From Syriza’s victory to Le Pen’s second round showing, Europe has undergone a series of electoral earthquakes in recent years. But in Spain, one of the epicenters of the populist surge, a key point of debate on the Left is now whether “the window of opportunity” for rapid political advance has closed. According to ĺñigo Errejón, one of Podemos’s leading figures, his party must now adjust itself to the rhythm of a “slower more normalized political cycle” which will be focused much more on institutional politics. Having failed to secure the sorpasso by overtaking the centre-left PSOE, Errejón believes Podemos must now be open to cooperation with them through entering a relationship of “virtuous competition” rather than outright opposition.

Miguel Urbán, leader of Podemos in the European Parliament and a prominent member of its Anticapitalista faction, doesn’t agree. He argues that the continent’s regime crisis is, in fact, only beginning. Defending the party’s left populism, Urbán believes that the European left’s route to victory at the polls will not come through moderation but rather through confrontation with the political center.

He discusses this, as well as the push for independence in Catalonia and the re-election of Pedro Sanchez as leader of PSOE, with Jacobin contributor Eoghan Gilmartin.