Spain: Leftists unite for June vote as Unidos Podemos party

MADRID – A new alliance of Spanish far-left parties has united under the name Unidos Podemos for a June 26 election aimed at breaking the political paralysis that Spain has endured since an inconclusive December vote resulted in no parties able to form a government.

The leaders of Podemos and the much smaller United Left party announced the alliance's name Friday night. It means "United We Can" in English.

Polls and analysts have said the alliance could get more votes and parliamentary seats than the No. 2 center-left Socialists.

Spaniards enraged with 20 percent unemployment, austerity cuts and corruption splintered the nation's traditional two-party system into four in a Dec. 20 vote. The conservative Popular Party came in first, Podemos placed third and the business-friendly Ciudadanos was fourth.