Image from @Albert_RiveraRafael Hernando, the People’s Party (PP) parliamentary speaker, is well-known for his rather dumb jokes and the cocky style he uses to dismiss his political adversaries. On March 5, speaking on national television, he cheerfully compared Albert Rivera, the leader of Ciudadanos, with good old Naranjito (Little Orange), the mascot of the 1982 FIFA World Cup which was hosted by Spain. Orange, of course, is Ciudadanos’ corporate colour. Little did he know that his morning contribution to the on-going PP strategy of attacking Ciudadanos (as well as Podemos) would backfire dramatically, unleashing a wave of sympathy for Rivera’s party in the social media (#YosoyNaranjito) and beyond.
This came only to prove what all the available opinion polls are currently describing: the seemingly irresistible ascent of the newcomers (Podemos and Ciudadanos) and the equally dramatic decline of the traditional parties’ appeal. In fact, the broadly shared forecast for the next general elections, due at the end of this year (possibly the last week in November), is nothing less than a historic defeat for Mariano Rajoy’s party, which is expected to score its worst election results ever. Another way of putting it is considering the other side: a joint landslide victory of all the other parties, which have felt disparaged by the People’s Party way of governing against everybody else.
Like Podemos, Ciudadanos has a young charismatic leader of its own. Although Albert Rivera belongs to the very same generation as Pablo Iglesias (they were born in 1979 and 1978 respectively), they are two very different political types. Rivera’s past, unlike Iglesias’s, is on the right side: he was close to the People’s Party youth organization in his early twenties (but not a party member), he studied Law at a leading business school in Barcelona, ESADE - a Jesuit institution that caters for the offspring of the Catalan bourgeoisie - and worked as a lawyer for the largest financial institution in Catalonia, Caixa Bank.
