Europe > Southern Europe > Spain > Spain: Coalition conundrum

Spain: Spain: Coalition conundrum

2016/01/04

The results of general elections on 20 December appear to suggest the end of a bipartisan political environment. Mariano Rajoy’s PP (Partido Popular) won 123 seats in the Congress but failed by 53 seats to achieve an absolute majority. As a result, and in order to form a government, the PP needs to form alliances with other parties with congressional seats.

The socialist party (PSOE), the other major traditional party, won only 90 seats, the worst electoral result in its history. Part the new political players, the leftist Podemos won 69 seats and the centrist Ciudadanos 40 seats.

With a highly fragmented Congress and wide-ranging policy divergences part the parties it will be difficult to create a strong coalition. Whatever party combination is forged into a coalition, the government will have to transaction with a PP-dominated Senate. Despite political uncertainties, the country has recorded solid increase in 2015, with GDP expanding +0.8% q/q in Q3, next +1% q/q in Q2, supported by dynamic domestic request and low oil prices.

Spain will continue to exert a positive momentum to in general Eurozone GDP increase as we estimate it will grow by +3.1% in 2015 and +2.6% in 2016.

Related Articles

UNWTO: International tourism – strongest half-year results since 2010
2017/09/09 Destinations worldwide welcomed 598 million international tourists in the initial six months of 2017, some 36 million additional than in the same period of 2016. At 6%, increase was well above the trend of recent years, making the current January-June period the strongest half-year since 2010. Visitor numbers reported by destinations around the world reflect strong request for international travel in the initial half of 2017, according to the new UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Worldwide, international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) increased by 6% compared to the same six-month period last year, well above the sustained and consistent trend of 4% or higher increase since 2010. This represents the strongest half-year in seven years.
US LNG exports make European market more competitive
2017/08/27 The European gas market is becoming additional and additional competitive and US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are part of this landscape, Francis Perrin, energy expert, chairman of Energy Strategies and Policies (France) told Trend. “Energy is always a strategic business. Economic aspects are very significant of course, particularly the price of LNG, but nations as well take into account strategic issues. For some Central and Eastern European nations one of the key priorities of their energy policies is the diversification of their supplies, in particular gas imports, in order to reduce their dependence on Russia,” said the expert.
The immigrant success story that led Spanish police to a Chinese banking behemoth
2017/08/02 In Spain's Chinese community, Gao Ping was the ultimate immigrant success story. He was a young man at the same time as he arrived additional than two decades ago and took a job as a cook in a Chinese restaurant. By 1997 Gao had opened an import business and begun building a commercial empire that would make him the highest-profile Chinese in Spain. He became a patron of the arts and cultivated political ties in Spain and in his native Zhejiang Province. In 2007, Chinese media carried a picture of him with Spain's King Juan Carlos I. And in interviews he was quoted saying he wanted to become a bridge between the two cultures.
Spain's PM appeals to court over Catalan independence
2017/07/29 The Spanish government and Catalan authorities took a step further on Friday (28 July), in their showdown ahead of an independence referendum planned for 1 October in Catalonia. Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy announced that he would appeal to the Constitutional Tribunal against a text, passed in the Catalan parliament before this week, which would facilitate the adoption of a bill to organise the referendum.
Spain: Rajoy Calls For Calm In Face Of ‘Authoritarian Delusions’ In Catalonia
2017/07/08 Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called Wednesday, July 5 for calm in the face of “authoritarian delusions” in Catalonia, as tensions between Madrid and separatists in the northeastern region surged over an independence drive, AFP reveals. “To all Catalans, to all Spaniards, I want to tell you to maintain confidence someday as authoritarian delusions… will at no time defeat the serenity and harmony of our democratic national,” Rajoy said at a gathering in Madrid.