Down but not out
It is too early to write off Europe’s anti-austerity parties
LESS than a minute into his speech and Albert Rivera, the leader of Ciudadanos, a centrist party that has stormed the barricades of Spanish politics, is already speaking of reformas estructurales. Mr Rivera wants to liberalise Spain’s labour market, clean out the public administration and overhaul the tax system. These tough prescriptions do not look like vote-winners in a country that has been through the economic wringer. Yet Ciudadanos has risen from single digits in the polls a year ago to around 20% today, and is set to act as kingmaker after Spain’s unpredictable general election on December 20th (see article).
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Down but not out”
From the December 19th 2015 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Emmanuel Macron shows off the gloriously restored Notre Dame
Five years after it was gutted by fire, the cathedral is more beautiful than ever
Ursula von der Leyen has a new doctrine for handling the hard right
The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term
Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare