The most famous cell marks the rhythm of anti-Trump socialism

BarcelonaA crowd of people moves in unison through the long corridors of the North Pavilion of the Barcelona Fair as if following a rock star. No one this Saturday has generated the expectation of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the main protagonist of the first day of the Global Progressive Mobilisation (GPM). "Progressivism must be united, it must be brave. We will never win by complaining about what the right does, but by convincing others of our values and convictions," stressed the former Spanish president just before starting to attend to his followers. Some of them, young enough not to remember him in La Moncloa, asked him to make the eyebrow gesture that he exploited so much in campaigns, and he gladly granted it.

In an era of influencers, Zapatero is one of those who do the most work from the left, although his channel is not social media. He has arrived in Barcelona, in theory, to be the opening act for Sunday's meeting between Pedro Sánchez and about twenty international leaders in defense of democracy. Some of them, like Gustavo Petro (Colombia), have already spent some time at the Fair. He arrived and left before the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, with whom he ended up suspending the meal they had planned. Illa did meet with Isabel Allende, the president of the Socialist International, and, at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, with Lula da Silva. On Sunday, he will make the same visit with Claudia Sheinbaum.

The presidents of Brazil and Mexico – who will land on Saturday night in Barcelona – will be the main draws on Sunday, along with Sánchez. "They ask me for access every hour, especially those interested in Lula and Sheinbaum," explains Andrés Flores, a journalist for Telesur – with coverage in Latin America and the Caribbean –. They are not so sure that in Brazil, this weekend in Barcelona, two Brazilian political activists will be paying attention, who are debating with someone from Singapore in a round of rapid debates – they change every two minutes –: "It is not by a long shot the main topic of debate," they explain, also thinking about the bilateral summit with Spain. They are more concerned about the mental health of those dedicated to politics because, they say, "they never quite disconnect."

Returning to Saturday, and despite the fact that various Spanish ministers have been seen –Paco asked José Manuel Albares for a photo– and also socialist representatives from the five continents –more than 3,000 people have visited the Fair–, the other well-known figure who has caused some stir has been Sarah Santaolalla, the analyst who flirts with the unity of the left beyond the PSOE. The former president Montilla has been a speaker on democratic memory and one of the few who have used Catalan, even if only to say good morning.

The recipe for the informal Agora

Equality of opportunity and gender, feminism, wealth redistribution ("Tax the superrich"), environmental defense, reconnecting with young people, the potential of immigration... the topics for debate continue to be the same, but this summit has been held, above all, with another objective: to combat the far-right. In an interview, Petro even said that "Hitler lives in Europe". As usually happens, the informal Àgora was not located in any of the eight enabled rooms – with simultaneous debates – but around the only bar in the pavilion. "Our objective is the end of the domination of the United States. We must join forces in favor of international law," comments Laura Flores, from Colombia's Historic Pact, to l'ARA. Nobody hides that Donald Trump is today the number one enemy of socialists and Sánchez intends for the summits of these two days to reinforce his role as a reference for the cause. "Mamdani's election is a response to the far-right," emphasizes Ana Maria Archila, international commissioner for the mayor of New York.

"The current moment makes this summit more important. We must work together for peace because the far-right forces need to be countered," comments Margarita Stolbizer, an Argentine deputy for 20 years who ran for president. Why is the far-right rising? According to her, "hate speech is permeable when people suffer" and, therefore, political unity of the left is not enough: "Public policies must provide answers to the people." Stolbizer, now retired, has been in Catalonia for a month to see her family, but she has not been able to see her son play at the Palau Blaugrana: Nico Laprovittola, one of the key players for Barça basketball, was injured at the beginning of March.

Although they are presented as debates, in general everyone has agreed with everything that has been said. The problem for socialism is that, for the moment, outside of its summits it does not have the same success.