As election nears, Spain's Sanchez struggles to rally disillusioned left
MADRID, Nov 13 -
asserted
Sanchez → near → left
When Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called a snap election last month, he was betting that anger over housing and fear of the far right would rally all shades of the left behind his Socialists.
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anger → call → Socialists
But interviews and polls suggest that many potential supporters are too furious about the status quo and the perceived failings of his own incumbent government to oblige.
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supporters → suggest → government
The eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal in September, and her subsequent death, triggered protests against a housing crisis that culminated in a general strike which unions said brought more than 3 million on to the streets on Wednesday.
"Every generation has its own struggle — for us, that struggle is housing," Sanchez said at his first rally after calling the vote.
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Sanchez → trigger → vote
His challenge as he prepares to face the electorate on November 29 is that the protests led by movements even further to his left have moved well beyond accommodation.
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protests → prepare → accommodation
'WE'RE REALLY TIRED OF SO MANY THINGS'
"We're really tired of so many things," said Maria Torrena Perez, a 40-year-old primary school teacher at a march in Madrid on Wednesday night.
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Perez → we're → night
"We need decent housing.
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We → need → housing
We need a quality public education system.
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We → need → system
We need a decent healthcare system.
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We → need → system
Ultimately, they're not investing in what they should be investing in.
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they → invest → what
And we're fed up with the policies being implemented across the board.
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we → feed → board
"
Two deadly train crashes, corruption convictions in Sanchez's inner circle and a rush of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta have all taken their toll on Sanchez's support.
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crashes → take → support
For all his campaigning, polls show backing for his party is still hovering around the 26%-29% level recorded before he called the election.
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he → show → election
Without a shift in the next two weeks, an alliance between the conservative People's Party and far-right Vox, a hardline nationalist party championing tighter borders and deregulation, is seen as the most likely next government.
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alliance → champion → government
Interviews with left-of-centre politicians, activists and voters suggested that for many, disillusionment with the status quo outweighs the urge to keep the far right out.
uncertain
disillusionment → suggest → right
The "lesser evil" pitch of a centrist government standing between them and an ever-harder right is wearing thin, echoing discontent with incumbents that has spilled into social unrest across Europe in recent months.
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that → stand → months
Sanchez has branded the prospect of a PP-Vox government a threat to social rights won in recent decades, describing a coalition of the two parties in a recent campaign video as "two colours, one project of regression".
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Sanchez → brand → regression
Some have turned that against him.
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Some → turn → him
Sanchez's "self-styled progressive government is a government of slower regression," said Mario Aguiriano, spokesperson for the Socialist Movement popular among students which gained prominence in Spain's protest encampments.
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which → style → encampments
"Is the enemy who kills you slowly with poison preferable to the enemy who kills you with a chainsaw?"
Sanchez's Socialist Party "plays in elections and campaigns at being the Che Guevara of the left — but progressive voters aren't going to be fooled," Tesh Sidi, a lawmaker left of Sanchez, said as she explained why voters should choose her "Broad Front" party over their senior partners in the government coalition.
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voters → kill → coalition
The breakdown of talks last month among Spain's left-of-centre parties to form a united platform means disgruntled leftist voters face a choice between sticking with the Socialists, abstaining, or voting for a smaller party that might end up letting the right in.
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that → form → right
Many — emboldened by the scale and impact of street protests in Spain and across Europe, from Serbia to neighbouring Portugal — have suggested that electoral politics may no longer be the best way to get change.
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politics → embolden → change
"Voting isn't enough," said Alicia del Rio, spokesperson for the Tenants Union which called Wednesday's general strike.
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which → say → strike
It was vital not to "hand fascism a seat" but voting was just one way to make a difference.
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voting → hand → difference
"No matter who governs, there needs to be popular power pushing our agenda forward," she told reporters at a briefing earlier this month, vowing that the movement would ensure housing remained the main issue in the campaign.
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housing → govern → campaign
'ALL ON RED'
On the campaign trail, Sanchez has deployed the roulette-table phrase "all on red" to appeal for tactical votes for his party in provinces which have just a handful of seats, where Spain's electoral system disadvantages smaller parties.
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system → deploy → parties
With more than a million voters still undecided, just four in five left-leaning Spaniards backing the Socialists in small provinces could turn things around, political consultant Ivan Redondo, a former campaign strategist for Sanchez, told reporters.
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Redondo → lean → reporters
Meanwhile, the political landscape keeps shifting.
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landscape → shift → ?
Vox is attracting some disillusioned left-wing voters with its narratives of defending hard work and protecting Spanish culture, Paco Camas from pollster Ipsos said.
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Camas → attract → Ipsos
Other movements have decided the best place to be is in opposition.
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place → decide → opposition
Podemos ("We Can") — which at the height of its popularity in 2015 attracted over a quarter of voters but whose support has dropped to just 1.9% in most recent polls — refused to join the new "Broad Front" or consider an alliance with the incumbents.
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support → attract → incumbents
The Socialists "will swallow you up if they get the chance," said the party's lead candidate, Irene Montero.
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candidate → swallow → chance
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