ON THE morning of May 7th about 300 members of Spain’s Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) gathered in a conference hall on the site of Zaragoza’s international exhibition of 2008, across the river Ebro from the city centre. The bleak expo park with its abandoned cable car has seen better days. So has the PSOE. The party faithful were gathered to listen to Susana Díaz (pictured), the narrow favourite in a primary to elect the Socialists’ leader on May 21st. Her message, delivered in an Andalucian accent and the crescendos of an old-fashioned tub-thumper, was that she alone could unite her party “so that the PSOE becomes an alternative government again”.
That will be no small task. After governing Spain for 22 of the 29 years to 2011, the Socialists have lost the past three general elections. Unlucky enough to find themselves in power, under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, when Spain’s housing and credit bubble burst in 2008, they were obliged to take unpopular measures. Since...Continue reading
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