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Can the EU still unite a continent shattered by world wars, or is it little more than a vehicle for austerity capitalism? Soon British voters will vote on Brexit - leaving the EU. Given the absence of a strong, continent-wide left, however, reversing the current economic rules of the EU may be a country-by-country battle. It's already underway - and for all of the economic power of the EU, the organization is vulnerable to charges that Brussels has sidelined democracy.

The alliance between Podemos and United Left makes them the chief left-wing force in Spanish electoral politics.

A new progressive alliance could break the stalemate—but whoever wins will face a hamstrung economy and deep discontent with politicians.

A new party of the Left in Spain has surprised pundits by winning big in last Sunday's elections by running on an an-austerity program. Mark Weisbrot offers some background and an analysis of how these developments fit within the overall "post-recession" Eurozone crisis.

Whatever party ends on top in the Spanish election, it will have to form a coalition, thus ending the reign of the two-party system that has dominated the country since Franco. Late polls show the right-wing PP taking a beating, dropping from 44 percent that it won four years ago to 28%, but it will still win the largest number of votes of any one party. Followed by the Socialists, at 21%, the center-right Ciudadanos Party at 19%, and the left-wing Podemos Party at 15.7%

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In upcoming votes for the European Union's most indebted countries, the left will have to battle both the forces of austerity and a resurgent xenophobic right. The backdrop for elections in Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Ireland is one of deep economic crisis originally ignited by the American financial collapse of 2007-08. The response of the EU is massive cutbacks in government spending, widespread layoffs, and double-digit tax hikes on consumers.

On Tuesday Madrid’s newly elected mayor, Manuela Carmena, overturned the eviction orders for 70 families living in social housing and safeguarded more than 2,000 similar rental contracts. The move is the latest by the administration of Manuela Carmena, a former Communist, to protect housing in a country where tens of thousands of families have lost their homes. Over 50,000 mortgage holders were evicted in 2013 and 2014 in Spain.

In response to the wave of demonstrations over austerity programs and bank bailouts that have swept across Spain, a new law took effect on July 1, 2015 that criminalizes demonstrations in front of some government agencies and public buildings, and includes stiff fines for documenting the police response. The so-called Citizen Security Law makes it illegal to disseminate pictures, video and other content deemed “damaging” to Spain’s police and security forces.

How Spain's 15M movement went from occupying city squares to city halls-without compromising its independence. An important part of progressives' recent electoral success can be traced to a strong network of locally organized 'social centers' across Spain. These are spaces where community members can interact and share ideas, whether that means organizing a demonstration, taking Zumba classes or checking out library book.