Is a right-wing government inevitable in Spain?

There are historical moments when certain political tendencies seem to impose themselves unstoppably, as if carried by a gust of wind. A few years ago, the rise of the far-right was unthinkable; it is true that the disasters of the 20th century are now far away for the new generations, but we have seen enough films and heard so much talk about Hitlerian madness and the dictatorship that long oppressed us that it seemed impossible that anyone could still believe that those slogans were desirable and could improve collective life. And yet, we have seen how the wave has been spreading across Europe, how it has devoured the United States, how it is rising among us, perhaps to engulf us too. We have many explanations for why this has happened. The easiest and most trivial is the one that attributes it to the errors of left-wing parties, to corruption scandals, to internal squabbles. All of this is certainly present, but they are minor issues when compared to everything that the left has achieved since the Transition: free healthcare and education systems, pensions, redistribution of income through political action. Everything that is at risk when the far-right arrives; this, initially supported by populist proposals, always changes when it has already achieved power, with a coup d'état if necessary, if it sees its dominion threatened. And then the party is over, it is repression that settles in, and, unfortunately, sometimes for many years. Is it inevitable that in Spain the next government will be PP+Vox, a combination that could be terrible, and that will once again turn Catalonia into the favorite enemy, along with immigration? Can the left-wing parties do anything to prevent it? I think, at this moment, this is a key question: I don't know if we have time to avoid disaster, but, at least, we should try.

In this period, left-wing parties lack epic, so to speak. They have run out of exciting projects, those that propose citizens to achieve a new milestone, whether in terms of welfare or in terms of freedoms. In the past they have achieved both: the welfare state is basically the fruit of their policies. But a moment came when they could no longer expand it: globalization forced the dominance of multinationals that are the ones that impose prices and conditions and that accumulate wealth. Trampling over states, with threats of decentralization and withdrawal of capital if they are proposed rules they do not like. The left then focused on freedoms, especially of a sexual nature. And it has done great things, such as normalizing de facto couples and homosexuality, for example. But now this path has ended; going further already presents great risk: when there are proposals from small pressure groups about a possible decriminalization of pedophilia in the name of children's freedom, I believe that the majority of the population agrees that we have crossed the line. Expanding individual freedoms can no longer be the central objective of the left. Societies need rules to be able to coexist, because without them, it is the weakest who suffer, and this form of freedom is precisely what the right is preaching: if I can, I do it, and no one can stop me. That is, as always, the law of the strongest. Where can we find, then, the encouraging impulse for a new push, to avoid the material and ethical setback that a government led by the far right can bring? Fear is not enough, we see it everywhere. The administration of things is also not enough. A new model of life must be fashioned, but which one? More profit, more money, more destruction of nature? We have reached a limit, and we know it: at this moment, the more business, the more inequality and destruction of the planet grow. We must try a way of life not based on consumption as a solution to everything: a more unhurried, more egalitarian way, with more social cohesion. A way of life in which the goals are not profit and competition, but the care of life, of people, of nature, of affections, of all that gives meaning to daily effort. A way of living that allows us to participate in the improvement of our city, of our surroundings, in which we can feel part of a people and a culture. Try it at least, left-wing parties. Leave your egos and squabbles, because this is for real, and there are many of us who want to continue building and strengthening democracy.