Tag: Spain

• Thursday, December 24th 2015 - 07:55 UTC

  Socialists reject Rajoy's offer to join a PP government, but all parties want to avoid new elections in two months

  

  Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy suffered a first major setback in his bid to stay in office as the Socialists refused Wednesday to back his attempt to form a new government following an inconclusive general election. Rajoy's conservative Popular Party won the most ballots in Sunday's vote but lost its absolute majority in the 350-seat lower house of parliament, taking just 123.

• Monday, December 21st 2015 - 07:14 UTC

  Spain's left-right draw ends two-party system and marks time of coalitions

  

  Spain is heading for a period of difficult coalition-building after Sunday’s elections in which Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservatives came first, but were far short of a majority and with no obvious coalition partner after the centrist Ciudadanos (Citizens) did worse than expected, finishing fourth.

• Saturday, December 19th 2015 - 02:43 UTC

  Rajoy rejects the idea of a grand coalition, German style, after Sunday's vote

  

  Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday rejected any idea of his ruling Popular Party (PP) trying to form a grand coalition with the main opposition Socialist Party (PSOE) after Sunday's general election, in a bid to stop emerging political forces Podemos and Ciudadanos from entering government.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2015 - 06:56 UTC

  Spain's electoral debate dominated by corruption accusations

  

  Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was accused of being unfit to govern by his socialist challenger Pedro Sanchez on Monday night in an unusually ferocious election debate held before this week's general election. Sanchez performance makes him a first line contender for highest office in Spain, even if Rajoy's party as forecasted wins the election

• Tuesday, December 15th 2015 - 06:41 UTC

  Spain's Rajoy expected to win next Sunday's election but without a majority

  

  The latest surveys on the Spanish legislative elections to be held next Sunday, predict a victory for the ruling center-right People's Party, or PP, but without an absolute majority, so the party will have to form a coalition to establish a government.

• Tuesday, December 1st 2015 - 08:19 UTC

  Spanish minister anticipates 'spectacular' relationship with Macri government

  

  Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo became on Sunday the first foreign official to be received by president-elect Mauricio Macri after he won the November 22 runoff election, and announced a new 'spectacular' era is beginning in Madrid’s relations with Argentina.

• Wednesday, November 11th 2015 - 06:34 UTC

  Catalonia acting premier Mas rebuked by secession coalition partner

  

  Catalan government’s partner in the secessionist drive, the small anti-capitalist CUP party, on Tuesday confirmed that its preferred candidate to head the region following the September 27 election is not acting premier Artur Mas.

• Tuesday, November 10th 2015 - 05:56 UTC

  Rajoy says “Catalonia is not going anywhere, nothing is going to break”

  

  Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced on Monday his government would file an appeal with the Constitutional Court to ensure that an independence declaration backed by the Catalan regional parliament has “no consequences”, he told a news conference.

• Saturday, October 3rd 2015 - 07:37 UTC

  Gibraltar's new governor is a former Royal Marine, who takes office in early 2016

  

  In a press release issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on October 1, it was announced that the new Governor of Gibraltar would be former Royal Marine Lieutenant General Edward (Ed) Davis CB CBE.

• Thursday, October 1st 2015 - 08:31 UTC

  A homage, ‘Keep calm and carry on’

  

  By Alex Salmond (*) - I do not know if Artur Mas, the president of Catalonia, deliberately chose the eclipse of the super-moon as the day on which to hold the most important election in Catalonia’s democratic history.