Left-Wing Party In Spain Borrows Ikea Style to Promote Anti-Austerity Manifesto

The Spanish anti-austerity political party Podemos has an interesting idea to make its new platform the “most-read manifesto ever produced”: put it in the form of an Ikea catalog.

Across pages of photographs depicting the party’s leaders relaxing or working in their sun-dappled homes, Podemos outlines its proposals (pdf) on key political issues, covering familiar ground with plans to reduce unemployment and increase taxes on the wealthy.

The images, which sometimes correspond with the pledges themselves, show party members engaged in various moments of everyday life.

In a section titled “Cocinas” (kitchens) that details the need for food sustainability, party member Julio Rodriguez is shown washing dishes; in another titled “Despachos” (offices), which calls for economic reform and workers’ rights, Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias takes notes at a table covered in papers; in a third, which details plans to gradually increase minimum wage, party co-founder Carolina Bescansa stands in her home library, reading a book.

The manifesto pledges to reduce unemployment to 11 percent by the end of next parliament and raise taxes on households making more than €60,000. Those making more than €300,000 would see a 55 percent increase.