Skip to main content
The Left has a historic opportunity to democratise Spain
The leader of Spanish communists ENRIQUE SANTIAGO tells Ben Chacko how a broad alliance of progressive forces can and must force the PSOE to deliver left policies
REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL: Santiago Enrique, general secretary of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE)

IT ISN’T just in Britain that the balance of power hangs precariously between left and right.

Spain’s Communist Party is — as part of the Unidas Podemos (UP) alliance — entering coalition government with the Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Though the coalition — the exact make-up of which is still under discussion — would be the first left-wing coalition to rule Spain since the 1930s, last month’s election was hardly a triumph for the left. Both the PSOE and UP lost seats, while the right-wing People’s Party (PP) and fascistic Vox made gains.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Delegates chat as they leave the Great Hall of the People af
Features / 22 March 2025
22 March 2025
From renewable tech to alternatives to the dollar, BEN CHACKO was encouraged by an optimistic meeting held by the China Media Group this week
Burnt cars remain in the middle of a street following the re
Features / 22 March 2025
22 March 2025
Ben Chacko asks NIZAR TRABULSI of the now banned Syrian Communist Party (Unified) to explain the country's turbulent, and violent, post-Assad scene
Similar stories
NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN: Members of the British Battalion displa
Features / 29 June 2024
29 June 2024
Teaching youngsters about the International Brigades and the Spanish civil war is vital for a proper understanding of 20th-century history, writes JIM JUMP