Pudimos: The Little Party That Could

Yesterday's voting across Spain signaled a major triumph for the Little Party That Could  — Podemos (We Can) can now proclaim Pudimos (We Could).

Manuela Carmena, mayor of Madrid?

Could what? Well, not seize the Moncloa (Spain's nearest equivalent to the Winter Palace) in a neo-Bolshevik-Bolivarian revolution, as some hysterical right-wing politicians claimed to fear. Nor even to out-poll the two biggest and most established parties.

But Podemos was either the instigator or a major contributor in the electoral coalitions that will be decisive in forming governments of towns and cities across the country. Most stunningly, especially to the stunned Partido Popular, that party's the two most strongholds, Madrid and Barcelona. In Madrid, the highly respected judge Manuela Carmena, backed by an ad-hoc coalition of progressive groups initiated by Podemos, won enough seats to seize the mayoralty from the PP — assuming, as we expect, that the third-place Socialist Party gives her its support.

Ada Colau, in her anti-eviction T-shirt

And in Barcelona, Ada Colau, leader of the movement against evictions of suddenly impoverished families, running with the backing of another ad-hoc coalition, also with Podemos as a major actor, won more seats than any other party and should therefore become the mayor — though, because the voting in Barcelona was so fragmented, she will have to rely on the support of many smaller groups in order to govern. (Sort of like Netanyahu's fragile government.)

So, se pudo. Now let's see where we go from here.