New Green-Left federation launched in Madrid.

• Author: Hammerstein, David
• Position: Brief Article

Over 600 high-spirited delegates from all over Spain kicked off the most serious attempt ever to put Green politics on the map in nation-wide Spanish politics on May 19.

The Green minister of environment in the Balearic Islands region, Margalida Rosello, opened the convention. She spoke of the objectives of the new Federacion Los Verdes-lzquierda Verde (Greens-Green left) which aims to create a new political organization based on the principles of ecology, social justice, federalism and the construction of a democratic Europe.

Greens and regional Green-left parties like Iniciativa per Catalunya-Verds, Izquierda Democratica Cantabra and Izquierda Madrilena, among others, have come together to put forth a viable Green political option differentiated from the Socialist Party and the neo-communist Izquierda Unida. The new Green federation is already represented by hundreds of local council members, over a dozen regional parliamentarians and one member of the national parliament.

This new broad-based Green-left federation, in which the Confederacion de Los Verdes plays a key role, is by far the most serious, feasible and innovative political proposal put forth by the Spanish Greens. Until now the regional and linguistic divisions...