In Spain, an anti-eviction activist has been elected mayor of Barcelona as the ruling People’s Party has suffered its worst local election results in more than 20 years. Ada Colau co-founded the anti-eviction group Platform for People Affected by Mortgages and was an active member of the Indignados, or 15-M Movement. She has vowed to fine banks with empty homes on their books, stop evictions, expand public housing, set a minimum monthly wage of $670, force utility companies to lower prices, and slash the mayoral salary. Colau’s party, Barcelona en Comú, a grassroots movement of leftist groups, which includes the anti-austerity Podemos party, won 11 of the city council’s 41 seats, meaning she will need to form alliances to govern. Colau celebrated the victory, which will also see her become the first woman mayor of Barcelona.

Ada Colau: “We are proud. This is not happening in Barcelona alone. This is a democratic revolution. It is unstoppable, and it is happening in Catalonia, Spain, and we hope to see it happen all over the south of Europe.”

In Madrid, Manuela Carmena of the Podemos-backed grassroots coalition Ahora Madrid has won a close second in the mayoral race but is still expected to become mayor by forming an alliance with the Socialists. Carmena is a retired judge and former member of Spain’s underground Communist Party who fought labor restrictions as an attorney under dictator Francisco Franco. The dual victories of Colau and Carmena put grassroots women in control of Spain’s two largest cities, as leftist coalitions are expected to take local governments in other key cities across Spain.