On The Leftward Shift Of The Spanish Communist Party Since The New Century

As one of the initiators of Eurocommunism,the Communist Party of Spain gradually embarked on the road of reformism in the second half of the 20 th century.However,since the 21 st century,the Spanish Communist Party has shown obvious signs of turning left,and the landmark turning point is the restoration of Leninism and democratic centralism at the 20 th National Congress of the party.The reasons for the left-turn of the Spanish Communist Party can be discussed from internal and external levels.From the external level,the global crisis of neoliberalism has increasingly highlighted the contradictions inherent in Spanish Society and triggered a mass movement.The left-wing populist party Podemos,which grew up in the 15 M movement,has squeezed the living space of the Communist Party of Spain.During this period(2008-2016),the Communist Party of Spain replaced the previous period’s Anti-globalization strategy(1996-2007)with the Rupture strategy,which aimed to break with the 78 year regime based on the two party system,but it not only failed to achieve its goal,but also failed to deal with the squeeze from the populist political parties on the left wing.From the internal level,on the one hand,in recent decades,the Spanish Communist Party has not only aged and reduced its members,but also weakened its ties with trade unions and increasingly marginalized in the political arena and social influence.On the other hand,the reformist road since legalization made the Spanish Communist Party lose its revolutionary and class nature,lose the political identity of Marxism Leninism,and enter the downward track of continuous decline,which contributed to the deep reflection on Eurocommunism within the Spanish Communist Party.After the 20 th National Congress,the Communist Party of Spain adjusted the Rupture strategy to the People’s Unity strategy(2017-2020)according to the changed situation,aiming to unite the left wing and not be excluded or replaced by the Podemos.The Spanish Communist Party and the Podemos formed the Unidas Podemos electoral alliance.In the 2019 general election,the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party and the Unidas Podemos alliance reached an agreement to form a coalition government.This is the first government with the existence of the Communist Party since the second republic.Two members of the Communist Party of Spain serve as ministers.It is also the only government with the participation of the Communist Party in EU countries.Faced with the rise of the extreme right wing and the social crisis triggered by COVID-19 in 2020,the Spanish Communist Party advocated entering the government and formulating policies to safeguard the interests of the working class.If necessary,the Communist Party of Spain could evolve the Unidas Podemos alliance into a permanent political alliance.From the perspective of the 20 th Congress of the Communist Party of Spain and the subsequent adjustment and effect of theory and practice,the restoration of Leninism and Democratic Centralism by the Communist Party of Spain is not a theoretical change and the return to the essence of Marxism Leninism,but an expedient measure to break through the dilemma,adapt to the new situation and reconfirm its political identity,which has not brought great improvement to the Spanish Communist Party.In fact,for the Communist Party of western developed countries,how to deal with the relationship between the basic principles of Leninism and the improvement line of parliamentary election has always been an unsolved problem.