MADRID, Spain — AENA, the world’s largest airport operator, has been floated on the stock market in Madrid. Josè Manuel Vargas, the company’s CEO, indicated in an interview with the Financial Times that the company’s entry onto the stock market preceded a wider move towards a more global reach for the company. However, while the privatisation and expansion of the operator reflects the demands of a more globalised world, it also is testament to the global nature of protests against austerity politics and conservative governments.
These movements, despite being diverse, are interconnected through public pronouncements of support for one another in spite of the fact governments from Greece, Ireland, Spain, and elsewhere try to push the idea that economy is recovering. Ireland is no long under the yoke of the IMF and much has been made of that by the ruling Fine Gael party there. In Spain, Mr. Vargas, in the aforementioned Financial Times article, held AENA up as the symbol of new economic growth in the country. In other words, the end of a very long economic crisis.
Spain and Greece are both countries with a political mood torn between the entrenched divisions between Left and Right. The Pablo Iglesias-led Podemos — the Obamaesque ‘We Can’ is how it translates — and Greece’s Syriza are sister organizations that are radically Left and united in a shared political ethos. The Greek party won power on January 25th and a few days later in the centre of Madrid, during a Podemos rally, spectators could be seen holding Greek flags. Podemos, preparing for the Spanish elections this year, also have parallels with Latin American movements also. What is more, they seek to nationalize key institutions. There are fears that, should Podemos win, that AENA’s privatization could be rolled back; such a move would be difficult but not impossible.
Syriza have also been making noise recently. They have come out in support of the water protests in Ireland and the party, speaking in Dublin, have declared that opposition to the privatization of water was ‘inspirational’ before attacking the mainstream media for failing to cover the protests fairly and ended by saying that grassroots movements had to stick together as ‘Greek people and Irish people face the same challenges from capitalism’. Podemos also share the sentiment that the main stream media do not adequately cover alternative views and Mr. Iglesias has his own YouTube show to compensate for what he perceives as inadequate coverage.
While the executives in AENA toasted the privatisation process with a cocktail reception in the stock market and talks of economic recovery, there will be those around the world sounding the caution that not everybody is convinced the good times are back and that, if they are, they will benefit everyone.
Analysis by Enda Kenneally