Facing pressing issues of funding and stability, Spain’s energy sector has looked for some clarity about what the industry will look like under a Mariano Rajoy-led government, but it has found little. Like his plans for most areas, Rajoy has remained vague about what he has in store for the country’s energy actors, pledging to unveil details and appointments only after he takes office on December 21. Still, despite the prime minister-elect’s silence on the issue during the election campaign, a long political path and party positions reveal some hints about how the new conservative government will tackle both traditional and alternative energy issues. Eager to hear the new government’s … [Read more...] about Spanish energy sector seeks clarity under Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy
María Dolores de Cospedal
Spain may have voted in a new prime minister in 2011, but it’s fair to say that Mariano Rajoy has not been a towering figure on the country’s political landscape. Instead, he let his Socialist rivals’ desperate struggle with the economic crisis do his talking for him. The Popular Party (PP) leader revealed little of his own plans for the Spanish economy, but others in the party were more forthright. Among them was party number two María Dolores de Cospedal. This year saw her step further into the limelight as she overthrew a longstanding Socialist government in Castilla-La Mancha to become the region’s new premier. On taking power there, she swiftly announced heavy, controversial cuts to … [Read more...] about María Dolores de Cospedal
Spain turns right, but where’s the far right?
Viewed in a certain light - and especially through a myopic leftist lens - the centre-right Popular Party's landslide victory on the anniversary of Franco's death could be seen as an ironic twist of fate, a disquieting rise of the phoenix: The party was, after all, founded by a former minister in Franco’s government and many of its elderly voters were supporters of the regime. Now the PP, led by Mariano Rajoy (who, ironically enough, was born less than 100 kilometres from Franco's birthplace in Galicia in north-western Spain), will have sweeping powers to pass laws and institute reforms. In the run-up to election day, no one wanted to make too obvious the link between the dates - … [Read more...] about Spain turns right, but where’s the far right?
Who will be in charge for Rajoy’s great Spanish clean-up?
In 2002, when the Prestige oil tanker sank off the coast of Galicia, Mariano Rajoy was the Popular Party (PP) government’s official spokesman and was designated to oversee the handling of the crisis. The administration faced heavy criticism from some quarters for its management of the event, not least when Rajoy asserted that the spill, which would eventually see 20 million gallons of oil pour into the sea, had produced little more than “little threads of oil that look like plasticine”. Nine years on, Rajoy faces an even bigger task: to clean up Spain’s finances and oversee its economic recovery, while maintaining the support of sceptical Spaniards and the approval of a crisis-ravaged … [Read more...] about Who will be in charge for Rajoy’s great Spanish clean-up?
Rajoy must take reins swiftly to avoid economic chaos
Mariano Rajoy’s resounding election win has redrawn Spain’s political map and put his Popular Party (PP) firmly in control of the country after seven-and-a-half years of Socialist government. He could hardly face a more difficult task on being voted prime minister. In the days leading up to the election, Spain’s economy was being battered by the markets, with its bond prices close to those of beleaguered Italy. Italy hopes it has just overcome its own political upheaval; Spain’s situation is less clear-cut. Spanish law dictates a lengthy hiatus between a prime minister’s election win and his instatement. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s successor as prime minister was not due to be sworn … [Read more...] about Rajoy must take reins swiftly to avoid economic chaos
Right sweeps to power in Spain, but don’t expect “miracles”
"There will be no miracles, I didn't promise any," PP leader Mariano Rajoy declared pragmatically on Sunday night after his party took almost 45 percent of the vote, winning an absolute majority in Congress in its strongest ever election result. With 186 seats in the 350-seat Congress, Rajoy, who is due to take office in a month, will have a virtually free hand to carry out reforms, although no one knows for sure what steps the new government plans to take to end years of recession and anaemic growth, the euro zone's highest unemployment rate and an escalating debt crisis. Having kept his cards close to his chest throughout the campaign, Rajoy will now be expected to show them - … [Read more...] about Right sweeps to power in Spain, but don’t expect “miracles”
Spain’s election will complete country’s swing to the right
On November 20, the fate of another European leader will be sealed by the ongoing economic crisis. Barring a major surprise, Spain will vote in conservative Mariano Rajoy as its new prime minister, to replace José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Zapatero is not running for reelection a second time, instead his Socialist colleague Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba is the government-backed candidate. But when Zapatero announced earlier this year that he would be stepping aside, there was no doubt that it was the economy that had cut his career short, in the same way it has ended the administrations of Georgios Papandreou of Greece and Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi. With Spain once again exposed to market … [Read more...] about Spain’s election will complete country’s swing to the right
The solution to the Catalan problem?
Catalan separatism has two anchor points, the traditional one is of a cultural nature (with the Catalan language at its core), the other one, of more recent creation and which has built up a new group of pragmatic followers making inroads even among Spanish speakers, is based on money: the fiscal deficit of Catalonia with the central state has over the past year or so evolved into the main argument for secession. This makes one feel that to get rid of the problem of Catalan separatism, Madrid only has to throw money at the region. And that it had better do, because this new group has the potential to grow into a serious problem, unlike the ethnocentrists, whose numbers remain basically … [Read more...] about The solution to the Catalan problem?
Scrappy Spanish election debate leaves Rajoy in pole position
The only head-to-head televised debate of the Spanish general election campaign focused heavily on the crisis-ridden economy, and after a tightly fought contest, Mariano Rajoy remains on course for an overwhelming victory on November 20. The conservative Popular Party (PP) candidate went into the debate with a 15-point poll lead and seeking to make Spain’s 21-percent jobless rate the hub of the debate. His opponent Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba has been a key member of the Socialist government, something Rajoy reminded him of on more than one occasion. “You’re coming up with all these proposals. Why didn’t you do all these things before?” Rajoy asked, highlighting a glaring weakness in … [Read more...] about Scrappy Spanish election debate leaves Rajoy in pole position
The end of ETA violence offers Spain’s cynical politicos a fresh start
Another masked member of ETA speaking to a camera, another message to the Spanish government calling for talks and lamenting the deaths of fellow terrorists. And yet this time, it was different. ETA’s announcement on Thursday of the abandonment of its four-decade campaign of violence has been warmly welcomed by the Socialist government, by opposition leader Mariano Rajoy and by observers and analysts who have followed the Basque situation closely. Strangely though, the declaration sounds like only a small advance from previous announcements made by the group and which were widely dismissed as ploys or timid cop-outs. This week’s “definitive end” to the group’s “armed activity” follows … [Read more...] about The end of ETA violence offers Spain’s cynical politicos a fresh start