"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”
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Rajoy vs The Washington Post
Maybe it’s because of the condensed format, maybe because he was talking to a non-Spanish newspaper, or perhaps he was just in a particularly open mood, but Mariano Rajoy’s interview with the The Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth seemed unusually revealing. The Popular Party leader, now three weeks away from an apparently certain general election victory, was hardly expansive, but some of his answers were relatively bold for a politician who has made hiding his hand something of an art form. When asked whether he would go beyond Zapatero’s spending cuts, Rajoy is quite forthright: Yes, there is no other way out. I am in favor of reducing all budget items. But the item I don’t want to … [Read more...] about Rajoy vs The Washington Post
Spain’s Socialists scuttle the ship
The legislature is limping to a close. Since José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's conversion to market orthodoxy in the spring of 2010, the prime minister has made no secret of the fact that his sole obsession is to sail the Spanish ship clear of the turbulent waters of a bailout, and he seems set to succeed. But his government's final manoeuvres have unfortunately had the effect of scuttling the lifeboat of Socialism driven by the party's chosen candidate for the November 20 elections. Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba is an able seaman, but he is navigating into an electoral storm made even worse by the last acts of his former Cabinet colleagues. First came the tawdry deal with the Popular Party (PP) … [Read more...] about Spain’s Socialists scuttle the ship
Truth is the casualty as Spain’s campaign heats up
The last few days haven’t been good ones for truth and accuracy on Spain’s political scene. In fact, for those who follow the news closely, it’s been downright confusing. Popular Party (PP) spokesman Esteban González Pons should shoulder at least some of the blame, after sheepishly backtracking on a pledge, made on September 7, that his party would create 3.5 million jobs over the next four years if it wins the November 20 general election. It was a target that meant slashing Spain’s unemployment rate by 70 percent. 3.5 million? Of course not, González Pons said the next day, after PP apparatchiks were left scrambling to make sense of his boast. What he meant to say, he explained, was … [Read more...] about Truth is the casualty as Spain’s campaign heats up
Fear and resignation in Spain’s deficit cap
A swiftly agreed, bi-party accord to safeguard the Spanish economy’s future. It should be music to every Spaniard’s ears. The governing Socialists and opposition Popular Party have finally reached consensus on a major issue, putting aside their ideological differences and petty electoral interests to introduce a constitutional reform that puts a cap on the public deficit. Such statesmanship harks back to the spirit of the Transition. Or does it? Having heeded the plea by the French and German leaders for deficit controls to be enshrined in eurozone magna cartas, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Mariano Rajoy have responded. This extraordinary measure, they argue, will calm the jittery … [Read more...] about Fear and resignation in Spain’s deficit cap
Who benefits from Spain’s early election?
The Spanish prime minister’s announcement that general elections will be held on November 20 rather than in the spring, as previously scheduled, was not altogether surprising. Pressure had been mounting on him for weeks to bring the date forward, especially from the opposition and the right-wing media. Another factor is Spanish voters, who rightly see Zapatero as a lame duck leader, especially since stepping aside to let Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba become Socialist candidate. But there was also pressure from within Zapatero’s own party to hold an autumn election, including from Rubalcaba himself. The former interior minister was concerned that any momentum his nomination as candidate … [Read more...] about Who benefits from Spain’s early election?
Rajoy approaches the big job with his head down
As rumours that next year’s general election will be brought forward to the autumn intensify, so does the realisation that by the end of the year, Mariano Rajoy could be prime minister. The strange thing is, judging by his party’s recent behaviour, this doesn’t seem to have dawned on him. If he had fully grasped the reality of his situation, you would think he would tone down the talk of Spain being an economic basket case. But his opposition Popular Party (PP) is determined to hint, suggest, or just plain decry, that the country is in real trouble. Since last year, the PP has been openly wondering whether Spain deserves to be in the same bracket as Greece, Portugal and Ireland. In … [Read more...] about Rajoy approaches the big job with his head down
Spanish TV journalism’s identity crisis
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero visits the Canary Islands and the sound of onlookers booing him is edited out of the evening news; the prime minister and opposition leader Mariano Rajoy both speak on the same issue, yet Zapatero gets half a minute more TV coverage; Popular Party (PP) number two María Dolores de Cospedal gets interrogated on a breakfast-time show over her party's attacks on the public broadcaster. It's quite clear, isn’t it? Televisión Española is a puppet of the Socialist government. At least, that’s what the PP is alleging. The party charges that the public broadcaster, which Zapatero pledged to depoliticise and free of government intervention, is more susceptible to … [Read more...] about Spanish TV journalism’s identity crisis
Zapatero was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t
The Spanish prime minister’s announcement that he will not run as the Socialist candidate in the 2012 general election was, by the time he made it on April 2, hardly a surprise. Rumours and reports to this effect had been leaking out of the party camp for weeks. But while this decision clears the air of any lingering uncertainty about José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s future, that of his party remains very much shrouded in mystery. According to the Socialists, their leader’s calculated withdrawal puts them on the front foot as the May 22 local elections approach. Zapatero, they reason, has taken the initiative, choosing when to go rather than allowing events to dictate his course. This is … [Read more...] about Zapatero was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t
Spain and Portugal’s right shun austerity and Brussels – for now
It’s easy to see parallels between the governments of Spain and Portugal of recent years. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and José Sócrates were both fresh-faced Socialists when they took power in 2004 and 2005 respectively, promising social reforms as well as economic stability. Both were voted in for second terms before running aground on the challenges that arose following the world economic crisis. Like their Socialist counterpart in Greece, Georgios Papandreou, both men have been forced by circumstances to repress their political instincts and introduce heavy spending cuts and painful reforms. In Portugal, where the economic outlook is worse, the opposition’s withdrawal of support for a … [Read more...] about Spain and Portugal’s right shun austerity and Brussels – for now