Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced Friday an early general election in November, four months early than scheduled, looking to capitalize on a slight upturn in opinion poll ratings.
Spain's ruling Socialist Party sustained heavy losses in municipal elections on Sunday, amid widespread protests against high unemployment. The conservative People's Party (PP) took 37.5% of the vote compared with almost 28% for Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's PSOE, with more than 90% of votes counted.
Tens of thousands of Spaniards angry over unemployment protested for a sixth day, ahead of Sunday's local elections in which the ruling Socialists are expected to suffer heavy losses.
Weak jobs data, sliding retail sales and rising inflation confirm Spain’s economic recovery is faltering. The official figures released Friday showed 21.3% of the workforce without a job, up from 20.3% at the end of last year.
China will invest in Spain’s savings-bank industry and continue buying public debt, a Spanish government official cited Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao as telling Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero at a meeting Tuesday in Beijing.
Spain’s official unemployment advanced for a third month in March, deepening the divide between peripheral economies struggling to recover from the financial crisis and Germany’s booming labour market. It was the worst record for Spain since 1996.
The Socialist Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, says he will not seek a third term in the country’s general election next year. Spain is in the midst of a deep recession. At 20% it has the highest unemployment rate in the Euro zone.
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang has said Beijing is willing to buy about Euro 6 billion worth of Spanish public debt, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Thursday, citing government sources.
China and Spain signed this week business deals worth 7.5 billion US dollars, a welcome boost for Spain's recession-hit economy. Visiting Vice-Premier Li Keqiang also vowed to help Europe overcome its debt crisis (and support the Euro), as he started his three-nation European tour.
Spain presented a tough 2011 budget, deepening an austerity drive and taxing the rich more heavily as it seeks to boost confidence in a fragile economy ahead of a general strike.