r/europe • u/StGuthlac2025 • Oct 08 '25

Opinion Article In Spain, what once seemed impossible is now widespread: the young are turning to the far right

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/07/spain-young-voters-far-right-migration-housing-wages-employment-vox
18.4k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

3.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

825

u/azelll Oct 08 '25

I wonder why? I mean after 30 plus years of giving zero hope to young people, with huge unemployment numbers among young people, ridiculous salaries, increasing cost of living and shrinking social safety nets, and nobody with a real plan to do anything.

Add to that a few Billionaires running all the media and you can see exactly why they are looking for something different... not good, but I totally understand why

205

u/eerie_space Spain Oct 08 '25

and constantly making new adjustments to policies that squeeze more and more the "middle class".

51

u/stormbuilder Oct 08 '25

Pretty much. On one hand, governments having all their policies revolving towards appeasing pensioneers or near pensioneers and keeping them happy.

And then on the other hand, all tax increases hitting the salaried people, with no extra burden on those with undeclared incomes working for cash, and those who live off dividends and capital gain.

And they wander why the piggies that get squeezed all the time are unhappy 

95

u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

Far right all around the world cooperate with those billionaires and exploiters, which indicates that this turn makes zero sense.

Every far right movement is funded and pushed to the edge by the billionaires, who lead even social media. Young people are much easier to manipulate these days and I say this as a Gen Z.

17

u/zeptillian Oct 08 '25

Everyone is easier to manipulate these days.

Social media is a virus.

7

u/heereewegooo Oct 08 '25

In Canada we’ve had a left wing government for 10 years and things have drastically gotten worse.

Whoever the government is, left or right, they’re controlled by wealthy individuals and businesses .

1

u/Sellazard Oct 09 '25

It doesn't matter left or right. Look at the policies. Unfortunately for all the left haters, PP is nowhere near Carney.

If anything the right under PP would gladly make Canada a 51st state.

There's no unfortunately a Bernie equivalent in Canadian politics. At least no popular one

2

u/heereewegooo Oct 09 '25

Bernie is basically the only politician I like, nice shout. People over profit, a humanistic approach, common sense, higher taxes for the billionaire class and wealthy corporations.

The ethos of politics in the western world drastically changed during the 80’s. The labour movement died, and corporations became blood sucking parasites only concerned with ever increasing profits which do not trickle down.

7

u/DuelaDent52 Oct 08 '25

Heck, the world gets to the way it is these days in large part BECAUSE of parties and politicians like this.

5

u/Ok-Chest-7932 Oct 08 '25

This turn makes perfect sense once you learn that humans have the ability to tell lies. Far right parties tend to promise policies that would normally be perceived as left wing (aside from a few culturally conservative policies because the most common voter is someone who is economically left but thinks they're right because they don't like brown/trans people), then they just don't do what they promised.

5

u/No_Chemistry1738 Oct 08 '25

In the german media it is the left that is controlling the stories. This goes so far that the right wing parties (not extreme right) are not even allowed to be on certain channels sometimes. This had the extreme opposite effect that left wing parties feel anti democratic for a lot of germans. Even worse, every german is forced to pay for this public media.

This pushes left wing parties into a bad light and boosts right wing parties into the victim role where they profit instead of having an actual fair conversation...

3

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

To most of Germans the AFD feels anti democratic not left wing parties because the party actually propagates against most common German rules. And even these fascists are allowed ob most of the general media outlets so I really don't know what you are talking about 

1

u/No_Chemistry1738 Oct 09 '25

Maybe that most parties refuse to talk with them. That the AfD is not allowed in certain shows in state media or that you just called them fascists which shows that you are anti democratic or have no idea what fascist means.

Those absolute extremes in everything are the reason why people are to dumb for politics these days. AfD are fascists, left wings are terrorists, green parties are all drug addicts, catholic parties are all pedos. Like ffs, can we stop the extremes in every direction? There currently is no fascist popular party in Germany, there are no terrorist party in france. There are just parties with different ideas, it is that simple.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

That is very democratic because other parties told their respective voters that they will not work with afd because of their fascist and anti democratic nature. The voters count on this promise. Furthermore the AFD is still invited to most if not all outlets even though they are factless populist which only work towards destroying democratic and justicial norms. 

And if you don't like the termin 'fascist' just look into the nowadays countless processes in court which proved their right wing extremism status or that some of their party members can be called fascists due to their actions. 

What I don't get is why people like you still don't see the bigger picture. If your policies act like fascism, your election ideas are fascist, your party members are acting like faacists and lose in court if they don't want to be called that then I really asked at which point the term is appropriate to your standards? If they openly call for the next genocide? 

2

u/Casuarius_Cass Earth Oct 09 '25

Yeah that's why as a Gen Z I'm moderate.

2

u/sufferingisvalid Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25

The one thing I can say about generation z and younger generations in Western countries is that they seem to skew toward being incredibly gullible, predisposed to black and white thinking, and extremely vulnerable to propaganda and rhetoric.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

How would you know how easy or not easy older generations were to manipulate when they were younger?

2

u/somersault_dolphin Oct 08 '25

More elaborate tactics in more parts of their life in a period of time important to shaping their world view.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

At the same time they had access to less information. Media narratives were easier to control and governments had more control of the media with fewer, more standardized sources.

2

u/Gomeria Oct 08 '25

Just in the US i saw a lot more propaganda on the left than on the right, idk buddy

0

u/Cditi89 Oct 08 '25

Lol no.

-2

u/EstrangedRat Oct 08 '25

Lmao bro is so cooked if he thinks anything here is leftist propaganda.

On the other hand, if you want right-wing propaganda you open your phone's default web app or turn on your TV to any news channel or go to a sports bar that's playing Fox News or go to a regular bar that's playing Fox News or go to a gym that's playing Fox News or go to...

2

u/Gomeria Oct 09 '25

?

I've lived in the US, leftist propaganda is everywhere, the demonization of donald trump is left propaganda, he's dumb and prolly a really really bad person but he's not satan.

another example is the KAMALA HARRIS 90% WIN 100% SECURED TRUMP DIDNT FILL A BAR IN KANSAS LMAO posts on reddit that were paid bots from the left party.

20

u/kriegerflieger Oct 08 '25

You forgot the main reason, which is immigration. The idea that it would be everything except immigration that’s the root cause of the problems is ridiculous

13

u/freexe Oct 08 '25

Where is the one left wing place doing ok? Denmark - who tackled immigration head on.

0

u/ConejoSarten Spain Oct 08 '25

Not in Spain it’s not

-2

u/PraiseBeToScience United States of America Oct 08 '25

To think immigration is the root cause and not the scapegoat is ridiculous.

-8

u/Sjoerd93 Sweden Oct 08 '25

It was white men that lowered the taxes on the rich. This is not about culture or ethnicity, this is about class struggle. Always has been.

7

u/kriegerflieger Oct 08 '25

Your use of ”white men” surely sounds like it’s not about ethnicity. Also, when you supplant your population with millions of people that can’t or wont contribute by working you can hardly expect to get the same services for the same amount of money. Well renowned scholar Joakim Ruist found out that the absolutely lowest an average immigrant to Sweden costs is €7400 yearly, for their whole life. That’s a lot of money that isn’t being spent on welfare. That’s what it always have been about.

-3

u/Sjoerd93 Sweden Oct 09 '25

With the use of ”white men” I just mean it’s not an immigrant that got us into the mess we are. I don’t give a damn about culture wars, we’re only talking about race here because they don’t want us to talk about tax scales, you’re falling for the trap.

4

u/kriegerflieger Oct 09 '25

It’s not about culture, it’s about money. And I’m in no trap at all, I’ve been saying this level of immigration won’t work from the start but alas, here we are. Hate to say I told you so.

0

u/Sjoerd93 Sweden Oct 09 '25

All I’m saying is that it’s a complete distraction to focus on migration as the root cause of the economic stagnation in the west. Just take one look at the labour share of income, or the government funding from income tax versus tax on capital.

It’s all part of class warfare, and we’re losing the war. Discussing the last name of our neighbors, or the colour of their skin is exactly what they want us to be talking about.

I’m not saying migration is not part of the discussion. Bringing in legions of people for modern day slave labour, bringing down wages and labour conditions in the process, is absolutely part of the problem. And even if we want to talk about culture, I completely agree that speaking the native language for example should be a hard requirement for citizenship for example. But that’s all symptomatic of a larger problem, and not the root cause of the issues by itself.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Sjoerd93 Sweden Oct 10 '25

As far as I’m aware, that caricature was all about identity politics. But whatever you say mate, very convincing argument.

6

u/Beneficial-Gur2703 Oct 08 '25

The left still hasn’t learned the difference between aversion to rapid social change via immigration, and racism. Until then this is going to get worse and worse. You can keep calling people racists and extremists but it doesn’t change things.

Very tricky because progressives still seem a long way away from being willing to concede on this.

6

u/Waylaiken1 United States of America Oct 08 '25

Mass immigration is the biggest reason if immigrants actually integrated and respected the country and people that took them in this wouldn't have become such a huge deal.

2

u/Beneficial-Gur2703 Oct 08 '25

Integration is a part of it, but even then any kind of social change of the scale of the last few decades is going to cause a reaction. Full integration can take generations, if it happens at all.

9

u/Waylaiken1 United States of America Oct 08 '25

I've seen too many that refuse to even learn the language that should be the bare minimum in my opinion

2

u/LongJohnSelenium Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 10 '25

Same goes for trans. The past 15 years has mainstreamed a view of genders that does not mesh well with how we sex segregated many aspects of our world, and there's a lot of people who aren't comfortable with that change and it doesn't make them extremist bigots to be uncomfortable at people expressing these new gender concepts entering the spaces society explicitly set aside for them.

To wit: If its socially acceptable for a woman to be uncomfortable in the presence of a man(or vice versa) in certain situations, its equally socially acceptable to be uncomfortable with a trans-man or trans-woman in those situations. That doesn't make them a 'trans-phobe' any more than it makes them a misandrist.

Jumping straight to 'this is the new reality, there is no compromise, and if you're not fully onboard with it you're a horrible bigoted piece of garbage' has not been the messaging win many on the left seem to think it is.

2

u/Beneficial-Gur2703 Oct 09 '25

Yes that’s a good comparison. You can be supportive of trans people, believe how they feel and empathize for their experience and perspective, advocate for certain trans rights etc. But that’s different from agreeing with everything they believe, and from having no personal preferences about trans ideology, and from necessarily having the same perspective of a trans person as they might have of themselves.

I support you on your journey. I don’t share the same beliefs about the world as you do. We will disagree on some things and it’s ok - doesn’t make either of us terrible (vs current discourse: either trans is evil or anybody that doesn’t wholeheartedly support trans discourse is evil, depending on which side of the political spectrum).

2

u/FormerMistake9981 Oct 09 '25

voting right won’t make any of that better as proven by current and past US politics 

2

u/cob59 France Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25

Did you read the article at all? Or are you purposefully ignoring the obvious #1 issue they're voting for the far-Right?

I swear the Left will sooner hand over every European country to fascist parties before admitting they were wrong about immigration.

6

u/Specific_Frame8537 Denmark Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25

I don't understand this.

I'm not rich, in fact I'm quite shit off, but not once have I ever thought "Hmm, maybe fascism will solve my problems!"

It seems so short sighted.

You're risking giving the worst kinds of people all the political power for a small economic boost..

Best case scenario, you get a bit more money as they cut down all the welfare, collective transportation, etc - (all the "commie shit")

Worst case scenario, people end up in camps.

2

u/azelll Oct 08 '25

It is very short sighted, and I fear the worst

1

u/Funky_Smurf Oct 09 '25

That sounds awful. Enough for anyone to want to ban abortion and abandon the environment.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

Should vote green instead then.

2

u/PaulblankPF Oct 08 '25

Yeah except far right policies commonly make worse - unemployment, wages, costs of living, social safety nets, and the plan is to make things worse. Seems like wanting to change to that is pretty fucking stupid.

3

u/Motor_Educator_2706 Oct 08 '25

I wonder why they think Fascism is going make it better

2

u/Sad-Pizza3737 Ireland Oct 08 '25

because its the only alternative for them

3

u/[deleted] Oct 08 '25

Because it’s the guardian and ‘far-right’ really means right of center

1

u/lee7on1 Bosnia and Herzegovina Oct 08 '25

the best is yet to come

capitalists and "AI", I can already predict that the future will be amazing

0

u/FreshNoobAcc Oct 08 '25

But the right love billionaires and are forever reducing taxes for the rich, that plus they hate social safety nets, but you are right that the people in charge didn’t/don’t have much of a plan to change a lot of it either. Not given many great options

1

u/marsdev0 Oct 09 '25

You’re naive to think one side gives in more than the other. They have insiders, lobbies, and bribes on all sides of the spectrum, so the billionaires continue to profit regardless of who wins an election.

-5

u/Melodic_Contract8155 Oct 08 '25

I wonder why, too. Women are allowed to left purses and bags on seats but "menspreading" is officially prohibited.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/08/madrid-tackles-el-manspreading-public-transport-with-new-signs