Being Spanish and living abroad has taught me various things. One of these things is that style matters and has political connotations. Being part of the Spanish youth is crucial to knowing who you are and what you want to portray.

The Spanish youth is very divided; some dress in sporty clothes and don’t care about their appearance, those who desire to be rich and try to dress like them, and last but not least, those who are rich, dress and act like it to their advantage. Those young people who want to be and are rich have two things in common, they both usually vote for the right-wing parties and wear the Spanish bracelet on their wrist. The Spanish flag on the wrist has many connotations, the most obvious one being the fact that no matter how you wear it, it’s a clear indication of nationalism.

In addition, wearing the Spanish flag on the wrist also has religious connotations; overall it embodies the traditional and nationalistic elements of Spanish culture, usually, they refer to the “good old Spain”. Hence those civilians usually vote for the right-wing parties. It’s very surprising to see how much a simple bracelet can say about a person, usually, it’s something that a Spanish person would notice right away, just by looking at it we already judge what type of person they are.

Moreover, it seems that the Spanish youth have decided to reinvent themselves and vote for the right-wing parties. The statistics state that in the last elections (2023), the two right-wing parties had a total of 28,2% of people between 18 and 25 years old voting. It seems that the right party is growing in popularity among young people as it advocates tradition and a stable economy, which young people desire for a better future especially since the youth seems to believe that the left parties won’t be able to provide them with that.

On the other hand, not everyone likes the young people with the Spanish flag on their wrist. Typically these are the boys who wear chinos and loafers and girls who smoke ‘Iqos’ and listen to ‘Taburete’. I know it’s very stereotypical to put people in boxes and believe that if someone has any of these characteristics it means they support the right wing, but in this case, it’s pretty much proven to be correct.

As the leader of the far right-wing party, Santiago Abascal said “The right is the new punk” referring that young people in the past used to love this new type of music called punk, but now it’s the right-wing parties.

“The right is the new punk” Yes, it’s starting to feel like it, young people want a better future, but does this mean we have to cut our ‘left’ values and join the right? Spanish youth are very divided by their styles and their beliefs. We can’t agree with those who wear the Spanish flag, and we can’t find common ground. They support bullfighting and the royalty, and the other half hate it. Nonetheless, we all want a better future for our country, we want Spain to have a better economy, to create more job opportunities for us, and to have better education for us.

The Spanish youth can only get together without prejudice and stereotypes if we find one another abroad. As we are all alone in a different country trying to look for a better future, this is where nothing matters. We are all Spanish and we all want to have a better future that sadly our own country can’t give us yet. We all agree that we love Spain; its food, its people, its different cultures, and its cities. But despite this unity abroad, within Spain, we barely mingle between the right and left supporters.

Therefore, those who aren’t Spanish can now understand how young Spanish people are. Similarly, if you visit Spain and buy one of those flag bracelets, some might judge you without knowing, making them believe that yes, “The right is the new punk”.