The rout in regional and local elections was predicted by opinion polls but the scale of the defeat has shaken party leaders – the PSOE has a majority in just four of the 17 powerful regions which control nearly half the state’s spending.
Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was quick to blame the recession for the plight of his party. Unemployment – at more than 20 per cent – is the worst in the industrialised world, youth unemployment is a staggering 44 per cent and many workers, including all government employees, have taken salary cuts. With no economic recovery in sight, the prospects for the PSOE look grim ahead of a general election early next year.
But the election also reflects a far deeper malaise in Spanish politics. There were a record number of spoilt or blank ballot papers as people registered their disillusionment with all the political parties. And while Mr Zapatero’s poll ratings are at ground level, the leader of the opposition scores no better.
The most obvious signs of frustration are to be seen in the centre of Madrid where thousands of the young unemployed have decided to camp out – and are refusing to move.
Their somewhat amorphous manifesto includes demands for an end to machine politics and closed party lists, less political corruption and more jobs for young workers. It is perhaps surprising that Spanish youth has taken to the streets. But now they have, no one knows where it will end.
