Reflections from Jullietta Stoencheva, May 1st 2025
It is unusually sunny for this time of year – the first true day of spring, if you will. This fact alone, combined with a bank holiday, already tells anyone familiar with Swedish social rules that the city centre would be crowded. And it is – but with a special festive vibe to it. Malmö’s Gustav Adolf square is alive with the sound of drums, the colour of red flags, and the feeling of anticipation hanging in the air. It is May 1st, International Workers’ Day, and in true Swedish social-democratic tradition, thousands have taken to the streets. Like every year, the workers’ parade goes from the Gustav Adolf square to Folkets Park (“The people’s park”), where a speech takes place. This year, the speech is given by the Social Democrats’ party leader and former Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson.
Around 2,000 people have gathered at the square, from elderly Swedes in wheelchairs to teenagers draped in Pride flags, families with young children holding red balloons, and workers representing various trade unions. “The class war is a feminist war”, “Peace for Palestine”, “Education is society’s self-defence”, “Save the planet, not the corporations”, some of the posters read. The diversity is striking – in age, ethnicity, affiliation – and emblematic of Malmö’s political left.
Image 1: Flag bearers at the May Day parade
As the orchestra plays traditional marches, a line of flag bearers stands poised: the Swedish flag, the Social Democrats’ red banner, and, notably, a NATO flag — its presence for the second consecutive year a subtle but symbolic shift in the party’s identity. When Andersson arrives, together with local party representatives, she is met with cheers and applause. She gestures “Forward”, and the parade begins to move.
Image 2 : May Day parade.
As we walk, people cheer us on from cafés, wave at us from their balconies. This kind of ambient support says something about how ingrained May Day remains in the Swedish political calendar. Seeing this level of unity, it’s almost hard to believe that the Social Democrats currently represent the opposition in the Swedish parliament. Despite them remaining Sweden’s largest party for over a century, the right-wing bloc claimed more votes at the 2022 election, famously lifting the cordon sanitaire on the Swedish Democrats – the country’s far-right party and currently the second-largest party in parliament.
But if there are any right-wing sympathisers on the streets today, they don’t make themselves known. I am only briefly reminded of any contestation when we arrive at Folkets Park and I see a small group of counter-protesters. Their banners, among which “Socialists to prison”, “What if you wake up too late?”, and “Fight against socialist destruction”, are largely ignored. Instead, people eagerly approach the stage to wait for Andersson.
Image 3. The crowd at Folkets Park waiting for Magdalena Andersson’s speech. Counter-protesters’ banners in the middle.
She appears within minutes, opening her speech with a new policy proposal: the introduction of a pension increase for those who have worked more than 40 years, and a possibility to reduce working hours in the last years prior to retirement without a pension cut. This announcement is met with loud ovations, especially from the many elderly attendees.
Yet the event doesn’t go completely without disruption. Early in the speech, two people suddenly run to the stage, attempting to climb up on it. They are quickly taken by police before I can read their banners, but I hear other attendees say they were climate activists. A few moments later, as Andersson brings up the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel, tensions in the crowd rise. Chants and shouts from pro-Palestinian protesters dissatisfied with Sweden’s stance on the conflict eventually get louder than Andersson’s voice, and she goes silent. After a brief pause, she urges the crowd to let her speak. “How can Netanyahu and his ministers even sleep at night?,” she says, adding: “This war is a stain on the history of humanity.” She expresses critique of the current Swedish government’s silence, and urges for a stronger Swedish voice in international politics.
Image 4. Magdalena Andersson on stage at Folkets Park on May 1st.
Despite these tensions, the overall mood remains upbeat. Andersson finishes her speech, applause follows. Other speakers take the stage, one by one, and the crowd slowly starts to disperse. I stay behind thinking of the subtle frictions within the Swedish left that were on display today, and how May Day accommodates (or doesn’t) new political urgencies. Yet, it was striking how the heterogenity of struggles – pensions for the elderly, labor protections from the unions, queer visibility, anti-racism, climate anxiety, and solidarity with Palestine, among others — coexisted, not always harmoniously, but with an unspoken agreement that this was their day to share space. Magdalena Andersson was up against the difficult task of holding this plurality together, and the variety of reactions from the crowd showed that there are some groups and movements that do not feel fully represented by the institutional left.
Even so, the atmosphere was hopeful. It felt like Malmö’s left still knows how to come together – in critique, and in celebration. I leave, feeling like May Day endures as a living and vibrant practice.
