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
Spain elections
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
Tweets and gaffes confuse Madrid’s education debate
Esperanza Aguirre, President of the Region of Madrid, has had to use Twitter twice this month to remove her foot from her mouth. The first mix-up was on September 1, when she suggested that secondary teachers in Madrid only worked 20 hours a week, “much less than most Madrileños,” she claimed. Aguirre had previously made a rather sloppy attempt at communicating her decision to try to save €80 million for the region by sending a letter to affected civil servants with spelling mistakes. The letter, which stated that secondary teachers would have to increase weekly class hours from 18 to 20, angered educators, who claimed that more teaching hours and fewer interns (approximately 3,000) would … [Read more...] about Tweets and gaffes confuse Madrid’s education debate
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
In Catalonia, the fringe is setting the agenda
The last Catalan elections saw a shift both to the centre-right and to moderate nationalism, both embodied by Artur Mas’s Convergència i Unió (CiU). Although Mas didn't win an absolute majority, as president of Catalonia he has been able to implement austerity measures, revise the existing legal corpus and get moving on his favourite issue of a new fiscal pact with Spain; all well within his mandate, the statutes of his parties and the legal framework. However, there is another, key matter Mas might have lost control over, handing it to the radical fringe: Catalan identity and whether or not Catalonia will continue to be part of Spain. Mas has certainly sought to continue the … [Read more...] about In Catalonia, the fringe is setting the agenda
No end in sight to Zapatero’s succession dilemma
As José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero stood listening to the barrage of booing and shouts for him to resign while he attended the October 12 national festivities in Madrid, the idea of enduring this kind of vitriol until 2016 can hardly have been appealing. And yet, although the prime minister is going through by far his toughest spell since taking office in 2004, he has still not announced whether he will run for a third term. Even King Juan Carlos expressed his annoyance at the abuse voiced at the military parade and the government attributed it to elements of the extreme right. However, while Zapatero has heard it before, the boos ringing in his ears this year represent widespread anger at … [Read more...] about No end in sight to Zapatero’s succession dilemma