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SPANISH PRIME MINISTER Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists have won snap elections without the necessary majority to govern solo in a fragmented political landscape marked by the far-right’s entry into parliament.
The results raise the spectre of another period of instability for Spain, with Sanchez depending on alliances with hostile rivals in an environment that has soured since Catalonia’s failed secession bid in 2017.
A significant development was the rise of the ultra-nationalist Vox party, which garnered just over 10% of the vote in a country that has had no far-right party to speak of since the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.
Sanchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE) got 123 lawmakers out of 350, or close to 29% of votes – short of an absolute majority but much better than the 85 seats it got in 2016.
“The Socialists have won the general election and with it the future has won and the past has lost,” he told cheering supporters from the balcony of the party’s headquarters in Madrid, claiming victory late last night.
The big loser was the conservative Popular Party, which bagged 66 seats compared to 137 in the previous election that saw it govern Spain with a minority government.
Possible alliances
Sanchez, who came to power in June after ousting conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote, could seek to forge alliances with far-left Podemos and smaller groupings like Catalan separatist parties, as he had done over the past 10 months.
He could also try to cosy up to centre-right Ciudadanos, which won 57 seats. Together, they would form an absolute majority but voters from both parties would likely frown on such a move.
“I hope Sanchez won’t reach an agreement with Ciudadanos, I want a left-wing government,” 51-year-old Esther Lopez, said at the Socialist Party headquarters, wearing earrings marked “PSOE.”
Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera, built his campaign on disparaging Sanchez, criticising his attempts to negotiate with Catalan separatist parties in a bid to ease a secession crisis in the northeastern region.
In an editorial, Madrid daily El Mundo called on Sanchez to “reach out to Rivera and consider forming a moderate government – which would undoubtedly go down well in Europe – to ensure the stability” of the country.
Far-right emergence
The crisis in Catalonia was what fuelled Vox’s meteoric rise from the outer margins of politics to the national scene, after gaining nearly 11% of votes in December regional polls in southern Andalusia.
Founded by Santiago Abascal, a disgruntled former PP member, it will now take 24 seats in the national parliament.
This is less than what opinion polls had predicted.
“I thought Vox would get way more votes, with this result Vox won’t have any weight in parliament as no one supports them. We needed more seats,” said Maria Bonilla Ortega, a 22-year-old philosophy student in central Madrid, a Spanish flag draped around her shoulders.
Abascal was more optimistic: “We can tell Spain with complete calm that Vox has come to stay,” he told cheering supporters.
After a tense campaign, voter turnout was high at 75.76%, up from 66.48% in 2016, election authorities said.
Catalonia shadow
With a strong stance against feminism and illegal immigration, Vox stood out with ultra-nationalist rhetoric advocating the “defence of the Spanish nation to the end” and a hard line against separatists in Catalonia.
The region in northeastern Spain was the scene of a secession attempt in 2017 that sparked the country’s biggest political crisis in decades and caused major concern in Europe.
The issue has continued to cast a pall over Spanish politics.
Sanchez was forced to call Sunday’s elections after Catalan pro-independence lawmakers in the national parliament, angered at the trial of their leaders in Madrid, refused to give him the support he needed for his 2019 budget.
Right-wing parties for their part lambasted Sanchez, at the head of a minority government, for talking with separatists who still govern the region, accusing him of cosying up to those who tried to break up Spain.
That controversy is likely to continue as two Catalan separatist parties gained even more lawmakers in the national parliament than they did in 2016 – up to 22 from 17.
The five separatists elected are in jail and currently being tried at Spain’s Supreme Court.
In a sign of the impact the crisis had on voters, Dolores Palomo, a 48-year-old domestic worker, said she had always voted for the socialists but cast her ballot for Ciudadanos this time at a polling station in Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona.
The reason? Sanchez “is a puppet of the separatists,” she said.
I hope they never get that plane into service again. Its clearly badly designed and flawed. I fell that safety has not been prioritised by Boeing and its too late now for this plane. Scrap it and re design a proper safe airplane.
@Phillip Farrell: who in their rite mind would board it !
@Andrew O Grady: Anyone flying Ryanair whenever they’re delivered
@Phillip Farrell: In fairness, this wouldn’t be a design problem but quality control/staff briefings/shortcuts. But still doesn’t give me confidence.
@Phillip Farrell: feel
@Andrew O Grady: right
@Andrew O Grady: I’d happily board it once it’s been given the all clear. This plane is a game changer in the aviation business. Boeing have actually inadvertently made air travel even safer. The mistakes made in the computer software on the Max has ensured that the bar regarding safety has increased substantially.
@james dimaggio: Agree, but judging by this latest issue now the production line seems to have problems.
@james dimaggio:
Same.
The thing is, this has all happened before in the last with planes we’re all using today.
@james dimaggio: fair play to you but not one for me !
@Dean: good point dean. I think Oleary dropping the ball here. There’s a ton of people who’ll fly with a different airline, pay more for it to just not board this plane.
I think it’s time Ryanair tore up their contract with Boeing and use airbus.they are better safer and keeps jobs in Europe building airbus
@nicknack: Boeing have a better safety record than Airbus. They also have a lot more aircraft in the sky. Aside from the 737 MAX what other Boeing aircraft can you advise against flying in?
@mcdb06: the 787 didn’t go smoothly either. Although those issues were resolved pretty quickly. I also seem to recall a number of issues with the A380 when it was released. Didn’t Quantas ground it’s fleet?
@mcdb06: hahaha yes aside from this model of boeing plane that staff were warning wasn’t safe – ended up crashing killing hundreds of innocent civilians – skimped on safety by using printed manuals and offering the tech update for pilots at extra cost to airlines – can you give @mcdb06 some more specific models from the boeing company ??? because he is having a hard time understanding why people might be skeptical or concerned about Boeing after this clusterf*** by the US aircraft maker.
@Dave Hammond: So you cant give me examples aside from the 737 MAX that would make you think Boeing have a poor safety record? What about other 737 variants? Or 747? Or 757? Or 767? Or 777? The 787 had issues with batteries which have since been rectified. Care to enlighten me?
@nicknack: that’s not going to happen. Ryanair have ordered 135 of them. Instead Ryanair plan to rebrand them .. they are going to refer the Plane when it’s finally certified to fly as Boeing 737-8200. You will see no mention of “737 MAX”… IAG who own BA & Iberia & Aer Lingus have ordered 200 planes they also intend to rebrand ….
In fact Donald Trump himself , the King of Branding for such pigs in poke as Trump University , Trump Airlines etc … suggested this idea via a tweet in April 2019 ….
Boeing 737Max was the fastest selling commercial plane ever , and secured 5000 orders before it was grounded..so it’s going to be very difficult for them to scrap it ..
but after it re-enters service….Airlines are going struggle to get people to fly on it for a year or two !!
@mcdb06: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/boeing-737-max-foreign-object-debris-found-stored-planes-2020-2 Same issue on the 787 Dreamliner production line. They obviously didn’t learn anything.
@mcdb06: the 738 classic lost about 3 planes to rudder hard over and nearly lost 2 more to it too. With a flaw in the design of the rudder pcu.
They tried to cover that up too but only for a father who lost a child on one of the flights dug deeper than the the ntsb investigators
@Todd Unctuous: 737 classic*
@mcdb06: enlighten you ? Why would I bother to try ? You want to go on some merry dance setting up a false equivalence about other models – maybe you should go and familiarise yourself with the details that have emerged from boeing internal emails among its own staff – there is clearly a cultural problem in the organisation – they were disgracefully trying to basically monetise safety features like having the ops manual available in easy to use formats for extra cost – so spare me the bullshi8t about other models – the problems of confidence and trust are well documented -trying to distract from their shambolic management in some lame attempt to spin or excuse boeing shoddy behaviour -especially when it led to hundreds of deaths – who do you think you are.
@Dave Hammond: Spare me the mock outrage. The fact is you’ve shown you haven’t a clue what you’re talking about. The 737 MAX variant has been a shambles. But aside from that Boeing have produced some the safest, most reliable and longest serving passenger aircraft in the world. You make a sweeping statement about it being a company that only cares about money. So why does it have such a good record for the last 60 years? Muppet
Scrap them for metal at this stage!
Banks to give $10bn bailout to Boeing, nothing to the families of the dead
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/23/boei-j23.html
@PV Nevin: insurance companies will pay to the dead, not the banks.
@Jim Buckley Barrett:
I think they already have
Just deserts those people arent around anymore cause boeing cut corners
@Matthew O’Kane ☘️✊#BERNIEBEATSTRUMP: unlike yourself!
@Matthew O’Kane: are you just trying to get exposure for your fantasy hashtag?
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: here now its just a hashtag
@Matthew O’Kane: Multiple accounts now?
Ultimately it is greed that has brought Boeing down. They had a good reputation and produced some cracking safe planes but this whole 737 max fiasco stinks of greed and cost cutting. If these are ever released, I will not fly on one and yes I understand Ryanair will probably be flying them.
Amazing how far Boeing have fallen (no pun intended). Once the leading manufacturer of planes in the world to what is essentially a toxic brand.
@wondery have a great pot cast in their business wars series that tells the story of Boeing vs airbus from the beginning right up to last year. Highly recommend it.
More woe for Boeing? Morelike woe for anyone flying on a Boeing plane!
Scary & several problem Boeing 737
@Brian Flavin: The 737 MAX is only one variant of the 737 which has been around for decades. The 737 has been one of the most reliable aircraft in history.
People have short memories. Earlier variants of the B737 (200 and 300 series) had a rudder actuator issue which led to the loss of 5 aircraft (317 deaths) and 3 serious incidents before Boeing came up with a fix.
@Mark Healy: the 737-200 was introduced in the 1960s. They’ve clearly solved the issues and improved the aircraft in subsequent variants. It would hardly be flying in any capacity if it was a fundamentally flawed aircraft
Now that I check, I see rudder issue actually applied to all variants. The directive in 2007 involved the installation of a redesigned control system to all of the 737 fleet. Yes, they have an excellent safety record, and I’ve no problem flying in one, but not flawless.
That’s some debris….tools or rags left behind in fuel tanks. Never heard the like of it!
Famous second-hand car dealer Arthur Daley used recommend inserting an oil rag to keep a rattling gear box quite, at least until cheque was cashed.
Once again a huge corporation has treated regulators and the wider population with contempt all to make quick money, they duped the FAA into thinking this plane was safe and look what it has cost them, lives lost, company running into trouble, employees and 3rd party contractors facing job losses. This plane would have revolutionized air travel if it had of been done properly, the whole organisation needs to be restructured, this was just not good enough and with the release of all those emails via the Fed Committee it just shows how toxic Boeing are
I say a prayer everytime I book a flight that the plane is not a Boeing! Profit over safety seems to be their driving force
The Daily podcast on Boeing is terrifying. Whistleblower staff being reassigned off the production line after reporting exactly this – loose dangerous debris, in the electrics in the belly of the plane too. The company knows and is rushing to hit deadlines. People should be charged. Crazy scary stuff.
That’s where I left my socket set.. fack anyway
737 Max is a deeply flawed airframe that is attempting to use fighter aircraft technology to stabilize it’s instability ~~ I would not get on one !
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