The democratic health of a nation resides not in the absence of dissent, but in the robustness of its frameworks for coexistence in the face of regressive currents. What was perceived as a parliamentary anomaly just a few years ago has consolidated as a conditioning factor for governability.
The consolidation of VOX is not an unforeseen phenomenon. It is the crystallization of a deep malaise that, far from being ignored, is sustained by the institutions' inability to offer conviction. It is not an unforeseen phenomenon
In politics, there are no vacuums, and the current government has created the perfect scenario for the radical right to go from being marginal to a central player
For years, the socialist strategy was based on "the wolf is coming," stirring up fear of the far-right to mobilize the left. And by pointing to VOX as the sole enemy for so long, they ended up validating them. The Executive granted them the status of the real opposition leader, fueling their visibility.
The policy of concessions has also fueled nationalist discourse. Every pact with sectors that the average citizen perceives as contrary to national unity has been a gift. They haven't needed brilliant proposals: they've been content to present themselves as the "reaction" to a government that, in the eyes of many, has stretched the seams of the state to stay in power
The PSOE begins 2026 politically paralyzed by a dozen criminal cases and with the uncertainty of whether it can complete its term in office due to pressure from the courts and the distrust of its partners. The official response has been that these are individual cases or people who "are no longer in the party." However, when the names appearing in the judicial summaries are ministers, trusted advisors, or family members, the excuse of the "black sheep" stops working. The transfer of votes only continues to grow...
There is also an underlying component of social disconnection. While the government focuses on a cutting-edge rights agenda that sometimes forgets everyday material issues, VOX has occupied that space of "popular indignation." They have known how to read the discontent of those who feel forgotten by a politics they consider out of touch with reality.
What is truly concerning is not the emergence of radical right-wing forces, but their ability to shift the axis of what is acceptable. Normalization intensifies when traditional center-right parties, in order to ensure the stability of local governments, mimic these slogans or accept negotiation frameworks that were previously unbreakable lines
In the archipelago, the joint refusal of right-wing forces to join climate emergency pacts evidences a rift with scientific consensus and an alignment with stances that prioritize ideological skepticism over environmental evidence.
This democratic deadlock is not produced by a sudden rupture, but by the phlegmatic, yet efficient, saturation of public space with ideas that were thought to be outdated. The challenge consists of preventing the management of daily life from being subordinated to a worldview that seeks to stifle postulates of pluralism in favor of an exclusionary dogmatism.
When politics becomes a spectacle of confrontation and not a tool to fix streetlights or improve cleaning, citizens feel orphaned. The extreme division injected into public debate saturates individuals, causing "democratic fatigue" that leads to apathy and inaction.
However, the most disturbing fact is that the shadows emanate from the future, not just projected from the past. According to recent studies, one in four young Canary Islanders expresses their intention to vote for authoritarian right-wing options
The normalization of radical discourse in administrations serves as fertile ground for these ideas to germinate without resistance in the social fabric. It feeds on the insolvency of traditional forces to offer responses to systemic problems such as housing or precariousness, which in the Canary Islands reach critical levels.
Inevitably, youth embraces this decomposition with force as a refuge from such a community monstrosity, from the immensity of civic abandonment, that ethical erosion in which they have ceased to feel part of a common project
This "return to darkness" proposes a black and white Spain, where diversity is a threat and equality a privilege in dispute. It appeals to an idealized past, to a cardboard nation that ignores the reality of a complex society.
Being a citizen is not a passive state. It is a daily practice that demands reclaiming pride of belonging and understanding that caring for the common good is the best investment for our own well-being
The darkness lengthens in silence or indifference. It hides under a generalized indolence that they offer us unashamedly. Let us not admit the demolition of the dialectical bridges that allow coexistence...