Trotsky wrote in ‘The Tragedy of Spain’ (1939) that, despite the Spanish proletariat’s revolutionary heroism, they were “brought to ruin by petty, despicable, and utterly corrupted ‘leaders.’” In this episode, we chart the great triumphs and tragic demise of the Spanish Revolution in a complete timeline.

Over the weekend, the streets of Spain were flooded with a tide of people, protesting against the Zionist genocide in Gaza. Along with Israel’s assault on the Flotilla, which was aiming to break the blockade of humanitarian aid to the massacred Palestinian population.

The general strike against the genocide in Gaza on 22 September represented a huge outburst of mass anger which has profound implications beyond the borders of Italy. The idea that mass direct action is needed to stop Israel’s murderous assault on the Palestinians now dominates. At the same time, the Italian mass protest can also be seen as part of a ‘Red September’ of mass uprisings, revolutions and insurrections across the world.

Last Monday, 7 July, an assembly of workers decided to put an end to the indefinite strike that the metalworkers in the province of Cadiz had been holding for a decent collective agreement. We have seen 13 days of strike, mobilisations and police repression, from 23 June to 6 July. What lessons can we learn from this extraordinary struggle?

Since 23 June, thousands of metalworkers in the province of Cádiz, in southern Spain, have been on indefinite strike against their working conditions, in what is already the longest struggle in this industry in the province's history. The previous indefinite strike in November 2021, for wage increases, lasted nine days.

On 28 April at midday, Red Eléctrica de España [Spanish Electrical Network] (REE) suffered an unprecedented failure that left the entire Spanish state, its neighbours Portugal and Andorra, and parts of southern France without electricity. In some areas, the blackout lasted until well into the night. After an unusual Monday, today [Tuesday 29 April] seems to be starting ‘normally’, with 99 percent of the electricity supply restored and the working day back on track.

Last weekend, 21-23 March, saw Organización Comunista Revolucionaria (OCR), the Spanish section of the Revolutionary Communist International, hold its first national congress. Around a hundred delegates and guests attended this important event.

On Saturday 9 November, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Valencia to show their anger against the Government of the Generalitat Valenciana (the Valencian local government), and its president, Carlos Mazón, for their criminal actions after the ‘Dana’ flood on 29 and 30 October.

Closely following our special episode with Alan Woods covering Trump’s victory in the US election, Against the Stream went live again this week for another discussion. This time, Hamid Alizadeh and Fred Weston from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met to talk about the devastating floods in Spain and the resulting rage of the masses against the ruling class, the abrupt collapse of the German government, and more on the implications of Trump’s victory.

Six days after the flash floods which have left 214 people dead mainly in Valencia, an official visit by the head of state, the Spanish King, his wife, Queen Leticia, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez and Valencia regional president Mazón was organised to several of the worst affected areas. As they arrived in Paiporta, outside Valencia, they were met by angry local residents who pelted them with mud and chased them away. These unprecedented scenes were an open expression of the class rage that had been building up for days.

This week, Jorge and Hamid sat down to discuss three flashpoints in the world crisis of capitalism: the floods that are devastating Spain, the spiralling conflict in the Middle East, and the impending US election.

The Spanish student strike of 1986/87 was an epoch-making movement, lasting three months, involving three million school and university students, with hundreds of thousands in demonstrations, which ended up in a victory against the Socialist Party government. This document, written at the time by Alan Woods, is a blow-by-blow account of the movement which draws out the main political points. Alan was in Spain for most of the struggle, involved in daily discussions with the leading Spanish Marxists which led the movement.

On 11 April, La Directa, a left-wing Catalan media outlet, published an interview with journalist Jesús Rodríguez in which he explained that he had gone into exile because of the judicial persecution he is suffering in the hands of the corrupt Spanish regime. His crime? Conducting journalism in a professional manner. On behalf of the Revolutionary Communist Organisation, we express our total rejection of this spurious prosecution and our complete solidarity with comrade Jesús Rodríguez and the other people who have also decided to go into exile.

On the weekend 15-17 March, the founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Organisation (RCO) was held in Madrid. This was a historic milestone for several reasons: we had the largest presence and participation of any previous congress; we launched a new organisation; and the comrades came out more determined than ever to build the forces of communism in the Spanish state and around the world.

Lenin, Trotsky and the Bolsheviks created the most revolutionary party that the world has ever seen. But is the building of a communist party still a relevant task for today? The role of the party in the struggle to overthrow capitalism is a fundamental question that all thinking communists must understand.