Spain's Anger Management - opinion piece in New York Times

Is this the dawn of a new era in Spanish politics, as some suggest? Judging from the results of last Sunday’s election, we can safely say that the old era has, at least, been dealt a severe blow.

Read the rest of Miguel-Anxo Murado's excellent article here.

Zapatero Zaps Opposition

Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it had a nice ring to it. Anyway, Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's socialist party, the PSOE, did win yesterday's national election. However, they only gained one seat in the Congress of Deputies (from 168 to 169 out of a total of 350), which means they are still a bit short of an absolute majority. (Seven, to be exact.) Mariano Rajoy's conservative party, the PP, picked up 6 seats (from 148 to 153). This increase might be enough to assure that Rajoy stays on as party leader, although he was not seen or heard from today.
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The enigmatic conservative Catalan party, CiU (Convergence and Union), is the only other party that increased its seats, going from 10 to 11. With the ruling socialist party not having a strong majority, this Catalan nationalist party could have significant influence in the new parliament.

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Perhaps the most interesting result of the election was the drop in votes for smaller parties: the ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia), which advocates independence for Catalonia, went from 8 seats to 3. Another of the regional nationalist parties, the Basque EAJ-PNV (Basque Nationalist Party), lost one seat to go down to 6. The left wing IU (United Left) went from 5 to 2 seats and the party leader, Gaspar Llamazares has since announced that he would resign. The few remaining seats went to CC-PNC (Canary Island Coalition - 2 seats), BNG (Galician Nationalist Bloc - 2), UPyD (Union, Progress and Democracy - 1 seat) and Na Bai (Navarre Yes - 1). The Aragonese Council and Basque Solidarity parties did not garner enough votes to win parliamentary seats.

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Interestingly, in the Senate, where there are currently a total of 259 seats, the PP (Popular Party) technically won more seats than the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party), although both parties declined in their total numbers. The PP went from 102 to 101 seats and the PSOE went from 81 to 89. There are more seats in the Senate and 56 of those are not elected but are appointed by regional legislatures. Of the other elected seats, 12 were won by the Catalan Coalition called Entesa (Catalan for "understanding") which is made up the Catalan socialist party (PSC), the ERC, ICV (Catalan Green Initiative) and EUA (United Alternative Left); 4 were won by CiU and 2 by the EAJ-PNV.

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Of the two houses, the Congress of Deputies has more power, including the authority to choose the Prime Minister and the ability to override most Senate decisions with a majority vote. Apparently one unique power of the Senate is to appoint judges.

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At his party's headquarters in Madrid, Zapatero gave a victory speech in which he paid tribute to victims of terrorism and their families, including the Basque socialist party member, Isiais Carrasco, who was assassinated by ETA last Friday. He then went on to say he would continue with things he has done well and correct his mistakes. Today the media seem to be presenting him as humbler and ready for dialogue. Only time will tell.

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I suppose among the things some voters view as accomplishments during his first 4 years were withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq in 2004, giving more autonomy to the Regional Communities that make up Spain, making divorce easier and legalizing same-sex marriage. However, these are not things that touch on most Spaniard's day to day lives in a significant way. In fact, on the subject of the economy, which effects everyone, I hear many people (even some who say they voted for him) grumbling that he has done nothing to address it. Many people seem to think he has more or less just let it coast along, pretty much on autopilot -- and now it seems to be crashing.

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So, why did Z's PSOE win in the Congress of Deputies? Well the consensus among people I've talked with is that people voted against parties rather than for a party. Perhaps people were tired of the squabbling caused by the smaller separatist and nationalist groups. Perhaps the PSOE's publicity aimed at making people frightened of the PP worked. Perhaps the PP's own broken-record mantra of fear mongering against immigrants and bemoaning the decline of "Spanish" family values put people off. Perhaps no other parties seemed to be offering meaningful alternatives. Perhaps people simply preferred Zapatero to Rajoy, as opposed to the PSOE to the PP. (Surveys indicated that Zapatero won the televised debates he had with Rajoy, which were watched by many Spaniards.)

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One final note: at 75%, voter turnout was as high as it was in the 2004 election. How does that compare to voter turnout in your country? It puts mine to shame.

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Chao amig@s,

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Carloz

Z promises more English, Rajoy more Spanish

Z is the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodíguez Zapatero. One of his latest campaign promises is to put 20,000 native English teachers in public schools -- 12,000 part-time teachers and 8,000 English language assistants -- if the Socialist party wins the March 9th general election.

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Meanwhile, challenger Mariano Rajoy has said that if the Popular Party wins he will pass a law giving parents in Spain the right to have their children enducated in Spanish. This is actually aimed at the Autonomous Region of Catalonia, as public education here is conducted in Catalan. (All other Autonomous Regions where two languages are spoken give parents the option of sending their children to Spanish language or local language schools.)
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¡Vamos a ver!

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Carloz

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P.S.

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If you want to read more on the Spanish election, the BBC news website today ran a pretty good little overview of it in an article entitled, "Spanish PM Faces Voters' Verdict." I especially liked the following line in the article: "If the US election is a marathon, Spain's is a sprint." Thank God for that!

It's election time!

Not the US election, but the Spanish election. On March 9 Spaniards will go to the polls to vote for Parliament -- 350 seats in the lower chamber, the Congress of Deputies ,and 208 seats in the upper chamber, the Senate. The make-up of the Parliament determines which party (or which coalition of parties) selects the Prime Minister, who is also referred to as the President of the Government.
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The two major parties are the conservative PP (Partido Popular - Popular Party), led by Mariano Rajoy and the PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español - Spanish Socialist Workers Party), led by the current Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Other parties include:the United Left (IU), Convergence and Union (CiU), the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV).
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Compared to the USA, campaigns in Spain are relatively brief -- thank God! While there is plenty of maneuvering and posturing for a few months before the election, advertisements are only allowed during an officially designated campaign period. For example, on January 14 of this year the Spanish government approved the dissolution of Parliament and called for general elections on March 9. The official electoral campaign runs from February 22 until March 7.
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However, before the advertising begins parties issue statements, candidates make promises, polls are conducted and the media covers it all. So far the PSOE has promised to a 400 euro tax rebate for all citizens, while the PP has said it would require immigrants to sign a "contract" promising to learn Spanish, adapt to the culture and traditions of Spain and obey the nations laws. Both parties promise more nurseries and pre-schools, higher pensions and to plant trees to combat climate change. (The PSOE was the first to come up with the tree offer, and said it would plant 45 million trees nationwide. Last week the PP upped the ante by promising to plant 500 million! So, either way, Spain will be greener by 2012, right? Yeah, right!)
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As for controversy, well, the Spanish Catholic Church got into the act by issuing a letter telling its members not to vote for parties that support abortion rights and gay marriage -- in other words, don't vote for the PSOE. (The Zapatero government introduced full gay marriage in Spain in 2005. The PP has said it does not intend to overturn it.) The Government was so bothered by the Spanish Bishop's Conference intrusion into the political process that it had its ambassador to the Vatican make a formal complaint. (The Pope has yet to respond -- and if he does, I'll bet it's with a similar letter of his own.)
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The economy is a major issue and will surely affect the outcome. The Spanish housing market bubble is deflating, if not exactly bursting, with prices beginning to fall; price increases for basic necessities have been sharp; unemployment is rising; and because of world-wide economic instability, Spaniards seem to be a little jittery in general. This has been a rather recent turn around, coming after a few years of steady economic growth.
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This change in exonomic fortunes probably has done more than anything else to allow the PP to cut into the PSOE's lead in the polls. A month ago, the PSOE was widely seen as having the best chance at victory. Now, according to one major survey reported on in today's El Pais, the PSOE has only a 2.9% lead over the PP.
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So, who will win? ¿Quien sabe?