The "centrist" European parties "could start by doing a learning season in Portugal", said Felipe González in a meeting with journalists from various countries' media in Madrid, including the Lusa agency. González answered this way when questioned about the growth of the extreme right and populism throughout Europe and how democratic parties should position themselves. The leader of the Spanish Government between 1982 and 1996 underlined that after the "technical draw" between PS and PSD in the last Portuguese elections, the two parties opted for a path that kept extremism out of power. Felipe González highlighted that the two parties did not need to agree "on everything" and certainly have different visions, for example, in relation to fiscal or social policy, but they showed that a basis for understanding is possible for fundamental issues such as isolating extremists. He also defended that in Spain, the country's future "depends on the understanding" between the two major parties represented in parliament, the socialist party (PSOE) and the popular party (PP, right). González highlighted that after new parties emerged and grew in the Spanish parliament in 2015, in what was then considered to be "the breakdown of the two-party system", these parties that at the time "rose like rockets, fell like lead" afterwards and today the PP and PSOE once again have 75% of the votes and deputies together. Admitting that tension is very evident in the political debate in Spain and that the PP and PSOE are currently apparently "very far" from any possibility of understanding, he considered that, however, the two parties "will have to negotiate or the country will not progress". Felipe González underlined that Spain is already facing blockages at various levels due to the inability of agreements between the PP and PSOE, as happens in bodies linked to the judiciary, such as the General Council of the Judiciary, whose members have had expired mandates for years. For the historical leader of the PSOE and one of the most relevant figures in the democratic consolidation in Spain, there is today in the country an "induced polarisation, from top to bottom" that comes from politics and society is now also becoming tense. In this context, he recalled "the Spanish transition", which at the end of the 1970s led to the transition from dictatorship to democracy based on agreements between the protagonists of all political tendencies, to question whether it is more difficult to reach agreements today than 40 years ago. Still on the case of Portugal, González praised the former prime minister, also a socialist, António Costa, saying that he resigned to "defend his innocence", but also to protect the institution that is the position of leader of the Government, in the face of a suspicion raised by the Public Ministry. At this point, he regretted Costa's situation, who left the government because of a judicial investigation that, he said, has proven to be little or not at all substantiated. Read also: "Counter mobilisation" and populist force affect German extreme right (Portuguese version)