On 24 May, the first ever councillor of the Partido da Terra (Party of the Earth or Land) was elected to the muncipality of Lousame in rural Galicia in the North West of Spain. The party gained 12.38% of the vote with an explicitly libertarian municipalist agenda. The right-wing People's Party has a small majority on the council. Iolanda Mato will serve as councillor for the Partido da Terra for the first four months but the group has established a system of rotation so another nine people will take on the responsibility over the next four years.

"The first result is certainly modest, but also encouraging," said Mato."The main message was that we are all political beings with the right and responsibility to directly decided over our own lives through self-governing assemblies and that resonated very much with most people."

A longer interview with Iolanda Mato will appear shortly on New Compass.