“SYRIZA, Podemos – venceremos” chanted Podemos’s Pablo Iglesias into the microphone back in January 25, on the golden days of the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA). Greece had voted to “tear the bailout” and the anti-austerity sentiment was high. It was believed that an anti-austerity movement would rip-roar through Europe beginning in Greece with SYRIZA.

Back then, Iglesias had said:

“I’m Pablo Iglesias from Podemos and my message to the Greek people is quite clear. I think there are two options in the new elections in Greece, two candidates. The candidate whose name is Angela Merkel and is represented by parties like PASOK and New Democracy and the Greek candidate, his name is Alexis Tsipras. I’m sure the Greek people are going to choose a Greek new President for the country. I think in the South of Europe we need Presidents that will defend and protect the national sovereignty. “

12 months onwards, it was Spanish center-right People’s Party (PP) Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy capitalizing on SYRIZA’s victory rather than Iglesias. Rajoy, not Iglesias, had pointed to Greece’s race to avert bankruptcy and a Grexit as a warning for Spain’s anti-austerity movement. “One doesn’t have to go very far to see how easy it can be to ruin a recovery,” Rajoy had said, painting a bleak conference of Greece. “Is that the change offered by the new far left parties in Spain?”

It appears that the Spanish people took note.

The ruling Partido Popular (PP) took most of the shorts but fell well short of a majority with 123 seats in a 350-seat legislature (29%), the socialists came second with 22% and 90 seats. Podemos won 69 seats. Naturally, Tsipras rushed to congratulate his friend. Speaking with Iglesias late on Sunday, they both agreed that the results showed a political loss of austerity governments and discussed the chances of a coalition of progressive parties in Spain. “Austerity has been beaten politically in Spain as well,” he said. “Our efforts have been justified – Europe is changing?” he noted, though we’ll never know how more sweeping the results could have been had SYRIZA not been a case study for Spaniards.

So did Varoufakis: