Podemos' optimism grows in light of electoral victory for party's Greek counterpart, Syriza

GREECE'S ground-breaking election results have thrown Spain into the spotlight as the likelihood of newly-formed left-wing independents, Podemos, netting the lion's share of the votes appears stronger than ever.

Podemos - which translates as 'we can' - started up a year ago in a garage in Madrid at the hands of 36-year-old Pablo Iglesias, a lecturer in politics at the city's Complutense University, where he obtained his PhD in the subject, living in a rented flat with his dog on a salary of less than €1,000 a month.

And Iglesias is a great friend of his Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza (ΣΥРΙΖΑ), a party which is considered to be very similar to Podemos and which has just won the majority of votes in the country's general elections.

Both parties were formed in response to the 'collective anger' and 'fed-up' sentiments of Greek and Spanish societies, according to analysts, although Syriza has been on the scene for 25 years and Podemos for one - but neither has any experience yet of leading a country.

And both are against austerity measures imposed by the Troika - the Central European Bank (BCE), the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund (FMI), which have led to widespread poverty and funding cuts in Greece and Spain in order for the two nations to pay back their debts.

Syriza formed a coalition in 2004 together with around a dozen other left-wing groups including the Greek Communist Party (KKE), becoming a party in its own right in the 2012 elections.

But Podemos has so far rejected the idea of teaming up with other political outfits.

Within the European Parliament - where Podemos won an unexpected five seats last May - Syriza forms part of the European Left (PIE), as do three of Spain's left-wing parties, IU, PCE and EUiA.

Podemos, however, is not affiliated to any other international formation but its MEPs belong to the Unitarian Left-Nordic Green Left within Europe.

Tsipras and Iglesias are of a similar age and a different generation to the so-called 'establishment' in Greece and Spain, and say they have a closer relationship with their public and are more aware of what happens on the street than, in Spain's case, the PP and PSOE, and in Greece's case, the former Conservative president Andonis Samaras.

In the case of Greece, the country has been bailed out by the EU and its GDP has plummeted by 25%, whilst Spain's GDP has fallen by 7% and its European bail-out fund of €100 billion was to 'rescue' several high-street banks only.

 

Pablo's policies

Iglesias has always insisted 'Spain is not Greece', since Spain is 'the fourth-largest economy in the EU' and 'no foreign government is able to threaten Spain'.

"They've tried to threaten the Greeks by instilling fear, and today [for Sunday], they have chosen political change over continuing with policies based upon austerity and cutbacks," Iglesias stated in his first-ever meeting in the Comunidad Valenciana, just after the results of the Greek elections were announced.

"Greece is an example of a country where doing what [German Chancellor, Angela] Merkel told them to do has led to disaster and a clear idea of what shouldn't be done.

"Since austerity and cutbacks were introduced, Greece's debt has gone from 115% of its GDP to 175%, prostitution has gone up by 1,500%, and three million Greeks have no access to healthcare," he stated.

At his political rally in Valencia, Iglesias asserted: "We democrats rescue people, not banks or investment funds."

Turning to accusations that his party was creating a 'divided and broken Spain', the Podemos leader responded: "Destroying Spain is selling our sovereignty to the Troika, privatising healthcare and education, and leaving the Comunidad Valenciana in the hands of mafia-style outfits and construction companies."

"National pride is not a badge or a wrist-band you wear in public - national pride is about the people. It's about having the right to be treated free of charge in hospital if you need it," he concluded.

Iglesias spoke of his hoped-for Podemos victory as 'David beating Goliath' and recalled that 'change is being clamoured for all over the world'.

 

Differences and similarities between the 'Greek tragedy' and Spain's financial crisis

Spain's debt is 100% of its GDP and Greece's comes to nearly 175%, and both countries are suffering from their worst and longest-running unemployment crises in history.

But while Greece's financial troubles were thought to be linked to over-generous State pensions coupled with very early retirement, and unsustainably-high wages, Spain's problems have been linked to the housing market crash.

Overbuilding meant supply eventually outstripped demand dramatically, whilst rocketing prices meant ordinary working-aged adults had to take out high mortgages to get onto the housing ladder and, when it all fell flat, the hundreds of thousands of construction workers - including early school-leavers with no other training, and immigrants entering the country in droves to fill the demand for jobs - suddenly found themselves broke and unemployed.

And with a predominantly seasonal, tourism-based economy, coupled with the domino effect of the housing market leading to peripheral businesses shutting down, unemployment reached 27% at its worst and is still not far below 25%, whilst Greece's jobless figures remain at around 26%.

For potential homebuyers - most of whom are based abroad and seeking to relocate or buy holiday or investment properties - prices could not be better with the amount of cash that would have bought a modest flat in 2007 now being enough for a villa with a swimming pool.

The rental market is also expected to expand, since Spaniards are struggling to find banks who will lend them money to buy but discovering that being a tenant is far more affordable than it was less than a decade ago.

And now that the FMI has announced that Spain's property prices have 'hit rock-bottom' or 'are about to', the current climate shows that it is very much a 'buyer's market' and a good time to purchase ahead of the country's eventual economic recovery.