madrid were plunged into dissent as the Spanish population voiced their objections against the reigning government, ruled by a unrepresentative two-party system, and protesting for basic human rights and fair economic policy which the current political class have failed to address. Designated 15-M, the movement began with an initially youthful crowd organised through social media networks and the ¡Democracia Real YA!, or ‘Real Democracy NOW!’, group. However on May 17^th 15-M transcended social and cultural boundaries, with peoples deriving from a diverse range of ages and backgrounds becoming involved. Since then it has exploded into protests across Spain in 58 cities, however despite this Spanish politicians have somewhat disparaged the protests, labelling them as ‘leftist’ or ‘just students’ in an effort to diminish their significance; a notion that has been somewhat absorbed by international media. The next few weeks will prove crucial to the movement; however its non-party political orientation may prove to be a disadvantage without any significant governmental support.

Spain’s current fiscal crisis, born of the 2008 global financial crisis, has led to the country bearing one of Europe’s highest unemployment rates of 21.3%, some 4.9 million people; the highest in the industrialised world. This has too resulted in staggering youth unemployment rates (18-25) of 45%, and the closure of a great number of businesses.  Dire economic conditions, with pressure increased from pension and public spending cuts, have coupled with an inadequate political system resulting in a nationwide social malaise.

Spanish politics is dominated by a two-party system, akin to that of the UK and USA although arguably more inadequate (at least more so of the UK), ruled by the left-wing Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and right Partido Popular (PP), however in reality both parties are orientated closer to the centre. Whilst other smaller parties exist, indeed the United Left sympathises with the M-15 movement despite their inability to connect with them, their significance is often downplayed and views unrepresented. Such political domination discourages smaller parties from competing in such an environment, preventing election victory and debate on subjects untouched by the PSOE and PP.

 M-15, spurred by ¡Democracia Real YA! , are advocating the “right to housing, employment, culture, health, education, political participation, free personal development, and consumer rights for a healthy and happy life”. A notion they claim is being sidelined by a political class pandering to economic elites, attending to the needs of the rich and a controlling financial system. In what seems to be a symptom of the ‘Arab Spring’ protests, similar to those held in Iceland in 2009 and currently in Greece, protesters have taken to camping in the main plazas of major Spanish cities. This has resulted in a community bonded by unrest, labelling themselves ‘los indignados’ or the indignant, and the creation of small temporary houses, shops, libraries and nurseries for the protesters.

However, despite the successful attempts at defying police crack-downs, the question of the movements future is called in question; M-15 describe themselves as non-party political, however with no voice within government their influence is limited. Of course they hold some open sympathisers, like the United Left, however if they were to align to any party a large proportion of the movement would be alienated, this being a movement that transcends political alignment. Due to M-15’s pacifist nature revolt is also out of the question, something which is definitely a positive in terms of national stability and safety, but again constraining in terms of impact. Whilst their current situation is no doubt significant the movement have yet to progress as something other than an assembly of voices, something which is needed for rapid change.

Former Spanish President of Government Felipe González pointed out that while the Arab world desires the vote, the Spanish cry their votes are worthless. This brings an interesting point on the inefficiency of democracy, often upheld by the West as the epitome of political freedom and instilled as a major requirement for countries seeking aid. However democracy dose not equate to freedom; nations-states may acquire democratic governments but still be highly corrupted with rigged elections, ruling parties rejecting defeat and the suppression of opposition being common traits, as seen recently in the Ivory Coast and in Zimbabwe, 2008. Indeed it is often seen by critics as a method through which Western countries initiate political-economic imperialism using the justification of the responsibility to protect in such a globalised world, e.g. Iraq. From this perspective, whilst the ideal of democracy touts equality and political freedom, in reality presents a mirage of political egalitarianism to a population riddled in itself with inequality. As such democracy can never be a form of ordered governance that generates a nation of utopia.

Whilst the above examples of corruption are generally attributed to ‘less developed’ countries failures can also be seen within western models; namely the two-party system which presents the voter with a binary rather than a plethora of choice. This restricted choice is thus a perversion of democracy due to the suppression of other candidates, ignoring the promise of political freedom and national inclusion.

The Spanish protests highlight this perversion of sorts in their campaign for ‘real democracy’, exposing the flaws in neoliberal government policies that encouraged financial decisions that aided the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, where economic and political elites were pandered to and social power restricted by the extant political paradigm. The following Spanish fiscal crisis has acted as a catalyst for a more representational democracy however its impact is lessened by the very nature of the politics it’s trying to change, where the lack of representation within government, by or for the movement, drastically limits its influence. Indeed if it does come to a dynamic reshaping of Spanish democracy to create a more socially representative government, the variety of political orientations within M-15 may prove to be an agent of chaos in establishing uniform policies. Such is the nature of democracy, where variety and disorder goes hand-in-hand.

Special thanks to Grace Cahill for in-situ information.