Close to 18 months after its catastrophic general election defeat, the Socialist Party remains further away from power than ever. Opinion polls have it trailing behind a Popular Party that has pushed through unprecedented austerity measures that only seem to deepen the recession, while Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has broken every electoral pledge he made, now admits that there will be no improvement in the economy until at least 2016. Unemployment continues to rise, and the health and education systems are being dismantled before our eyes. And that’s without going into the Bárcenas corruption allegations. The ideal conditions, surely, for the Socialist Party to launch a sustained … [Read more...] about Spain’s Socialists are desperate for new blood
Socialists
Another crisis for Spain’s Socialists
When Artur Mas embarked on his separatist bid for Catalonia last autumn, even he can barely have foreseen the repercussions it would have. The intransigent response in Madrid was predictable enough, but his CiU coalition’s loss of a dozen seats in a snap regional election was less so. And now another effect is being felt as Spain’s Socialists struggle to avoid a damaging schism between the national base in Madrid, the PSOE, and the PSC, the Catalan wing of the party in Barcelona. For 35 years, they have co-existed, not quite as the same party, but as something very close to it. Catalonia has been a stronghold for the Socialists in the democratic era and therefore the PSC has been a … [Read more...] about Another crisis for Spain’s Socialists
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
Bankia and the blame game
The news that former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is writing a book about his two terms in office in which he will be “critical of himself, but not others,” according to people close to him, stuck out like a sore thumb given that in Spanish politics, apportioning blame currently seems to be as much a priority as finding solutions to the crisis. Whether Zapatero does manage to criticise only himself in his book is another matter, but if not, plenty of others are quite happy to point the finger at him. Last week, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos echoed the Partido Popular-led government’s regular complaint that it inherited an economy in tatters from the Socialists, this … [Read more...] about Bankia and the blame game
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
A short honeymoon for Spain’s Rajoy
When Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría announced the new Spanish government’s battery of cuts worth €8.9 million plus tax increases, there were plenty of questions in the air. Why such heavy cuts? How will the new tax increases work? Will there be more cuts? The deputy prime minister’s answer to the first query was that the cuts are extreme because the 2011 deficit is 8 percent of GDP, rather than the 6 percent the outgoing Socialists had estimated. Public Administrations Minister Cristóbal Montoro offered detail about the tax rises. And the fact that the 2012 budget has yet to be presented means yes, there will be more austerity measures later in the year, although … [Read more...] about A short honeymoon for Spain’s Rajoy
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 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
What will follow the Spanish Spring?
“They have gathered 30,000 signatures but have forgotten what they are for.” Besides being purely mischievous, there is also a shade of truth behind this headline from satirical website El Mundo Today. Over the last month, Spain has seen a swelling of civic outrage at its dysfunctional political system, expressed through the 15-M, or Democracia Real Ya, protest movement, whose members have occupied squares around the country. Those sleeping-bag protests are now ending and the most symbolic one of all, that in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, has voted to pack up and move on. Now, still bristling with outrage, 15-M is organising neighbourhood assemblies and one-off demonstrations, such as … [Read more...] about What will follow the Spanish Spring?
Who cares about corruption anyway?
With the May 22 local elections looming, we now know the content of political parties’ electoral lists. El País’ assertion that over 100 of the candidates on those lists are under investigation for alleged corruption may be shocking, but it’s hardly surprising. There a several main reasons for the enormous wave of political corruption in Spain in recent years, which I explored in an article last year: the mad money generated by the real estate bubble; the country’s system of autonomous regions, where local politicians can hoard power; a laissez-faire attitude on the part of many voters, who refuse to punish their corrupt representatives; and a media that rarely indulges in profound … [Read more...] about Who cares about corruption anyway?