Although it is hard to believe, the second Podemos congress, named after its venue, Vistalegre II, has already happened. Its agonizing development and preparation is a direct consequence of the type of party created at its first congress, in October 2014. The second congress can be summarized as a confrontation without debate and a spectacle without substance.

Its result has clear consequences: Pablo Iglesias has been reelected general secretary and his team will rule Podemos at ease. For Errejón, former number two and Iglesias’s rival at the congress, any past time was better. The smaller Anticapitalistas current and the list it held with other independent activists, Podemos en Movimiento, managed to show that there is another Podemos, albeit still small compared to the two main factions of the former leadership.

The final outcome of the congress, more a battle for power than a real discussion about the party’s future plans, is a facelift of what was decided at Vistalegre I. What was at stake was mainly the risk of negative changes rather than positive ones: either to move towards the final political normalization of Podemos (advocated by Errejón) or to remain a rebellious force but with major strategic incoherence (as Iglesias defended).