The blame in Spain falls mainly on the Socialists.. And now a tangible consequence Europe’s ailing economy: as Spaniards head to the polls today the country’s conservatives are expected to win big amid the country that was long pointed to as the epitome of economic health is reeling amid high unemployment and other ills:
Bowed by a 21.5-per cent jobless rate, economic stagnation and deep spending cuts, the first voters of the 36-million-strong Spanish electorate headed to polls ready to punish the ruling Socialists.
“Spain chooses the government to confront the crisis storm,” blared the front page of the leading centre-left daily El Pais.
“Spain stakes its future,” headlined the conservative daily ABC over a picture of opposition Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy and his wife walking with their dog in the country.
Mr Rajoy has a lead of about 15 percentage points over the Socialists, latest polls showed, enough for an absolute majority in parliament and a free hand to reform.
This has all been a shocker for Spain. I lived in and wrote for newspapers from Spain in the late-70s when Spain was then on the upswing, bouyed by one of the world’s best tourism rates and emerging from the years of the Franco dictatorship. Many young Spaniards could only dream of the day when their country would be considered truly integrated into the rest of Europe. And so it came to pass. But along with that — as chance and policies would have it — so did the battering Europe and Spain took on the economy.
If the polls are right, Spain would become the latest of the so-called periphery eurozone nations to ditch its government, after the debt crisis toppled rulers of Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Italy.
Though considered uncharismatic even by many of his supporters, the 56-year-old Rajoy has galvanised support by promising a break from the past to fix the economy and create jobs.
Rajoy has given few details of his austerity plans but analysts say Sunday’s winner must quickly impose reforms and cut costs to reassure world markets about Spain’s determination to repay its debts.
Rajoy has vowed to make cuts “everywhere”, except for pensions, so as to meet Spain’s target of cutting the public deficit to 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product in 2012 from 9.3 per cent last year.
“We are going to comply with our deficit obligations,” he said on Friday. Spain’s risk premium – the extra interest rate investors demand compared with safe-haven German debt – shot to a euro-era high of more than 500 basis points in the days ahead of the vote.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s government is blamed for reacting too slowly to the 2008 property bubble collapse, which threw millions of people out of work.
But there is also distrust of the conservatives as well:
Spaniards vented anger with their government over an economic crisis and towering jobless rate as they voted Sunday in rain-soaked general elections.
But some were also wary of conservative leader Mariano Rajoy, expected to win by a landslide on a promise of breaking with the past and fixing the economy with even tougher austerity measures.
Polls released ahead of the election showed the 56-year-old Rajoy and his Popular Party heading to a crushing win over the Socialist party PSOE and a likely absolute majority in parliament.
Octavio Arginano, a retired 67-year-old factory worker, said he voted for the right for the first time in his life because of the crisis, with nearly five million out of work and a jobless rate of 21.5 percent.
“My son has been unemployed for over a year, my daughter earns just 600 euros ($800) a month looking after young children,” he said after voting at a school under grey and rainy skies in the Madrid neighbourhood of Lavapies.
“There has to be a change, although I am not sure anyone knows what to do to get us out of this situation.”
Despite anger at their economic hardship, voters said they were under few illusions about Rajoy, who has promised to make cuts “everywhere” except in pensions in order to rein in Spain’s deficit.
In coming months, the pain in Spain will fall on many segments of the economy as the new government tries to stabilize the country..
Flag graphic via shutterstock.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.