Politics

The conservative People’s Party (PP) has won the Spanish General Election with an absolute majority. The PP obtained 186 MPs in the 350-seat Spanish Parliament, its best ever result. The Socialist Party (PSOE), who are the current Spanish Government, obtained the worst results in its history, winning just 110 MPs. In Catalonia, another historical change has taken place: the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalists (CiU) have won in the Spanish elections for the first time. The Socialists lose 44% of their MPs in Catalonia, and their main candidate Carme Chacón, is in a bad position to lead the PSOE after Zapatero. The PP continues as Catalonia’s third party, despite an improvement in its results.

Catalonia is the only autonomous community where the Socialist Party has clearly won, but has lost around 35% of its MPs, according to the exit poll released by TV3. The People’s Party (PP) will remain Catalonia’s third biggest force, behind the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalists (CiU), who will increase their share by some 40%. The exit polls released at 20.00 CET, when the polls closed, indicate an absolute majority for the PP and an historical defeat for the Socialists throughout Spain. The PP will get between 181 and 185 MPs, when the absolute majority is 176 seats. The election day has been calm, with a lower turnout than in the 2008 elections, particularly in Catalonia.

Catalonia and the Basque Country might be the only Autonomous Communities in Spain without a victory for the People’s Party (PP). The Socialists are likely to win once again in Catalonia, but they risk loosing 40% of their seats. If they slump even further then they risk being overtaken by the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) or even the PP. A quiet electoral campaign has come to an end, with three main unknown answers: if the Socialist party will get its worst results over the past few decades, if they will also lose in their stronghold of Catalonia, and how the international financial markets will react in the coming days.

In Catalonia, the PP would get its best results in history, and could become the second most voted party in the territory, a position disputed with the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU). The Socialist Party, which has won the Spanish elections in Catalonia for the last 32 years, might still win, but it will be a close battle with the CiU and the PP. A major surprise in Catalonia cannot be completely ruled out. In any case, on the contrary to previous elections and as it seemed some weeks ago, votes in Catalonia might not change the final results and the PP’s absolute majority would not depend on its Catalan supports.

Next November 20th, Spaniards will vote for the new Spanish Parliament. They will elect one of the lists running in their province, which is their constituency. Catalans will thus elect the lists running in the four Catalan provinces. Therefore, they will not directly elect Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (PSOE) or Mariano Rajoy (PP), but their party candidates in Catalonia, as well as parties only running in Catalonia, such as the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) or the Catalan Green Socialist Coalition (ICV-EUiA).

According to polls, Catalonia might be essential to ensure the absolute majority to the People’s Party (PP) or to save the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) from getting its worst results ever. The Socialists risk loosing more than a third of its seats in Catalonia while the PP, far from winning in Catalonia, could get its best results. Catalan nationalists ‘Convergència i Unió’, who are the third largest group in the Spanish Parliament, could win the elections in Catalonia, ending the ten Socialist Party victories in a row in these elections.

Catalonia has a different political landscape than the rest of Spain, and it is where the People’s Party (PP) always gets its worst results. Polls indicate that in the next Spanish elections, the People’s Party will be very far from winning in Catalonia but it could get its best results winning between 12 and 14 seats. Looking to ensure an absolute majority in Spain, the PP’s leader Mariano Rajoy plans to better the party’s results in Catalonia and therefore decided to start the official campaign in a town from Barcelona Metropolitan Area.

The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment has stressed that the Government’s objective is to reduce unemployment by half by 2014. The plan foresees ten measures, with a special focus on the long-term unemployed. Some of the measures include incentives to SME companies to hire the long-term unemployed, collaborating with private temporary work agencies, enlarging the network of education classrooms and relocating staff from the Catalan Public Employment Service to provide job search council and other direct services.

The 3.7 billion euros may be increased to 4 billion euros depending on demand. After the first day, the offer of bonds raised “high interest” according to financial sources. Citizens will be allowed to buy a minimum quantity of 1,000 euros and a maximum of 2 million euros. The Government is issuing bonds that expire in one year at an interest rate of 4.75%, and others expiring in two years at an interest rate of 5.25%. The Catalan Finance Minister stated that this bond offer is “safe and attractive”. It is the third emission of retail bonds in the Catalan Government’s history. The current bond emission mainly aims to replace those from the first emission, which expire next November 21st.

The President of the Catalan Government, from the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist coalition CiU considered the statement “an important step” and stressed that they “are hoping for the terrorist group's total break up and the total abandonment of its weapons”. The Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party, ERC, asked the Spanish Government to quit its “ivory tower”, “as the United Kingdom did”, and “let the Basque and the Catalan peoples decide their future”. However, the Catalan Association of Terrorist Victims has criticised ETA’s announcement and said that it only hopes for ETA’s disappearance, but other individual victims have celebrated the news. ETA has killed more than 800 people, 50 of them in Catalonia.

The Basque terrorist group ETA announced this afternoon, minutes before 19h (CET), the “clear, firm and definitive purpose” to end “its armed activity” by sending a declaration to the Basque newspapers Gara and Berria, and to the BBC. Here we attached ETA’s statement sent to the BBC.

The European Commission has included the Mediterranean Railway Corridor for freight and passengers among the next EU transport priorities. The EU might pay between 10% and 20% of the construction costs if it is finished before 2030. The ports of Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia, Almería and Algeciras will become true European gateways to North Africa and Asia. In addition, high-speed trains will travel along the Spanish Mediterranean coast to France. Catalan politicians and business people have unanimously celebrated the good news but believe it comes too late and fear the Spanish Government could still prioritise other corridors. In fact, the EC also included other corridors, which pass through Madrid. Therefore Spain’s traditional radial model may still persist.

Andreu Mas-Colell, former Harvard Professor and the current Catalan Finance Minister, travelled to London to meet with financial representatives. The objective is to explain, first-hand, the Catalan Government’s austerity plans and its efforts to reduce the deficit and to foster the economic recovery. Mas-Colell met with City investors, banks and media, such as the ‘Financial Times’.

The Chairman of the EP’s Transport Committee, the British MEP Brian Simpson, has stated that building the Mediterranean Railway Corridor for freight and passengers is “absolutely imperative and crucial” for the European economy. On the contrary, the third corridor going through the Central Pyrenees, linking Zaragoza and Toulouse is “not-viable and not-needed”. “Drilling mountains is very very expensive”, he warned. The Mediterranean Railway Corridor would link Central and Northern Europe with Spain’s Mediterranean ports by international-width tracks. In addition, it would include a high-speed train service for passengers.

The Catalan President, Artur Mas, announced that he along with ministers, deputy ministers, and directors-general would not receive the Christmas bonus this year. The measure affects all the Catalan Government’s higher-ranked staff and is meant to send a message of austerity. 350 people will see their salary reduced, saving 1.8 million euros of public money. It is an answer to doctor and nursing unions, who had asked politicians to reduce their salaries. Last year, higher-ranked officials experienced a 15% salary cut.