Ascent and descent: Pablo Iglesias, outraged by “Yes, we can” to throw in the towel

MADRID.- Pablo Iglesias, leader of Podemos who on Tuesday announced his withdrawal from politics after a failure in the Madrid region, sought to revolutionize the left in a Spain mired in austerity shouting ‘Yes we can’.

With a mane tied in a ponytail, this 42-year-old former political science professor has been the undisputed protagonist of Spanish politics since its inception in 2014 of the radical left-wing Podemos, heir to the indignados movement and the massive anti-austerity protests of 2011.

After years of pursuit of power, in January 2020 he entered government as one of the vice-presidents of the Socialist Pedro Sanchez.

Barely a year later, he baffled the country by resigning to run in the regional elections in Madrid and trying to save his party’s furniture in a stronghold that initially smiled on them.

The risky bet ended in resounding failure. Despite the high turnout, left-wing parties were overtaken by the right in the capital region, which has governed it for 26 years, and Podemos had to settle for fifth place and 7% of the vote.

In his speech recognizing the defeat of Madrid, Iglesias said that “it is obvious that today (…) I do not contribute to the addition”, for which he announced that he was leaving all its “positions” and “politics understood as a political party”.

Conscious of ser “el chivo expiatorio” that movilizó en su contra el voto de la derecha y la extrema derecha, “cuando uno deja de ser útil, tiene que saber retirarse”, concedió Iglesias, quien cedió las riendas de la formación a la ministra working, Yolanda Diaz.

Activist since youth

Born October 17, 1978 in Madrid, politics has been in the veins of Pablo Iglesias from an early age, whose name pays tribute to the founder of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), Pablo Iglesias.

Son of a lawyer and a labor inspector imprisoned under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975), joined the communist youth at the age of 14, an early activism that will lead him to take an interest in anti-globalization movements and the new socialism that emerged in Latin America.

This passion translated into a successful academic career: a doctorate in political science, a law degree, a master’s degree in communication and five years of teaching at the Complutense University of Madrid, where he will meet who would be the founding nucleus of Podemos.

With his fist raised and screaming “If we can”, Iglesias and their comrades from Podemos entered the European Parliament in 2014 and in 2015, along with the centrists of Ciudadanos, ended socialist and conservative bipartisanship in Spain.

Denouncing austerity and the political and economic “caste”, Podemos became in third force of the Spanish Congress, where the shapes and appearance of its members contrasted with parliamentary solemnity.

Frustrated in his attempt to overtake the Socialists as the first force on the left, in 2018 he ended up agreeing with them to overthrow the conservative with a motion of no confidence. Mariano Rajoy and invest in Pedro Sánchez, with whom, in 2020, he formed the first coalition government in Spain after the Franco dictatorship.

A chalet with swimming pool

Charismatic and a fan of televised debates, Pablo Iglesias had been the soul of Podemos since its founding, when his face and ponytail appeared on the ballots for the 2014 European elections, his first electoral contest.

This hyperliderazgo generated deviations with other founders and even split up within the young formation he led until Tuesday with his wife and Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, like right hand.

With her, Iglesias, who boasted of having grown up in the humble neighborhood of Vallecas in the working-class heart of Madrid, bought a villa with swimming pool worth over 600,000 euros on the outskirts of the capital where they live with their three children, a decision that has created discord within the group.

The praise collected among his people contrasts with the demonization that the right has made of him, which criticizes his links with the Latin American left and Chavism, his past communist militancy or his proximity to the Basque and Catalan separatists.

Agencia AFP

THE NATION