Madrid: With loose corona politics to the election victory

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It was only a regional election, but one with consequences.

This is how Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the beaming winner of Madrid, saw it: “You have made history,” the head of the regional government, who was confirmed in office, shouted to the cheering crowd, who played with national flags and dance music on Tuesday evening in front of the headquarters of the conservative People's Party (PP ) had arrived.

The Madrid region has been ruled by the PP for 26 years.

However, during this period there has seldom been such a brilliant election success: Díaz Ayuso managed to more than double the number of parliamentary seats for her party, from 30 to 65. That is not enough for an absolute majority (69 seats).

But Ayuso can count on the support of the right-wing extremist Vox, which will be represented by 13 members in the regional parliament.

Ayuso promised her supporters that Madrid would start over from now on.

With a warning to Spain's socialist head of government, she made it clear that this departure will not only be regionally limited: “Spain is different, Señor Sánchez.

Spain begins in Madrid. "

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Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez did not show up on election evening, the defeat of the socialists, which a rather pale candidate won for them, was probably too loud for that. The PSOE, which won the election two years ago, shrank from 36 to 24 seats and was even overtaken by the alternative Más Madrid. Together with the left-wing Podemos, the "Progresistas" wanted to replace Ayuso as a progressive camp, which they did not even come close to. The liberal Ciudadanos party, former coalition partner of the PP and once the hope of so many who wanted a new kind of politics, no longer made it into the regional parliament.

And shortly before midnight there was another spectacular resignation: Podemos founder Pablo Iglesias, recently a government partner and deputy to Prime Minister Sánchez, declared that he was no longer of any use to his party, which is why he is now withdrawing from all political offices.

So the election night was tough.

Even if Madrid is not representative of all of Spain - in the regional elections in Catalonia, for example, the socialists triumphed, the People's Party fell and the separatists will rule again - the election in the capital could mark a new stage.

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This was already evident in the highly polemical election campaign on all sides, which reached a new low point in political culture with abuse, accusations and even death threats.

To the left's election motto, “Democracy or Fascism”, Ayuso responded with “Freedom or Communism” and declared herself to be the protector of Madrid from state paternalism, while the Left accused her of flat populism and also “Trumpism à la Madrileña”.

Ayuso was heavily criticized for her corona policy, unimpressed she resisted the orders of the national government and insisted on early relaxation.

Madrid was the exceptional Spanish city.

The fact that the restaurants and shops were able to open here despite the high death rate apparently not only brought accusations, but above all votes.

The 42-year-old has in common with many politicians of her generation that Ayuso knows how to present herself to the masses.

With this election result, she has proven that she is also a good strategist.

She had held early elections because she feared a vote of no confidence from the co-ruling Ciudadanos.

Now the liberals are gone, sunk in the election, the left-wing camp has been beaten, and the Vox right-wing nationalists offered their support on election night.

Ayuso - unlike some of her conservative counterparts - will hardly hesitate to accept it.

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In the People's Party, Ayuso's success and tactics will have an impact. The least, according to observers, is that the already harsh tone between conservatives and socialists will intensify and the rifts will deepen. Joint crisis management, which the country, which has not only been damaged by the Corona crisis, urgently needs, now seems even less in sight. Sánchez will also hardly be able to count on the conservatives when it comes to the major task of the government: his plan to rebuild the country, for which a gigantic 140 billion euros will come from Brussels, will find even more violent opponents.

For the right-wing extremist Vox, the election result in Madrid is a further step towards the goal of becoming socially acceptable across the country.

It is true that the party only gained one seat and, contrary to its own forecasts, did not do well in the working-class neighborhoods.

But Vox, as a voter for the conservative minority government, would also be a model for other regions and maybe even after the next national election.

For the socialists, recently admired by other European comrades as the last successful of their kind, the events in Madrid are a blow that cannot be explained solely by a wrong strategy and too much left-wing competition.

Madrid, some election observers speculated on talk shows, shows that the Spanish socialists are no longer up to date either.

The most social rule with Podemos, whose founder, boss - and some say: sole ruler - is now thrown down.

It is not clear whether Podemos will survive this.

Perhaps Sánchez will have to look for a new coalition partner sooner than he would like.

The liberals, with whom he would have loved to rule, have long since mutated from a rising to a wilting party.

This is also shown by the Madrid result: the young parties that began a few years ago to stir up the encrusted two-party system seem to have reached their half-life.

Other groups are moving up, but without changing anything in the scheme.

The two-party system has ultimately only been replaced by a two-camp system, a camp struggle that binds an infinite amount of political energy without producing any constructive results.

Election winner Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who wants to save her Madrid from “sánchismo”, left no doubt that she will play a decisive role in the long-term feud between left and right. Now things really get going: “Let's work, get up early and fight.” The fans dancing on the street cheered their approval in the night sky. But only until half past ten, then the election party broke up. The curfew is still in effect.