Leftist mayors take over Madrid, Barcelona in historic turn

Spain's biggest cities Madrid and Barcelona were completing one of the nation's biggest political upheavals in years by swearing in far-left mayors today. The radical leaders have promised to cut their own salaries, halt homeowner evictions and eliminate perks enjoyed by the rich and famous.
Other cities and towns around the country swore in new council members and mayors.
The leadership change comes weeks after Spain's two largest traditional parties were punished in nationwide local elections by voters groaning under the weight of austerity measures and repulsed by a string of corruption scandals.
In Madrid, 71-year-old retired judge Manuela Carmena was among the first mayors to be sworn in, ending 24 years of rule by the conservative Popular Party in Spain's capital.

Carmena vowed among other things to take on wealthy Madrilenos who enjoy exclusive use of the city-owned Club de Campo country club opening it to the masses. "We're creating a new kind of politics that doesn't fit within the conventions," she said ahead of today's vote. "Get ready."
In Barcelona, anti-eviction activist Ada Colau is due to be sworn in this evening. Colau questioned whether it's worth spending 4 million euros (USD 4.5 million) of city money to help host the glitzy Formula 1 race every other year. She thinks the funds would be better spent on free meals for needy children at public schools.

Carmena and Colau ran for office as leaders of leftist coalitions supported by the new pro-worker and anti-establishment Podemos "We Can" party formed last year. It is led by the pony-tailed college professor Pablo Iglesias, a big supporter of Greece's governing far-left Syriza Party.

The political fragmentation propelling Carmena and Colau into office marks a historic moment in Spanish politics, said Manuel Martin Algarra, a communications professor at the University of Navarra who specializes in public opinion.
"Madrid and Barcelona for the first time are not going be governed by political parties, but by coalitions made up of social movements," he said. "This was a punishment vote to the traditional political establishment in Spain."

For Carmena's Ahora Madrid or "Madrid Now" coalition with the Socialist Party, that means a mandate to roll back moves by the Popular Party to privatize city services, as well as carry out audits of the city's debts and contracts awarded to private companies seen as political cronies, said Pablo Carmona, an incoming Madrid city councilor.