Spanish Politics

Pedro Duque has acknowledged setting up a company to hold his own home

Justifying Tax Evasion Undermines Fiscal Rectitude In Spain

J. P. Marín- Arrese | Undoubtedly, former astronaut Pedro Duque enjoys ample recognition for his past feats. His nomination to the R&D Cabinet portfolio was widely praised and welcomed, even if he confessed his utter lack of experience for the job. Thus, news on his dubious record as a taxpayer came as a nasty shock. He has acknowledged setting up a company to hold his own home and a beach resort dwelling where he spent his holidays, thus reducing his tax bill.


There have always been two debates about RTVE: financing and the nomination of its board which, in theory, should govern it.

Good Governance For Spanish Public Television

There have always been two debates about the Spanish Public Television: financing and the nomination of its board which, in theory, should govern it. Experience says that it doesnt govern it, that the board is a scene for political party confrontation which adds no value, on the contrary.


The government of Sanchez

The Government of Sanchez

Luis Alcaide | Pedro Sánchez will be monitored from every corner to see if he can count on the collaboration of a Spanish administration more independent than in the past. He will have to manage budgetary imbalances and growth of public debt. Furthermre, his fellow citizens rate corruption, after unemployment, their greatest concern.


Fixation with electoral numbers is one of the mostunhealthy obsessions of contemporary Spanish politics

Spain’s Ballot Box Fixation

Guy Hedgecoe | Fixation with electoral numbers is one of the most unhealthy obsessions of contemporary Spanish politics. It’s a mindset that places enormous emphasis on victory at the ballot box, in the belief that it will bring with it not just political power, but moral righteousness.


Mariano Rajoy has left the Moncloa to be replaced by the socialist leader Pedro Sanchez

Two Weeks Of Political Upheaval In Spain

Fernando G. Urbaneja | Mariano Rajoy has left the Moncloa to be replaced by the socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, who 10 days before couldn´t have imagined a substitution so rapid or so brutal. However, Spain’s problems remain: whether the demands for Catalan independence and other nationalist forces that threaten the constitution and national unity, or the urgent need for profound reforms in the welfare system and the management of public accounts, threatened by the deficit and the debt.


emerging pedro

The New Spanish Government Holds Win-Win Cards

J.P. Marín Arrese | PM Pedro Sánchez will govern backed by a weak minority party. There will be little respite from either those who voted for him or those who voted against him. No one expects the new Spanish government can deliver any substantive policies. Yet, such an isolated and weak position can also be a valuable asset.


italia espana 1 ok

Spain Is Not Italy

Shaun Riordan | The motion of censure against Spanish Prime Minister and the election of socialist leader Sanchez as his successor has briefly spooked markets. But in the end it may make less difference than it seems at first sight.


ibex chulisima

The Ibex 35 Recovers After The Censure Motion

Victoria Torre (SelfBank) | A tense day was expected in Spanish financial markets, with the vote on the censure motion against the government of Mariano Rajoy and doubts about whether the President would resign. He didn´t and the censure motion was adopted with 180 votes in favour.


Pedro Sánchez en Mérida

The Government of Spain takes an experimental path

Fernando G. Urbaneja | The Spanish parliament has suddenly and unexpectedly used a constitutional motion of censure against the government of Rajoy to elect a new government. The new government returns Spain to the ancient ghosts of the first third of the 20th century: multi-party and fractured coalitions.

 


A no-confidence motion has removed Mr Rajoy from Spain's government

Why The Basque Nationalists Decided Rajoy’s Fate

Shaun Riordan | The fate of Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy was in the end settled by the five votes of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). Until yesterday´s debate in the Congress, Rajoy was confident that the Basques, who last week voted in favour of the 2018 budget, would abstain. This would have denied socialist leader of the absolute majority he needed to eject Rajoy from the Moncloa Palace. But this time the Basque Nationalist Party had other priorities.