Back to the future with Rubalcaba
Spain’s Socialists have chosen a veteran of two previous governments as their new leader. Given this baggage, his challenge is to show he can come up with new ideas.
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Spain’s Socialists have chosen a veteran of two previous governments as their new leader. Given this baggage, his challenge is to show he can come up with new ideas.

The Socialist Party holds its primary this weekend. But while the campaign ahead of the vote has been laden with intrigue, we still don’t know what the two rival candidates stand for.

The former Valencia regional premier has been absolved of wrongdoing in one of Spain’s most infamous corruption scandals. But his party isn’t popping open the champagne – nor should it.

Spain’s best-known judge goes on trial today for having dared attempt to investigate human rights violations during the Franco dictatorship.

This conservative politician, who was a minister under Franco and a major presence during Spain’s democracy, may not have been to everyone’s liking but his passing marks the end of an era.

The transition from Spain’s outgoing Socialist government to the new conservative administration has been marred by an apparent lack of openness on both sides about the public accounts. This does not auger well for Spain’s political horizon or its economy.

The new prime minister has justified his announced austerity package by citing the previous government’s overspending. But with Spain still at the heart of the eurozone debt crisis and more cuts to come, he needs to share his plans with the electorate.
Despite its large influx of immigrants in recent years, Spain still has some old-fashioned attitudes to race.

A disastrous 2011 has left the Socialist Party divided and defeated. A party convention is looming, but it’s unlikely to resolve some major problems.

The king’s son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin may be in trouble due to the corruption scandal he is implicated in, but ironically, the affair reflects well on some major Spanish institutions.