Leader of Spain’s Podemos party abandons politics

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Pablo Iglesias, the leader and co-founder of Spain’s far-left Podemos party, announced late Tuesday that he is resigning from “institutional politics.”

His announcement comes after he placed fifth in Madrid regional elections.

“During this campaign, we saw an unprecedented increase in aggression from right-wing parties, a normalization of fascist discourse in the media, death threats…and my conscious tells me I’ve become a scapegoat that serves to mobilize our darkest anti-democratic forces,” he said in his resignation speech.