Elections in Spain: Europe Shows a Clear Shift to the Right?

Spain sent a message to the world in the latest regional elections. Last weekend, Spaniards dealt a significant blow to the left, and not only did the Popular Party remain the leading political force, but Vox came in third place, displacing the left-wing Podemos. This prompted Pedro Sanchez, leader of the ruling PSOE party, to announce the dissolution of parliament and call for general elections on July 23.​​​​​​​

The PP's victory comes after absorbing the votes that Ciudadanos had. That center-right political party which attracted national attention, today is almost nothing left, and its voters moved closer to the conservative party. The PP consolidated firmly in Madrid. The right-wing party snatched nearly ten regional governorships from the PSOE, giving a clear message to the government of Pedro Sanchez that today its coalition with Podemos is shaky. For this reason, the socialists will go all or nothing in July to see if they lose the presidency or manage to reverse this electoral setback.

But this is not an anecdotal or isolated case. In recent European elections, the right and the extreme right seem to be increasing in preference, demonstrating a clear shift across the continent towards more conservative positions on social issues and liberal positions on economic issues.

Western Europe there are Right-Wing Leaderships

The victory of the PP and the excellent result of VOX show that in many autonomous communities, they can form a government. The far-right party definitively displaced Podemos as the third political force and confirmed the loss of power of more progressive parties. This fact can be compared to what happened in Italy. Not only because in 2022, Giorgia Meloni of Fratelli d'Italia became president but also because the right wing swept the provincial elections last weekend.

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But at the same time, we can also compare cases such as in France, where Marie Le Pen and her National Rally represent the second political force and that, in national elections, threatens to snatch the first position from President Emmanuel Macron. Or the case of Germany, where a traditionally progressive right wing led by Angela Merkel is now losing support in critical areas to the far-right Alternative for Germany movement.

To the north the reality is similar

Recently, the famous and world-renowned Sunna Marin, the youngest female head of state, was third in the parliamentary elections. Above her were Petera Orpo of the National Coalition (conservative right) and Riikka Pura of Finns (far right). Orpo will now try to form a government.

While in Sweden, the populist right-wing Democrats, with Jimmie Akesson as leader, are the second force in Parliament. The far-right is outnumbered by the Social Democrats and is ahead of Moderate and Left.

Traditional rights don't give way

In addition to all these recent results, right-wing parties and governments seem to be consolidating their positions of power. Poland and Hungary, despite international criticism and the rejection of Western liberals, are reducing their fiefdoms. Both Andrzej Duda and Viktor Orban maintain their traditional governments in which they repress and eliminate spaces for LGBT communities or progressive speeches.

However, one of the central discourses uniting the Mediterranean, Western, Eastern, or Scandinavian right-wingers is their anti-migration discourse. The rejection of quota policies in favor of strict policies to reduce illegal migration (mainly from Africa and Asia) showed that the migration crisis due to wars in the Middle East or poverty in sub-Saharan Africa was capitalized on by these political groups.