The 15M movement in Spain unleashed many mobilisation campaigns and activist groups that fuelled a strong anti-austerity and autonomous movement from 2011 to, mainly, 2014. The rise of the left-populist political party Podemos and the emergence of municipal candidacies including many 15M activists changed substantially the distribution of local power after the local elections of 2015. This paper explores the effects of 15M movements in both institutional and non-institutional grounds and how do they relate to each other. In particular, the performance of four medium and large municipal governments (Madrid, Barcelona, Cádiz and A Coruña) is examined in order to evaluate how their policies incorporated 15M demands, identities and participants. I trace back the development of claims, protest repertoires and political influence of struggles about housing, public spaces and public services such as health and education. More specifically I will question to what extent the dynamics of co-optation and detachment experienced by 15M activists in relation to the local policies fit into the more or less successful, more or less intended, more or less institutional, outcomes of anti-austerity movements. My initial hypothesis is that a partial representation of movements in the new “grassroots-led” municipal governments has created new cleavages within the local activism. Thus, co-optation and detachment from institutional governance are crucial joint effects of the declining cycle of the 15M movement. However, their variable interaction in different cities may be explained by the distinctive breadth and achievements gained by (post-)15M movements after the electoral turning points.
