The international right has CPAC. Has the left finally found its answer? Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, hosted the inaugural meeting of the Global Progressive Mobilisation in Barcelona, drawing thousands of activists and leaders like Brazil’s Lula and South Africa’s Ramaphosa. Yet Keir Starmer and other European social democrats were notably absent, highlighting the divide between Sánchez’s progressive stance and the centrist drift of many European left parties.
A Gathering of Progressives
The event, held on 18 April 2026, featured discussions on countering authoritarianism, fascism, war, and corporate power. Speakers condemned Donald Trump, Israel’s actions in Gaza, and the rise of the far right. However, the absence of major European leaders underscored Spain’s isolation as the only major European country with a meaningfully progressive government.
Sánchez’s Vision vs. European Social Democracy
Sánchez’s speech attacked billionaires, speculators, and “techno-oligarchs,” declaring the death of neoliberal orthodoxy in 2008. He argued that progressives must serve the people, not elites. This contrasts sharply with leaders like Keir Starmer, who have largely abandoned such rhetoric. The crisis of the West, Sánchez implied, stems from social democracy’s self-destruction through embracing neoliberalism in the 1990s and austerity after 2008.
Spain’s Coalition Government
Since 2018, Sánchez has led a progressive coalition with the radical left, achieving labour rights, wage increases, and housing policies. The economy has grown, but the Socialists get credit while leftist voters grow disillusioned. The government lacks a parliamentary majority and faces corruption allegations, with an election due next year that could bring a right-wing coalition to power.
International Solidarity Against the Far Right
The Global Progressive Mobilisation positions itself as a counterweight to CPAC, recognizing that the far right is a transnational force requiring international solidarity. While some hope Europe’s far right will weaken due to association with an unpopular US president, its leaders are already distancing themselves from Washington.
Barcelona offered a glimpse of a united left capable of challenging authoritarianism, but whether social democrats will break with failed economic models and ally with more radical forces remains an open question. The event was not a rebirth, but a reminder that the slide into right-wing authoritarianism is not inevitable.
