Is there a disjunction between the political rhetoric that divides Spain in two distinctive political ideologies (left vs. right) and the actual response on the ground?

Abstract

Nazism and fascism have been a latent problem within Europe since the Second War World. The gap between Left and Right Wing political ideologies has increased in the last few years becoming more 'extreme' as a consequence of the current economic crisis. Greece is surely the best example but is not by far an isolated case. This thesis focuses mainly on Spain, which as a consequence of its historical factors, politicians from both 'sides' have become overt in 'extreme' ideologies. I have used for the research newspapers, social networks, fieldwork analyses from well-known European research centers, participant observation in protests and open Internet programs used mostly by social movements from Spain, Greece, Italy, Mexico, France, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, etc. The discourse used on the ground reflects the rhetoric used by politicians. Nonetheless, it also can be found a growing disjunction between the two. Social movements and persons actively participating in various protests mostly describe themselves as 'Left Progressive'. Yet, the economic crisis has affected mostly middle and lowers classes independently of their ideological preference. Thus, two 'trends' can be found among the population, on one hand, people blame the current economic crisis on the 'other' becoming more extreme in their political views whilst on the other hand, middle and lower classes unite despite their political ideologies to 'fight against' the political elite and banks' behavior and personal interest.