ABSTRACT
The rise of new political parties in Spain has resulted in the rapid ¬transformation of both political discourse and campaign strategies in the media targeting popular support by reference to direct civil participation. This chapter examines the discourse of Podemos, with the studying populist language in Spanish politics. A fundamental pillar of the party’s communication strategy is its good use of the mass media to spread its messages at key moments. In fact, before the official presentation of Podemos as a political party, Pablo Iglesias had his own television programme and was already well known nationally for his participation in TV political shows. Formally, the party’s communication strategy is an attempt to implement “Laclauism” in Europe, insofar as it seeks to “(…) build a popular counter-hegemony based on the mass media and using a ready-made partisan device around the figure of a charismatic leader”.
