Yolanda Díaz, the deputy prime minister and a lifelong member of the Communist party, is heading Sumar (Unite), a platform to the left of the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, that plans to field candidates at the general election due on 10 December.
Last Saturday, 2,000 people filled the Auditori in Barcelona to hear Díaz speak, while a further 1,000 were turned away. She made her entrance to pounding, Rocky-style music and a standing ovation alongside Ada Colau, the Barcelona mayor and a leading supporter of the Sumar project.
Colau introduced Díaz, saying she represented "hope and the prospect of utopia". She said: "Yolanda gives us the right to dream and to hope. We hope she will be the first woman prime minister of Spain."
Díaz lost no time in reassuring her Catalan audience that she recognised that 40% of people in the region would like to secede from Spain.
Denne historien er fra January 20, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra January 20, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Votes of confidence
From India to Venezuela and Senegal to the US, more people voted this year than ever before, with over 80 elections across the world. With rising authoritarianism and citizen-led resistance revealing its vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges, has democracy reached its breaking or turning point?
