Puerta del Sol plaza in central Madrid, Sunday May 15, 2016. Marking the 5th anniversary of the movement that led to the creation of Podemos. Paul White /Press Association . All rights reserved.When the 15-M movement broke out onto the streets across Spain in 2011, it didn’t coalesce into a series of political parties on either end of the political spectrum. In fact, there was a common declaration that stood out among all of the indignados: “They don’t represent us”. This referred to the ‘Regime of ‘78”, the dominant political actors who have been ruling Spain since the death of Franco, and have made the rupturing of the social contract possible over the last 30 years.
The 15-M movement saw people come together from diverse places, not just ideologically, but in terms of their perspectives and their understanding of reality. Yet if there was something that truly united them it was their common diagnosis of the current situation, namely an unsustainable disequilibrium between the establishment (an elite armed with political and economic power, ready to do anything to keep their position), and the outsiders (ordinary people who don’t participate in the decision making process), the widening gap between these two groups, and the forcing of the latter into an increasingly precarious position.
The establishment makes use of its power and its vast resources. They have ossified the institutions that were supposed to protect the rights of the outsiders. They have become increasingly out of touch with reality, and over time have completely broken the fragile balance created by the Constitution of ‘78, which brought democracy and social rights to the Spanish people after 40 years of dictatorship. The 1978 Constitution guaranteed – among other things – the right to decent housing, the right to healthcare, and the right to work. These promises have been greatly compromised by austerity, with major cuts to education and healthcare, labour reforms that increase the precariousness of the workers, and foreclosures that have left families homeless across the country.
