Spanish Politics

The agreement on the minimum wage and the relative success of the trip to Catalonia encourages the new government

You Have To Sleep…

A.J.A. | President Sánchez has no achievements to show, and by embracing Iglesias and his Bolivarians he has moved to the European extreme left. To try to forge consensus and pacts from there, from political positions that have shown time and time again where they lead (Cuba, Venezuela, the USSR… with economies razed to the ground and people in extreme poverty while their leaders live in dachas), does not seem reasonable. 
Here, Iglesias and his wife, the Minister for Equality, have already got their dacha. And Spain, without a doubt, is going to be devastated… But, on top of that, do we now have to get behind the Government and push? Better try to sleep. It’s not easy to dream a worse nightmare.


Pedro Sánchez falls short of majority but will likely prevail tuesday

Madrid Closer to Striking a Budget Deal

J.P. Marín Arrese | Budgets stand as the paramount evidence for any government that it commands enough legislative backing. Especially when the governments in question cling to a fragile minority in order to stay in power. The Spanish Cabinet ranks high in this category, its survival is balancing on the thin rope the pro-independence ERC party is ready to offer. The price of this offer is engaging an open-ended dialogue on self-rule for Catalonia, plus an amnesty for the sentenced leaders of the derailed coup attempt. Both sides acknowledge that negotiations will lead nowhere. None the less, this offers political ammunition to ERC for quelling resistance at home in providing a life-jacket to PM Sánchez.


The agreement on the minimum wage and the relative success of the trip to Catalonia encourages the new government

The Minimum Wage And The Trip Of Sánchez To Catalonia Encourages The New Government

Joan Tapia (Barcelona) | The PSOE-Podemos Coalition Government has not failed to confront its two main challenges: economic policy and Catalonia. However, now comes the most important issue: to approve the national budget for 2020 for which it needs a vote in favour of ERC. This time the abstention of ERC is not enough, as in the case of the investiture, which was achieved in exchange for the establishment of a dialogue between the governments of Madrid and Barcelona.


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Open Letter: “Mr. Zapatero, Stop Embarrassing Spain And The European Union” Asks A Spanish MEP

According to Spanish press (Periodista Digital, etc.) Beatriz Becerra, vice-chair of the European parliament’s human rights sub-committee and a member of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE Group), has published an open letter against the former Spanish President, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, of the Socialist Party (PSOE) after reading the message Zapatero sent privately to Juan Guaidó and other leaders of the Venezuelan opposition.


Spain Catalonia

The Talks On Catalonia’s Future Will Neither Fly Nor Sink

J.P. Marín Arrese | Both parties at the negotiation table are fully aware the bilateral talks will lead nowhere. Madrid cannot concede self-rule to Catalonia. Its independentist counterpart won’t accept anything short of that. Thus, discussions will become bogged in shallow waters, unable to provide the slightest chance to float. Yet, they will neither collapse nor sink, as long as the pragmatic ERC Party holds the line.

spain government now what

Spain Has A government, Now What?

Rubén Segura-Cayuela (BofA Global Research) | Spain finally has a government, although with a razor-thin majority. This will be a coalition government comprised of the centre-left PSOE and the far-left Podemos, with the external support of several smaller parties, including Basque nationalists, and the implicit support (abstention in the government formation vote) of the secessionist ERC. The “easy”part of the job is done. The very challenging one, policy-making with thin parliamentary numbers, starts now.



Pedro Sánchez falls short of majority but will likely prevail tuesday

Pedro Sánchez Falls Short of Majority, But Will Likely Prevail Tuesday

Atlantic Sentinel | Left-wing separatists would allow the social democrat to become prime minister a second time. Spanish Socialist Party leader Pedro Sánchez fell short of a absolute majority in Congress on Sunday to become prime minister a second time. However, left-wing separatists from the Basque Country and Catalonia have agreed to abstain from a second vote on Tuesday, which should allow Sánchez to scrape by with a majority of one.


Spain's left’s inability to unite against the right

Spain: Political instability at home continues, undermining influence abroad

Shaun Riordan | Pedro Sánchez has failed to secure election as Spain´s Prime Minister in the second investiture vote in the Spanish parliament today. He needed only a simple majority. But the break down in negotiations with Podemos, and their decision to abstain, left Sanchez´ socialist party (PSOE) in a minority. The problems between the two parties seem to have centred not on policy but on the distribution of ministerial portfolios in a coalition government. Sanchez conceded that Podemos could hold ministerial positions, but the far left party complained that the portfolios he offered lacked real substance.


Spanish politics

Elections in Spain: Awaiting the next government with the economy far from the campaign

Joan Tapia (Barcelona) | As I write this article, three polls have been published – in three Spanish newspapers ABC, El Periodico de Catalunya and Confidencial – which practically agree. If there are no changes in the twenty days that remain before the elections, PSOE will be the largest party with more than 130 seats, far distant from the PP which will remain on 80-90 seats.