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Sanity -> Spains Socialists Routed (5/23/2011 8:47:20 PM)
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After thirty years with Socialists in power... all is not quite as rosy as some might expect
quote:
Socialists Routed in Regional Spanish Voting
MADRID — The governing Socialist Party started the search for a new leader on Monday, a day after suffering its worst results ever in regional and municipal elections.
The Popular Party, the main center-right opposition, won in 11 of the 13 regions where voting took place Sunday. Among the four regions where the Socialists lost control was Castilla-La Mancha, which had been in the hands of the Socialists for three decades, since Spain’s return to democracy. In the municipal elections, the Socialists lost control of two of Spain’s biggest cities, Barcelona and Seville.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/world/europe/24iht-spain24.html
quote:
Spain’s Governing Party Suffers Heavy Losses [image]http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/05/23/world/SPAIN/SPAIN-articleLarge.jpg[/image]
MADRID — The governing Socialist Party suffered heavy losses on Sunday in regional and municipal elections, even as tens of thousands of Spaniards calling themselves the “indignant” said they would pursue their protests to force an overhaul of the country’s political system.
Conceding defeat on Sunday night, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said that his Socialist Party had been understandably punished by voters for overseeing an economic crisis that had left Spain with a 21 percent jobless rate, more than twice the European average.
“These results are very clearly related to the effects of the economic crisis that we have been suffering for almost three years,” Mr. Zapatero said in a televised address. “Almost two million jobs have been destroyed and I know that a lot of Spaniards are facing serious problems. Today, without a doubt, they have expressed their discomfort.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/world/europe/23spain.html
quote:
Protests: Has the Revolution Come to Spain?
Two political earthquakes have shaken Spanish life in the past week. First were the massive sit-ins that had tens of thousands of citizens camping out in the public squares of major cities in protest of the country's capsized economy and unresponsive political class. The second came Sunday night, May 22, when voters in regional and municipal elections delivered a sound drubbing to the governing Socialist Party (PSOE). Now, in Monday's harsh light, no one seems sure whether the first phenomenon had anything to do with the second. And everyone is wondering what both mean for the future of Spain.
Since May 15, tens of thousands of Spaniards have taken over squares in 60 cities, clamoring for political, economic and social reform. As articulated by the group Real Democracy Now, which helped organize the protests, unemployment (21.3% among the general population; a shocking 40% among youth) is high on the list of complaints. But so too are political corruption (more than 100 candidates in Sunday's elections are currently under judicial investigation), social-welfare cuts and a general sense that elected officials in both of the two main political parties aren't listening to them. "This isn't solely about unemployment or the upcoming election," says Raúl, 29, who works for a marketing agency when he isn't volunteering in Madrid's Puerta del Sol. "We're after a more responsible society."
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2073524,00.html#ixzz1NEozHahX
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