The Return of the Far-Right in Spain: The 2023 Elections in the Spanish Kingdom

 

Results of the Spanish Election on July 23rd, 2023

The Return of the Far-Right in Spain

In the Kingdom of Spain on Sunday, July 23rd, there were elections for the country's parliament. It looks like the right wing will be prevail over that of the Socialists. This is because the Prime Minister is incompetent and out of touch with the people of Spain. However, Prime Minister Sanchez still has many tricks up his sleeve. The leftists in Spain are relying on distorted views of the Spanish Civil War and broadly of Spanish history in order to get people to support PSOE and Sumra.  These sorts of tricks have allowed for the leftists to retain some strength, especially in regions such as Catalonia and with their sometime allies, the Basques in the North.  The situation that we have right now is that we have a hung parliament. This is a somewhat annoying result as it means that PSOE could still win, and Sanchez could hold to power again. 

These parties are leftist parties that are convinced in using post-modernism to transform the Spanish character into just another country that is subservient to globalist institutions. The Spanish Right have to deal with a hostile media that often takes the side of the Left and this is going to be an issue going forward with elections in the future of the country. Considering that Felipe IV is the king and is royal family lives on the tax dollars of the Spanish taxpayer. I would not be surprised if the Spanish Monarchy would come under threat of being abolished by the Spanish Left if they continue to maintain control. The Spanish Monarchy is one of the best things that the country has right now, and it needs to be maintained as much as possible.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, one of the darlings of the Spanish Right today.

The Spanish people are divided in a big way. Much like many other countries in the Western World, we have societies that are being pulled apart by a variety of interests. The American case is an old one, with the cities and the countryside fighting each other while the suburbs sit on the fence. However, in Spain, it seems to be somewhat different. According to the results of the 2023 Election, the capital city of Madrid voted for the People's Party while Barcelona, being the leftist city that it is, voted for the PSOE. Right-wing Americans would probably be confused as to why a big city voted for the Conservatives. In Spain, things just work differently. Barcelona has always been a heavily socialist city that has had left-wing sentiments. It is not surprising to me that this region of the country helped PSOE in this election. However, the fact that the Popular Party in Spain is popular in the cities removes that stereotype that the Right-wing in countries are only rural people. These areas are an important part of the strength of the People's Party in Spain.

The problem is that many people are being gaslit by the media into fearing the Vox Party or that the People's Party. They want people to believe that the People's Party will be in an alliance with PSOE and that they will bring back the Franco government. The thing is, that Francisco Franco's government was a product of reaction against the Second Spanish Republic that was out of control and trying to remove tradition and the church from public life in Spain. There were also alliances with Anarchists and Communists.

Anyways, the idea that Vox and PP are somehow going to revive the Franco government is ridiculous. That is history and Vox in particular is trying to look for new solutions for problems. PSOE was founded as a Communist-adjacent party in the 1880s in Spain and it is not surprising that they use these tactics to try to stay in power. Vox and PP need to make sure that the electorate understands that there is nothing to fear from them sharing power together. PP has already powerful women ruling in metropolitan regions of Madrid and other big cities in Spain; The Popular Party is not trying to revive Francoist attitudes towards women. Vox and PP are standing up for the uniqueness of women in the country. 

However, what these elections reveal is that the West is increasingly stuck fighting old battles while countries like China have moved on from their past and are building the future instead. Spain is one of those countries that is unable to fight for future without constantly being distracted by the past.

The Elections that just past are an important reminder that the Right has got to stand together and fight for the history and traditions of Spain. However, how is it that Spain managed to get to this point. How is it that the Popular Party is only able to be about 2% above PSOE in the election. What happened to Vox? What is going on with the regionalist parties? There is a lot to unpack here so I am going to provide you with my understanding of what is going on here through the lens of Spain's history, which underlines the beliefs of the more radical of the Spanish Right. The weight of Spanish history cannot be denied when it comes to how it influences the Spanish Right and it is important to look at the Pre-Napoleonic Spanish political history and culture to understand why Vox has such a hold in the country. 

Spain's Political History (1492 to 1800)

When we look at countries like Spain, we understand that the conflict in the past did not really begin between left and right until really the invasion of Napoleon in the middle of the Napoleonic wars that he was waging across the entire continent. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, who invaded Spain in 1808 and installed Joseph I on the throne.

Spain is a country that is deeply embedded in the past much like Italy. The country of Italy has often been called an antique shop due to its connection with the Roman Empire. Spain's history, as it pertains to the post-Roman order really begins with the founding of the Visigoth Kingdom. Spain created its own path after that of the Roman Empire.  The Reconquista is integral to creation of the new Spanish myth that would to this day be embedded in the minds of every Spaniard, who is still invested in the It is important to look at the Pre-Napoleonic Spain political history to understand why the right-wing tends to act the way they do in Spain. 

Before Napoleon's invasion and his installation of a puppet government, Spain was a conservative country that was very orthodox in Catholic ideas. The country had fought a long and difficult struggle against Muslims for control of the whole Iberian Peninsula. The expulsion of the Jews in 1492 was the result of many generations of people having the idea of Christian persecution fresh in their heads. The expulsion of the Jews was not unique to Spain. It had occurred in England in 1290 under King Edward I.

Queen Isabella of Castile. It was under her and husband's leadership that the great Spanish Empire began.

Spain was always a country that was focused on maintaining Catholic orthodoxy in the country up until the 19th Century. When it began founding colonies in the New World, Spain took it upon itself to convert the natives and start building churches everywhere. Unlike the English, who were more hostile to the natives, the Spanish were interested in integrating the natives after they had used them brutally for slave labor in the early part of colonization. There were many in the Catholic Church who wanted the natives to be treated as people who simply who hadn't heard the Gospels; essentially, they needed to be treated as people and not simply as tools.

The early enslavement of Native Americans in the New World largely stopped, and they were replaced by the shipment of African slaves to Spanish colonies across the Empire. Some of the Africans and Natives would intermarry and would form a complex racial hierarchy in the New World. In comparison, the French would largely stay away from the Native Americans, preferring to trade with them but staying in their small colonial centers. The English were often hostile to the Native Americans and fought many wars with them. While the Spanish were in conflict with the Native Americans, especially with the Mayan on the Yucatan Peninsula, they endeavored after the early phases of colonization to help the Native Americans come to Christianity and become subjects of the Hapsburgs and later the Bourbon Monarchy in Spain. 

The Spanish often used the local elites who managed to survive invasion and pestilence to rule their respective lands with the guidance of the Spanish. The Spanish were very savvy and keen administrators who knew how to rule the lands they conquered.

Whatever what one thinks about the ethics of colonizing the New World, the Spanish were highly successful in changing the spiritual destinies of millions of people who managed to survive the European diseases.  To this day, the whole of Latin America and South America are Catholics. While there are sizable minorities of Protestants and even some Muslims, the Spanish conversion was highly successful and changed the course of religious history. 

Artist conception of Columbus leaving to go to the Americas.

The Spanish political system was always conservative. The monarchy's roots in the Visigoth Kingdom were based on the divine right of kings. There was no concept of democracy in Spain.

However, Spain was always more decentralized than other European states. This and the nature of the geography of the Iberian Peninsula led to the development of many unique regional cultures. Some of these cultures like the Catalans are particularly set in their ways but they have own traditions and ways of thinking about the world. They have an independent spirit that is really hard to break, especially in these days. 

As we enter the 16th Century, the Spanish Empire is at its height at the same time that Europe is being divided by the Protestant Reformation brought about Martin Luther in Germany. The Spanish were incredibly conservative and sought to root out the Protestants from their country. Unlike the French, who were going back and forth with tolerance and vicious violence between Catholics and the Huguenots, Spain remained a bastion of the Catholics. 

The imposition of the Spanish Inquisition created a culture of fear and repression for anyone who wasn't Catholic. Spanish life was more regimented and very strict, especially for the Upper classes. The poor in Spain were generally ignored and had a lack of economic development. 

A painting of a Spanish Clergyman by Diego Velázquez

However, overall, the Spanish people were some of the most religious people on the planet, with the Catholic Church in Spain being particularly strong. The Spanish political culture in many ways was very stagnant and resistant to change. While the Spanish King did not have a monarchy that reached the power of French kings like King Louis XIV, he was still an absolute monarchy without answering to a parliament, which today is called the Cortes. 

Spain's political culture in this time could be described as being highly Catholic, with the merging of state and church. This is not to say that Spain was some brutal society like the Aztecs. While the Aztecs may have had advanced plumbing and architecture, their society's thinking was rooted in Bronze mentality. The Spanish Catholicism is much closer to how people think about the world today instead of that. The main issue that the Spanish left tends to have with Spanish history is that this emphasis on Catholic Orthodoxy stymied the growth of institutions that would have allowed for greater economic growth like that in England or the Italian city states. They believe that Spain has inferiority complex and that it needs to be removed in order for Spain to be a ''normal'' country. 

The weight of the Catholic Church on Spain is something that Americans cannot understand. The church was intertwined with public and private life in a way that made the founders of America create the laws that assured the ability to practice one's religion as they chose across the land. The church in Spain had an aura around it and it seemed untouchable. This is why in Spain at this time that you do not see much secular art in the country compared to the Protestant countries. 

As we move into the 17th Century, we understand that Spain's political history remained rather uninteresting from the perspective of a leftist in Contemporary Catalonia. Spain as depicted by the great artist of the time was a stiff, rigid Catholic country, especially if one lived as a nobleperson. The Spanish, of course, in their ethics in this age were miles better than that of the indigenous peoples of the America. The indigenous people, with their own traditions and customs, did not have same ethics that would lead to a culture of Socialism that the Catalonians and other Spanish leftists seem to like so much. The Spanish, while they could be cruel to the Protestants and Indians in the New World, were more compassionate as people than the peoples of Classical Antiquity. The church, while it had its corruption and problems, was devoted to salvation of human beings. The church was the socialist institution in Monarchist Spain.

La Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, Spain

Spanish society was always dominated by the Church until the 19th century. You cannot look at Spain and its artistic expression without thinking about the church. Think about all the artists of the Golden Age, their output was heavily religious in nature. 

With this in mind, we have to understand that the Spanish elites were always going to be a conservative bunch. They were not like the Dutch, who outwardly were also religious but just wanted to make money. Catholicism in Spain was incredibly entrenched in the society. 

This is not to say that the Spanish were comparable to the Ancient Romans in brutality. The Romans, a civilization that I admire greatly, were definitely more brutal than that of the 17th Century Spanish. The inquisition could be corrupt and cruel but in comparison with the human sacrifices that were incredibly common in Mesoamerica.

Auto-de-fe in Spain was probably the worst of Spain's inquisition. However, the number of people that sentenced to burned at the stake was not as high as the depravations of Stalin and other 20th Century tyrants. Spain was using kid gloves with the heretics, especially compared to how Iran converted to Shia Islam from Sunni. The Spanish were some of the ethical people in Europe compared to those.

Spain was not a haven of liberalism at all. That belonged more to England and the Dutch Republic. The people were conservative and highly Catholic. 

Spain's political culture for women especially during this time was contradictory in many ways. Take a look at this painting of Queen Maria Theresa of Spain, who originally hailed from Austria. 

Queen Mariana Theresa of Spain by Diego Velázquez

As you can see, this is very different from how the modern Spanish person dresses or even portrays themselves. If you go on Instagram and take a look at how Spanish people generally dress and act, they seem just like Americans. There will be sprinklings of Spanish culture here and there, but Spain today is clearly within the American cultural framework. I honestly do not agree with this, but this is not what the article is about.

Mariana Theresa, who was the mother of the famous princess of Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez is depicted in a very serious manner. She also wearing those huge Spanish-style skirts with a handkerchief. Unlike her daughter, Margaret Theresa, who later became wife to Emperor Leopold I in the Holy Roman Empire, she hardly smiles in any of her paintings. 

This is a great representation of the Spanish mentality during this time, which is solemn, strict and somewhat stagnant. Of course, if we look at the men, there will be more dynamism in these paintings, but the culture was more stagnant during this time, especially in the elite culture. The Spanish Empire was more about spirituality than it was about economic development in Peninsular Spain.

Spain wasn't really like the Roman Empire or even the xenophobic Ancient Greeks. Spain's empire was really driven by resource extraction in the beginning and consolidated around the salvation of the souls of the indigenous peoples who remained after disease had cut through their lands. Spain's empire was heavily spiritually based. This is one of the reasons the Spanish Empire wasn't really beneficial for the population that lived on the Iberian Peninsula. Many in the homeland struggled with an economic system that was being hit with high inflation and a lack of infrastructure. The Spanish unlike the Romans or the Han Empire, did not really invest their money in building roads in homeland. Transporation on the Iberian Peninsula would remain rather difficult until the advent of the railroads during the reign of Isabella II in the 1850s. 

Spain's elite may have enjoyed the fruits of the labor of the rather rough around the edges conquistadors, but they were still a highly religious elite. The religious devotion of Spanish elites is something that one does not see with many Europeans these days. The Spanish Empire in many ways was a product of the Catholic Church. The empire's cities were generally centered around a cathedral or mission. While resource extraction was important to Spain, the religious and spiritual life of the natives was important as well.

In comparison with other empires at the time, like the Dutch Republic or the English colonies in North America, the Spanish Empire was more mercantilist in its economics. The proto-capitalist attitudes in the England were important for the development of the industrial revolution in that country. While religion was still important to the English people of the time, the economic development of the country took presdence over the religious aspects of the colonies. The English colonies, while small, were developing along with the island with incredible amounts of economic growth. By the time of the American Revolution, the American colonists were some of the most literate and prosperous people on Earth. 

Spain's focus on religious affairs in the colonies and at home meant that culture was more focused on the metaphysical than the physical. This was criticized by some in the country, but the country remained highly Catholic. While in England, liberalism grew out of a need to reorder the capitalist system to encourage individualism and supposedly leading to a freer culture. 

Spain and the 18th Century: Was there a Spanish Rousseau or Voltaire?

After the Hapsburgs had run out of genetic material to run the country, the Bourbon's took over and started a process of reforming the Spanish monarchy, the state and the colonies. This meant the reforming of offices and the economy in Spain. 

There was a process of systemization of the state, with the founding of important institutions to help increase the state's power and to maintain Spanish culture. These included the Royal Spanish Academy, which is empowered by the Spanish state to maintain the integrity of the Spanish language. 

The Bourbon's also tried to improve the economy in the colonies and Peninsular Spain. This led to the early industrialization of Barcelona, which as I have stated before has always been a region known for its economic strength compared to the rest of Spain. Spain would still lag greatly behind England and Belgium in its economy. Peninsular Spain was a mountainous region that was not highly conducive to to agriculture. The agricultural estates that were there in Spain and New Spain were not creating a cosmopolitan society. Spanish culture, even though the Bourbon's were trying to reform the country, was stagnant in some ways. While the British were inventing steam engines and putting them in their mills, Spain was lagging behind in many areas. Spain still had a great Empire, but it seemed to be a drag on the development of the society in Spain. 

There were many people in Spain among the intellectuals who were demanding changes to the state and society yet the Bourbons seemed very uninterested in them. 

As I have stated in here, the Spanish people were very conservative. and the culture was not changing much.

There were Spanish intellectuals who wanted to change Spain, but their influence was somewhat harnessed by the state to pursue its political aims rather than truly trying to change the country. 

At this time, Spain was a country that was increasingly seeing the left-wing start to take shape. The nobles were generally oblivious to this, and peasantry did not care. It was generally in the minds of the middle classes and intellectuals that these ideas were even discussed and had any influence. 

While Spain may have a few people that may have emulated a Spanish Rosseau or Voltaire, none of them were influential enough to really change the course of the state. That would have to wait until the invasion of Napoleon. 

Spain Elections 2023: A country at a crossroads

Spain's political culture was always conservative in the grand scheme of things. The country had its birth tied to the Reconquista and the expulsion of the Muslims as well as Jews. Their society wasn't interested in tolerance like that of the Dutch Republic. They were highly ideological Catholics, who wanted the supremacy of the church over secular affairs, and this was what animated their state. In comparison with other states at the time, the Spanish economy was stagnating and not growing much. It fell behind economically with other emerging countries that were already starting their industries. While there was some development in regions such as Barcelona, the Spanish culture remained resistant to liberalism and secularism. 

The media narrative around this election being an issue for the far-right just shows how corrupt the media has become. They are only interested in maintaining their rigid adherence to neo-liberal ideology. There is very little wiggle room for the Right-wing to be able to present themsleves. The media has lost much of its credibility and is no longer the arbiter of truth that it once was. The Spanish Right is strong and enough people want them to succeed to return Spain to its former glory.

Spain's parties are going to be negotiating over the creation of a government. The Socialists may be able to pull it off but there will probably be elections once again. The only that matters is that the Spanish Right remain strong and ready for the next contest.