Spain Versus the Gig Economy
Spain’s left-wing government is clamping down on bogus self-employment — and the gig companies are angry.
31 Articles by:
Eoghan Gilmartin
Eoghan Gilmartin is a writer and translator who covers Spanish politics for Tribune and Jacobin.
Spain Shows that the Centre-Left Can Govern Progressively
While Keir Starmer’s Labour Party veers ever further to the Right, Spain’s centre-left government took bold steps to tackle inflation — and was rewarded at the polls.
Can Spain’s Resurgent Left Stop the Far-Right?
In tomorrow’s election, voters in Spain will choose between returning one of Europe’s few left-wing governments – or electing the far-right to power for the first time in its democratic history.
Barcelona Is Fighting for the Right to Housing
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau has taken housing out of the hands of profiteers. In tomorrow’s election, she aims to prove that socialists can reject the market-led development of our cities – and win.
The Future Is Sumar
The Spanish left entered government as part of a coalition for the first time since the civil war in the 1930s — and is reaping the rewards of strengthening workers’ rights and rejecting neoliberalism.
Spain Is Serious About Stopping Bogus Self-Employment
Spain’s 2021 ‘Rider Law’ was a breakthrough in employment rights for delivery riders, but giants like Glovo have been all too willing to flout it – so they’ve been slapped with a record €79 million fine.
Western Sahara Is Still Fighting for Freedom
As NATO powers declare unwavering support for Ukrainian self-determination, they are quietly abandoning the people of Western Sahara to Morocco’s brutal military occupation.
Renewing Podemos
Podemos’ new head of organisation, Lilith Verstrynge, speaks to Tribune about the future after Pablo Iglesias, the challenges of government – and whether the party can still be a threat to the Spanish establishment.
The Brutal Reality of Europe’s Border Regime
This year, more than 2,000 people have died trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands from Africa – a reminder of the lethal reality of the European Union’s border regime.
Why Capitalism Still Fears ‘The Communist Manifesto’
Spain’s Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz writes about the enduring relevance of ‘The Communist Manifesto’ – a critique from which capitalism, for all its longevity, has not managed to escape.
Misremembering Franco
Spain’s new ‘memory law’ attempts to grapple with Franco-era crimes – but without acknowledging the continuity between the dictatorship and the current system, there can be no real justice.
Spain’s New ‘Rider Law’ Could Change the Gig Work Game
After more than four years of worker organising, Spain is the first EU country to legally recognise delivery riders as the employees of digital platforms – the next step is stamping out bogus self-employment entirely.
So Long, Pablo Iglesias
Former Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias has retired from politics after last night’s election defeat – he was a pioneering figure on the European left, but couldn’t transcend the limits of Spain’s coalition government.
The Evil Empire of Florentino Pérez
Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez wasn’t just a key player in the botched European Super League – he is also a voracious capitalist, profiteering from outsourcing and privatisation at the expense of the Spanish public.
Public Enemy: Spain’s Persecution of Pablo Hasél
Last week, Spain imprisoned rapper Pablo Hasél for insulting the monarchy. It’s just the latest episode in a broad attack on progressive politics carried out by the country’s politicised right-wing judiciary.
The 18th Brumaire of Donald Trump
This week we saw the natural culmination of Trumpism: a politics of pure conflict, which harnesses anger without a project of transformation, a revolt against a state of affairs which in reality it seeks to preserve.
Pablo Iglesias: ‘Great Disasters Turn Neoliberals into Neo-Keynesians’
Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias on the Spanish government’s response to Covid-19, the right-wing campaign of ‘lawfare’ against his party – and why building a republic remains the goal of the country’s Left.
Madrid’s Covid Class War
In Madrid, authorities have imposed a new lockdown on 850,000 people living in the city’s working-class neighbourhoods – the very places where key workers at the front lines of the virus are most likely to live.
Francoism on Trial
A human rights case brought against key Franco-era politician Rodolfo Martín Villa in Argentina has united Spanish and European elites – in opposition to justice for fascism’s historic crimes.
Towards a New Spanish Republic
As Spain’s former king flees the country after a string of corruption revelations, Podemos co-founder Juan Carlos Monedero makes the case for abolishing the country’s monarchy – and building a new republic.