In the midst of a sweltering summer, Spaniards will go to the polls this Sunday to re-elect a new government. This will be the fifth general election in 12 years, the result of an inter-bloc tie, but this time there is a new force that could shuffle the cards: the Sumar party and its leader, Yolanda Diaz, the new star in Spanish politics.
Brief background: Spain's socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who has been prime minister since the fall of the last right-wing government five years ago, announced early elections after the heavy defeat suffered by his party and the left-wing camp in general in the provincial elections at the end of May.
Pedro Sanchez. He has led two governments in the last five years, Photo: AFP
Two months ago, the move seemed like political suicide for Sanchez, who managed to head two governments during those five years.
Alberto Núñez-Pijo, head of the right-wing People's Party, at an election rally in Palma de Mallorca this week, photo: AFP
Polls predicted a clear victory for the right-wing conservative People's Party and the formation of a first right-wing coalition in partnership with the radical right-wing Vox party, which championed strong opposition to mass immigration from Africa and the progressive legislation of left-wing governments on light criminal penalties for sex crimes, abortion and LGBT rights.
Yolanda Diaz leaves her office at the Ministry of Labor, photo: Reuters
But then Yolanda Diaz, the new star of Spain's far left and, according to polls, the country's most popular and trustworthy politician, stood up for him. Diaz could become the big winner of Spain's parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Two days after Sánchez's decision to dissolve parliament and call early elections, Diaz registered the radical left-wing party union Somar (Unite), which she had been working on for a year as an independent list running for election. Sumar is a coalition of 15 left-wing parties, which also includes the radical left-wing Podemos party, which in recent years has been the main far-left party and sat in two of Sánchez's governments. While in the past the Spanish left suffered from splits that weakened its power, Diaz, a 52-year-old labor lawyer, succeeded in uniting most of the political forces on the left of the Socialist Party under one electoral roof.
Within weeks, this union created a sensation: Sumar equalized its power to that of the Vox party, and both are fighting for the title of the third largest party in the next parliament. According to recent surveys, Somar leads over Vox among all age groups as well as all segments of the population. It is the most popular party among 25-34-year-olds and the working class.
"The Conservative Party still leads by a fairly significant margin over the Socialist Party, 34% to 28%," a political observer in Madrid told Israel Hayom, "but there is currently no certainty that the right will succeed in gaining a majority of 176 of the 350 seats in parliament, even if the People's Party decides to form a coalition with Vox. While the left has united its ranks, on the right there are small parties that refuse to sit in a single government with Vox because of its positions presented in Spanish political discourse as extreme.
"Sanchez, for his part, is running a very intense election campaign, although his performance in the last debate with the leader of the Conservatives, Alberto Pijo, was not good. He looked stressed, unfocused. But if a near-tie again occurs, Somar and the separatist parties, which dislike Vox, may crown him prime minister again. There is also the possibility of indecision, and then Spain will go to new elections."
Diaz and a supporter in Madrid, this week. Coming from a family of opponents of dictator Franco, photo: AFP
Until three years ago, Yolanda Diaz was an unknown figure in Spanish politics. Diaz, who is still officially a member of her country's Communist Party, was born near the Galician port city of Ferrol in northwestern Spain — the birthplace of Francisco Franco, the fascist dictator who ruled Spain with a heavy hand for more than thirty years. Diaz's family was an opponent of the dictatorship and her father was a senior trade unionist, so she grew up in a very political atmosphere.
She joined the Communist Party at a young age, but from the beginning of her career as a politician she understood that the Left's chances were greater by joining forces and supported such moves. Even when a debate arose among Podemos' left-wing list about whether to join a government headed by the socialist Sanchez, she supported the formation of a left-wing coalition contrary to the views of many of her colleagues.
In 2020, she was appointed Minister of Labor and Social Economy and dealt with the severe social crisis created by the COVID-2021 pandemic, including by raising the minimum wage and canceling parts of the employment reform passed during the right-wing government. In <>, when Podemos founder and leader Pablo Iglesias announced his retirement, he appointed her as second deputy prime minister. "Diaz could be Spain's next prime minister," he complimented his replacement, whose opponents also praise her mediation and conciliation abilities.
"We are the key to forming a progressive government," says Diaz, who promises to pass a €20,000 grant program for young people to study or acquire a profession in a future left-wing government, a plan that has been met with fierce opposition from economists who wonder where the Spanish government will get the funding for such a plan. "'Sumar,'" Diaz replies to her critics, "is the silent force that talks about people's lives and commits to solving their problems."
Diaz at the Pope, 2021, photo: AFP
In her office, above a large record collection, is a large poster of the Pope, with whom she met a year and a half ago at the Vatican. In the background of the image of the Pope appears the greeting: "World communism wishes you happy holidays." Diaz, who describes herself as an atheist, admits that the unusual meeting with the Pope was very important to her life. "We're still in touch," she says, "we have a lot in common. He welcomed my reforms in employment." In a Catholic country like Spain, such a papal greeting can have a great impact.
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