Founded in January 2014 by the political scientist Pablo Iglesias Turrión as part of the anti-austerity movement in Spain,[20][21] the party is currently led by Secretary-general Ione Belarra.

[22][23] A fast growing movement,[24][25] the party took part in the 2014 European Parliament election, winning almost 8% of the vote and five seats out of 54,[26][27] outperforming the polls.

[42] The group was inspired by the populist leaders of Latin America's Pink tide, which included Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Bolivia's Evo Morales.

[43] In January 2014, it released the manifesto Mover ficha: convertir la indignación en cambio político ("Move A Piece: Turn Indignation Into Political Change"),[44] which was signed by thirty intellectuals and personalities, including Juan Carlos Monedero, Alberto San Juan, associate professor of political science at the National University of Distance Education (UNED) Jaime Pastor, the writer and philosopher Santiago Alba Rico, the former leader of the Left Trade Union Current Cándido González Carnero and Bibiana Medialdea, associate professor of applied economy at the UCM.

On 14 January, Pablo Iglesias Turrión, a professor of political science at the UCM and a TV presenter, was announced as the head of the movement.

[44] The movement was organised by the party Anti-Capitalist Left (Izquierda Anticapitalista),[44] the Spanish section of the Trotskyist Fourth International,[46] which had written the Mover ficha manifesto.

[49] The Podemos movement was officially launched on 16 January 2014 in the Teatro del Barrio in the Lavapiés neighbourhood of Madrid, with a press conference attended by hundreds of people.

The speakers at the launch included Pablo Iglesias, Juan Carlos Monedero, Teresa Rodríguez,[50] psychiatrist and member of the Marea Blanca Ana Castaño, Íñigo Errejón and Miguel Urbán.

[51] In order to run in the European elections of 2014, the members of the bare bones of Podemos set themselves three conditions: to receive the support of at least 50,000 people; that both the programme and the lists of candidates be prepared through open participation; and that unity be sought with other parties and movements of the left,[51] such as United Left,[44] the Popular Unity Candidacy, the X Party, the Andalusian Workers' Union, Anova and the citizens' mareas ("tides").

He stated that his objective is to "move forward until we throw the PP and the PSOE out of power"[57] and that "[w]e will now work with other parties from the south of Europe to make it clear that we don't want to be a German colony".

[58] On 5 June 2014, Pablo Iglesias Turrión announced that the Asamblea Ciudadana "Sí se puede" (Citizens' Assembly "Yes, It Can Be Done") would take place in the autumn.

[70] Instead, it decided that its members would support local grassroots candidacies, where the so-called "mayors of change" were successfully elected: anti-evictions activist Ada Colau in Barcelona with Barcelona en Comú, former member of the General Council of the Judiciary Manuela Carmena in Madrid with Ahora Madrid, judge Xulio Ferreiro in A Coruña, doctor Martiño Noriega in Santiago, trade unionist Jorge Suárez in Ferrol, lawyer and activist Pedro Santisteve in Zaragoza with Zaragoza en Común and teacher José María González "Kichi" in Cádiz with Adelante Cádiz.

[citation needed] Podemos formed the Adelante Andalucía coalition with the left, the Greens and Primavera Andaluza to contest the 2018 Andalusian regional election.

[82] It was intended that these differences be resolved and negotiated on before Podemos would join the new alliance of left-wing parties for the upcoming general election scheduled for December 2023.

On 9 June, Podemos came to an agreement to run together with Sumar at the upcoming general elections just hours before the deadline for the registration of coalitions with electoral authority.

It also included revoking or curtailing the Treaty of Lisbon, abandoning the memorandum of understanding, withdrawing from some free trade agreements, and promoting referendums on any major constitutional reform.

[103] Podemos is opposed to the current parliamentary monarchy and wants to offer a referendum on its continuity,[73] instead advocating for a federal,[9] "plurinational" new republic.

[citation needed] The party and its former leader (Pablo Iglesias Turrión) support the right to self-determination of autonomous communities like Catalonia and the Basque Country.

[138][109] Podemos considers itself a pro-European party,[132][139] but has expressed displeasure with the current functioning of the European Union,[140][139] and has been described as taking a Eurosceptic stance by some sources.

[173] Vicente Palacio of Fundación Alternativas said that Podemos could have "very beneficial effects in terms of regenerating the Spanish democratic system", but is in danger of going "toward populism and demagogy, as has happened in the case of Beppe Grillo and his Five Star Movement in Italy".

[173][174][175] The leader of Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) Rosa Díez said that similarities could be found with the Greek left-wing coalition Syriza, with the Five Star Movement of Beppe Grillo and even with the French right-wing National Front of Marine Le Pen.

[176] The spokesman for the People's Party María Dolores de Cospedal said that poll results show a radicalisation of the left vote.

[151][179] Juan Carlos Monedero, one of Podemos' founding members, received €425,000 for political consultancy work for Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

[151] Podemos called for an external auditor to observe accounts from February 2014 to December 2014, which showed that the total income from both private donations and state subsidies was at about €947,000.

[180] In March 2017, around a dozen Spanish journalists filed a complaint with the Madrid Press Association (APM), accusing Podemos of intimidating them because they published articles that were critical of the party.

[183] Unemployment, especially among young Spanish adults, has created a positive sentiment towards Podemos and their appeal to the unsatisfied youth of Spain with an "irreverent style".

[183] After it received the fourth highest number of votes in the European elections, news related to the growth of Podemos started to be published.

[185] The CIS' quarterly survey, polling over July 2014 (two months after the elections) showed Podemos as the second most popular party regarding direct intention of vote, surpassing the PSOE, but being a 0.9% behind the PP.

[185] In September 2014, the interview of Iglesias in Viajando con Chester had almost 3 million watchers, being the most watched programme in its timeslot with 14.5% of the audience share.

[189] In October 2014, Iglesias' participation in La Sexta Noche (in which he was also interviewed) rose the audience share of the programme to 16,2%, which is its historical maximum.