No sooner had the conservative Popular Party taken office at the very end of 2011 than it began drawing up plans to extend private sector involvement in Spain’s public health system, a process begun in 1997 with the support of the Socialist Party. Two years later, La Ribera hospital, built and run by a private consortium led by health insurers Adeslas, opened. Valencia has subsequently created Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in four other health districts. Other PP controlled regions, such as the Balearic Islands, Castilla y León, Castilla La Mancha, and Galicia, are also pushing ahead with the privatisation of healthcare. But Madrid is where the PP wants PPP to really come into its … [Read more...] about The private sector moves into Spain’s public hospitals
PP
Nazis?
But Fascism is also a political and economic system. Why, then, cannot we have a clear and generally accepted definition of it? Alas! we shall not get one – not yet, anyway … All one can do for the moment is to use the word with a certain amount of circumspection and not, as is usually done, degrade it to the level of a swearword. (George Orwell ‘What is Fascism?’) Godwin’s Law, a kind of internet update of Orwell’s own theory, states: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches.” I was reminded of this recently as the increasingly hysterical debate over anti-eviction protests, or escraches, has raged. In particular, the … [Read more...] about Nazis?
The Catalan spy game
Earlier this week police took action on a political scandal that had broken several days before, when Catalan newspaper El Periódico published a recording and transcripts of a conversation between Catalan Partido Popular leader Alicia Sánchez-Camacho and María Victoria Álvarez, ex-girlfriend of Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, a Catalan businessman and son of former Catalan premier Jordi Pujol. The Pujol clan, an historic dynasty in the leading Catalan party Convergència Democrática de Catalunya, is presently caught up in a maelstrom of accusations of financial wrongdoing. Jordi Jr’s brother, CiU parliamentary leader Oriol Pujol, is embroiled in his own personal scandal, over alleged kickbacks in … [Read more...] about The Catalan spy game
Ladies and gentlemen, the next prime minister of Spain…?
Should María Dolores de Cospedal weather the latest corruption allegations to hit the Popular Party (PP), there’s every likelihood she will progress from being its secretary general and premier of the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha to replacing Mariano Rajoy in the top post and go on to become Spain’s first female prime minister. Cospedal’s rise has been rapid. Born in 1965, she grew up in Castilla-La Mancha, training as a government lawyer after finishing university, and joining the Labour Ministry in 1997 after José Maria Aznar ushered in the first PP administration the previous year. During the PP’s two terms in office she moved up the ladder, making it to under-secretary … [Read more...] about Ladies and gentlemen, the next prime minister of Spain…?
Rajoy’s difficult year
A year after he took office on December 21, 2011, many Spaniards would be forgiven for asking: who is Mariano Rajoy? His first 12 months in power have been so full of contradictions that a clear image of the Spanish prime minister is yet to emerge. His conservative Partido Popular (PP) has one of the biggest congressional majorities Spain has seen. And with it, his government has embarked on one of the boldest reform programs of the democratic era, with opponents frequently accusing it of authoritarianism. Yet still Rajoy is seen as hesitant and equivocal, a politician being led by events and EU orders, rather than leading his people. “Mariano Rajoy governs without his own voice, … [Read more...] about Rajoy’s difficult year
Spain’s evictions push the defenceless over the edge
On November 9, as the police and bailiffs opened the door of a flat in Barakaldo, Gipuzkoa, to execute a mortgage repossession, 53-year-old Amaia Egaña climbed up onto a chair on her fourth-floor balcony and leapt to her death. Hers was the third suicide in as many weeks shortly before the moment of eviction, and it has apparently triggered a dramatic response on the part of Mariano Rajoy’s government, which announced its intention to suspend all evictions of “vulnerable families”, pending a reform of the mortgage law. It may surprise the more than 300 households evicted every day in Spain that their constitutional rights are being violated, but among the many promises of social justice … [Read more...] about Spain’s evictions push the defenceless over the edge
Spain’s gay marriage ruling through the eyes of a seasoned campaigner
Several conclusions could be drawn from the recent ruling by Spain’s Constitutional Court to reject a seven-year-old appeal against the country’s same-sex marriage law of 2005. Perhaps the most obvious is that the Spanish justice system is slow. For many Spaniards, especially the more than 20,000 gay couples who have got married under the legislation, this was an eagerly awaited ruling. Some even feared they would be “de-married” if the appeal, lodged by the Partido Popular (PP), was upheld. Given the importance of this case, a seven-year delay was both baffling and inexcusable. But also, this ruling reflected how Spain has changed over the last decade. For most Spaniards, rolling back … [Read more...] about Spain’s gay marriage ruling through the eyes of a seasoned campaigner
Has Rajoy turned the corner? Of course he hasn’t
In the lead-up to the weekend’s elections in Galicia and the Basque Country, it was striking how much attention was focused on the former. The Galician vote, we were repeatedly told by both the international and Spanish media, will reflect widespread discontent at Mariano Rajoy’s economic policy. But the result saw Rajoy’s Partido Popular (PP) maintain its majority and increase its share of seats. What are we to make of this if we believe the previews that presented Galicia as a faithful representation of Spain as a whole? Is Rajoy bouncing back? Of course he isn’t. The central government in Madrid is still in as much difficulty as it was before the Galician election and Rajoy’s … [Read more...] about Has Rajoy turned the corner? Of course he hasn’t
Rajoy’s labyrinth
When looking back on the first five months of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government, it’s hard to recall many striking images of the man. That’s probably because he is so studiously media-shy, giving as few press conferences as he possibly can, and leaving most major policy announcements to his number two, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría. But while Rajoy has been typically low-key during his opening spell in office, events have not and a couple of moments from those rollercoaster first months do stick in the mind, telling us apparently contradictory things about the man. One is his comment to his Finnish counterpart, Jyrki Katainen, back in January, that the labour reform he was … [Read more...] about Rajoy’s labyrinth
Andalusia election gives Rajoy a reality check
Mariano Rajoy’s Partido Popular (PP) may have won the most seats of any party in Sunday’s regional election in Andalusia, but he will view the result as a resounding failure. Rajoy’s conservatives finished the vote count with 50 seats, compared with the Socialists’ 47. In the Socialists’ biggest regional stronghold, that might look like a triumph, but with the United Left (IU) taking 12 seats, the left did enough to govern in coalition. This election came three months into the tenure of Rajoy as prime minister and was seen as a gauge of his national government, as much as the performance of his Andalusian candidate, Javier Arenas. Andalusia has enormous symbolic significance. Ever … [Read more...] about Andalusia election gives Rajoy a reality check