Spain General Election - Nov 20,2011
Spain has more than 50 registered national parties, but fewer than 10 are considered significant. Since 1982, only 2 political parties have won in Spanish national elections.
- Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE): The Spanish Socialist Worker's Party,a Social Democratic Party
- Partido Popular (PP): The People's Party,a Conservative Party
A legislative election for the Cortes Generales(Spain's Parliament) in Spain was held on November 20, 2011for 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies(lower house of the Cortes Generales)which will determine who becomes the PM of Spain and
for the 208 directly elected seats in the upper house, the Senate(Upper house of the Cortes Generales)
Voting to elect 350 members of Parliament and 208 senators begins 9 A.M on Sunday Nov 20,2011.More than 34 million Spanish voters are gearing up for general elections likely to oust the Socialists in favor of the Conservative People's Party
The Conservative opposition People'sParty (PP)(led by former Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy) have won a clear majority in Spain's general election defeating the outgoing Spanish Socialist Workers Party government for the worst economic crisis in generations taking 186 seats in the 350-seat lower house with over 90% of the votes from the election counted.The People's Party won the biggest majority for any party in 3 decades.
Leader of Conservative People Party Mariano Rajoy Votes
The Socialist Workers Party slumped to 111 seats from 169 in the outgoing parliament, their worst showing in 30 years.Outgoing Socialist PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was not standing again at this election.His successor as party leader, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba conceded defeat after a campaign where he had given up hope of winning but vainly tried to block the PP from taking complete control of parliament.
Leader of Socialist Workers Party Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba Votes
Conservative People Party Celebrates Victory in the Parliament Elections
Mariano Rajoy's People's Party won a comfortable absolute majority of 186 seats with 44.6% of Votes.
The PP achieved their best ever results: with 186 seats out of 350 and almost 11 million votes. With 176 seats needed for a majority,Mariano Rajoy , PP leader, was thus able to form a Majority Govt. ending the Hung Parliaments of the two previous legislatures under Socialist Minority Govts.
The ruling Spanish Socialist Worker's Party under Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba under was badly punished at the polls, winning only 110 seats and 28.8% Votes, their worst result in a Spanish general election since transition to Democracy. (as a result of Spain's high unemployment rate, the highest in the EU)PSOE lost more than 4 million votes and 59 Seats, the most seats lost by a party in Spain since the 1982 Election.
The outgoing Spanish Govt. was led by PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who announced that he would not run for a third term. Deputy PM Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba was the party's candidate for Prime Minister.
People's Party, was led by Mariano Rajoy for the third successive time after defeats in the 2004 and 2008 elections and fresh from its recently-won landslide victory in the Regional Elections.
Politicl Parties in Spain
People's Party
Spanish Socialist Worker's Party
United Left
a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain(PCE)
Union,Progress and Democracy Party
founded in September 2007 to build a federal system for Spain and European Union, with clear responsibilities distributed among local governments, autonomous regions, Spain and the Union. The party is against any kind of nationalism, and claims that citizenship must be the main issue and not identities based on religions, languages or place of birth.
Convergence and Union(CiU)
CiU is technically a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller counterpart, theDemocratic Union of Catalonia (UDC). It is currently led by Artur Mas , who is the current President of the Catalan Government.
Autonomous Regions of Spain
The autonomous regions that hold the largest representation of seats in Congress are Andalusia with 61 Seats;Catalonia with 47 Seats and Madrid with 35 Seats.These three autonomous regions have played a key role in determining the final outcome of the national elections.
Spain's is the 3rd Eurozone government whose fall has been attributed to the debt crisis.The other two being Greece and Italy where the socialists in Greece and Silvio Berlusconi's Italian Conservatives have been swept from power.
Conservative leader Mariano Rajoy become Spain's PM
Spain’s Parliament voted in Conservative Mariano Rajoy as the new PM of Spain on Tuesday Dec 20,2011 when he received the support of 187 deputies in the 350-seat lower house, while 149 deputies voted against and 14 abstained.
Spain's New PM Sworn in, Names Cabinet
Mariano Rajoy formally sworn in before King Juan Carlos on Wednesday Dec 21,2011.
PM Mariano Rajoy then appointed 12 ministers and said close party colleague Soraya Saenz de Santamaria would be government spokeswoman and deputy premier.
Spain's White Elephant Airport
Castellon airport in Spain's Valencia region was inaugurated in March last year after an estimated 150 million euros (£130m) was spent on its development.But not a single aircraft has landed on its runways after the airport failed to secure a license and was unable to attract airlines to add the destination in their routes.
The scandal of a "ghost" airport in Spain that has yet to see a single passenger through its terminal has deepened with revelations that 30 million euros has been spent on advertising it.
Spain announces plans to tighten abortion laws - March 8,2012
The government of Mariano Rajoy, who was sworn in as prime minister in December, had pledged to revoke a clause that allows girls aged 16 and 17 to have abortions without parental consent.
The 2010 law gave women the legal right to choose to an abortion on demand up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, or 22 weeks in cases where the mother's health is at risk or the foetus shows serious deformities.
Previously women could only have an abortion in cases of rape, serious deformity or when the mother's mental or physical health was threatened.
Spain introduces Sweeping Labour Reforms to Fight Joblessness
Spain's new conservative government has passed a range of sweeping labour reforms it hopes will "mark a before and after" in a country that has the highest jobless rate in the developed world. Spain's unemployment rate, at 22.83pc, is currently at its highest level in nearly 17 years.
The reforms, which were officially unveiled on Friday Feb 10,2012, include cutting the maximum severance pay that employees can receive to 33 days salary per year of service, down from 45 days.
In a move to get younger people working, small businesses employing fewer than 50 workers will get tax breaks for hiring people under 30 looking for their first job.
Hundreds of thousands of people protested across Spain on Sunday Feb 19,2012 against reforms to the labour market they fear will destroy workers' rights and spending cuts they say are destroying the welfare state.
Organisers, including the two largest unions Comisiones Obreras and UGT, said as many as half a million people joined the protest in 57 towns and cities, although Spanish police gave no official estimate.
Protests in Madrid against the labor reforms
Spanish Regional Election
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative party gained ground in Andalusia regional elections on Sunday March 25,2012 but fell short of an outright majority that would have allowed them to govern solo.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party won the elections in Andalusia for the first time since the central government granted the region autonomy in 1982. It captured 50 seats in Parliament, compared with 47 for the Socialists. For a parliamentary majority, 55 seats are necessary.
The communist-led United Left coalition picked up 12 seats, double what it obtained in the last regional elections in 2008, and has the balance of power in the new assembly.
The Socialists have ruled the regional government in Andalusia since Spain returned to democracy after the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975.
Spanish General Strike - Thursday March 29,2012
The Spanish general strike comes just a day before PM Mariano Rajoy announces a new austerity budget.On Friday March 30,2012 PM Mariano Rajoy is set to announce what even he describes as a "very, very austere budget" to reduce the deficit. Because the EU is demanding cuts larger than those of Greece, Ireland or Portugal.
On top of €15bn cuts already announced in December, it is estimated Rajoy will cut about another €40bn. Many are expecting drastic cuts to health and education, not least the financial markets.
Rajoy has also angered labour groups by introducing new legislation that makes it easier for companies to lay people off, cut wages and modify other employment conditions
This has led the two main unions -
Comisiones Obreras and UGT
to call a general strike on March 29,2012
The day began with marches in cities across the country. Unions were protesting over labour reforms which the new government hopes will help cut unemployment(23%unemployment rate,the highest in the EU)
A Demonstration in Valencia
Road, rail and air transport were all hit. At Atocha - one of Madrid's main rail stations - pickets waved red union flags and blew whistles as police looked on
In Madrid, the closing rally of the day drew thousands to the Puerta del Sol, one of the city's central squares
Ahead of today's strike, transport employees had agreed to offer a minimum level of service. That meant that around 25% of buses and a third of train services were expected to operate
Spanish airline Iberia (which merged with British Airways in 2010), says it has cancelled more than 400 flights. Another 44 Ryanair Flights have been grounded, while Easyjet cancelled 28 flights.
Candido Mendez, leader of the UGT union, told reporters that Friday's budget would be "unfair, useless in the fight against the economic crisis, and could become a battering ram to increase the destruction of employment"
CCOO general secretary Ignacio Fernandez Toxo warned of a new show of force on May 1,2012.
"If they don't go back on the reform there will be a growing social conflict until they fix it," he said.
A demonstrator shout during a protest against the recent austerity measures announced by the Spanish government, in front of the Popular Party in Madrid, Spain.
Spanish PM Unveils $79 bn Austerity Plan -WednesdayJuly 18,2012
Spain’s government heaped further austerity measures on the country as it unveiled sales tax hikes and spending cuts aimed at shaving 65 billion ($79.85 billion) off the state budget over the next two and a half yearsThe austerity package was approved solely with the votes of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative People’s Party (PP), which has an absolute majority in Parliament
A day after winning European Union approval for a huge bank bailout and breathing space on its deficit programme, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned Parliament that Spain’s future was at stake as it grapples with recession, a bloated deficit, investor wariness of its sovereign debt.
Other measures outlined include -
* further cuts in government spending beyond the reductions already outlined in the 2012 budget
* wage cuts for civil servants and members of the national parliament
* further closures of state-owned companies
* tax deductions for homeowners to be scrapped
* a 30 percent cut in the number of town councillors
* changes to unemployment benefits designed to encourage jobless people to seek work quickly.
* 20 percent cut in government subsidies to political parties and labour unionsSpaniards Protest Budget Cuts - Thursday July 19,2012
Tens of thousands of Spaniards demonstrated on Thursday against a tough austerity package passed hours earlier by Parliament, accusing the government of “ruining the country.”
Trade unions, which demanded that the package be submitted to a referendum, called marches in more than 80 cities.
Demonstrators included professional groups such as police officers, firefighters and court employees, whose incomes have been slashed. Protesters in Madrid included actor Javier Bardem and other artists, who criticised cuts in subsidies to Spain’s film industry
Anti-Austerity Protests in Spain - Tuesday Sep 25,2012
Several thousand people converged on the Spanish Parliament building in central Madrid on Tuesday Sep 25,2012 where more than 1,000 riot police blocked off access to the building, forcing protesters to crowd nearby avenues.
Spanish riot police have beaten protesters with batons and hauled some into vans as thousands rallied near parliament in Madrid to decry biting austerity cuts.Police wearing helmets charged demonstrators and struck some protesters with batons after they tried to break down metal barriers protecting the lower house, the Congress of Deputies.
For Spaniards, Having a Job No Longer Guarantees a Paycheck
With the regional and municipal governments deeply in debt, even workers like bus drivers and health care attendants, dependent on government financing for their salaries, are not always paid.
Over the past two years, Ana María Molina Cuevas(36) has worked five shifts a week in a ceramics factory on the outskirts of this city, hand-rolling paint onto tiles. But at the end of the month, she often went unpaid. Still, she kept showing up, trying to keep her frustration under control. If she quit, she reasoned, she might never get her money. And besides, where was she going to find another job? Last month, she was down to about $130 in her bank account with a mortgage payment due.Ana María Molina Cuevas, who is owed about $13,000 by the factory, is hardly alone.
Workers in this situation believe they have any choice but to stick it out, and none wanted to name their employers, to protect both the companies and their jobs. They try to manage their lives with occasional checks and partial payments on random dates — never sure whether they will get what they are owed in the end.
Note
Spain’s unemployment rate is the highest in the euro zone at more than 25 percent, and despite the government’s labor reforms, the rate has continued to rise month after month.
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