The generation game: Javier Cercas, Podemos and the (im)possibility of progressive politics in Spain

The general elections held on December 20, 2015 were the most unpredictable and bitterly fought in Spain since 1979. This was the cause and the consequence of the rise of new political parties, most noticeably Podemos and Ciudadanos, who have translated into political currency the discontent and energy of the "15-M"movement, a shorthand for anti-austerity movement(s) that references the occupation of major squares throughout Spain by the so-called "indignados" in May 2011. The writings on and by Podemos frequently speak of "una segunda Transición," a challenge to the "régimen del 78" that midwifed the Transition from Francoism to a liberal monarchical democracy. This article employs Javier Cercas's historical novel, Anatomía de un instante, about the failed coup attempt of 1981, as a means to contextualize and critically engage with the Podemos platform at a time when the Spanish political scene appears to be divided at least as much on generational as on ideological grounds.