THE CRISIS THREATENS NOT SPAIN’S ECONOMY BUT ITS DEMOCRACY

The current world economic crisis has hit Spain hard. Like Britain it will probably be one of the late to emerge from recession, a recession which some believe is already over in France, Germany and Japan.

In Spain the economy has been smashed and there are lengthy dole queues. At some time the economy in the future will recover but it is the Spanish body politic that is in danger.

There is a lot of disquiet in the country over the socialist government of José Luis Zapatero Rodríguez. There are those who would argue that he is the worst “ruler” of the nation since Ferdinand VII who was basically a crook.

However it is not Zapatero that is the problem but the Partido Popular opposition of Mariano Rajoy. Whenever an election comes in Spain the voters can throw Zapatero and PSOE out on their ears – if they so wish. The only alternative government is the PP led by Rajoy. The Spanish opinion polls show the true extent of the problem where basically PSOE and the PP are running neck and neck despite the economic turmoil.

Contrast that to Britain where the discredited Labour government are and have been for months ten or more percentage points behind the Conservatives and have suffered humiliating by-election defeats. For Gordon Brown the writing is on the wall.

The PP is wracked with corruption scandals. What’s worse is that Rajoy and his party have willed that Spain is overcome by economic disaster as he and they see that as the most likely way to regain power. They promote the nation’s destruction rather than its salvation but the voters’ dissatisfaction with this ploy is plain to see as they haven’t rallied to the PP cause.

In recent days, Juan Rámon Quintás, the president of the nation’s savings banks, has said that unless an accord can be reached between the political and social sides then the best thing for the nation would be an immediate general election. Then the newly elected leader would have the required mandate to lead Spain out of the crisis. However it is not an economic but political crisis that faces Spain and the decisions facing the voters are tough because neither Zapatero nor Rajoy have won or deserve their trust.