Snap General Election
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called a snap general election this morning .. to be held on April 28, potentially spelling months of uncertainty in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy.
Sanchez called the election after parliament voted down his minority government’s budget bill.
The demise of his Socialist government comes after just over eight months in office.
Opinion polls show that no single party would win enough votes to govern on its own, with possible coalition scenarios pointing to lengthy negotiations between three or more parties – potentially including the far-right Vox.
Sanchez took office in June and had since been leading a government that depended on the votes of small regional parties to pass legislation.
The Socialists are leading in polls, with estimates from the last few months averaging at 24 percent, according to a poll of polls by daily El Pais.
But the conservative’s People Party and centre-right Ciudadanos would not be far behind and could theoretically form a coalition with Vox, as they did in the Andalusia region in December.
But Ciudadanos might prefer a three-way alliance with the Socialists and anti-austerity Podemos.
Employment
The head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde said Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece should fight high youth unemployment levels with labour market reforms, less bureaucracy and investment in innovation,
Speaking in Germany yesterday she said the structural reforms, with backing from the European Union, were needed to ensure that incomes in poorer members of the bloc catch up with their richer neighbours.
Successful convergence would help the bloc weather a storm taking shape in the form of populist parties that are opposed to the EU, discord over immigration policy and pressure on the global trading order, she said.
Meanwhile
SPAIN has the highest proportion of people employed for six months or less compared with other European countries, according to the UN’s work agency which said such contracts harm workers.
EU figures show around 60 per cent of Spanish temporary contracts in 2017 employed workers for six months or less. Germany had the lowest amount at about 10 per cent.
More than 85 per cent of Spanish workers on temporary contracts were in that situation because they were unable to find full time jobs, the report added. Around 85 per cent of temporary staff in Germany worked on those terms by choice.
Scammers Arrested
THE alleged mastermind behind a €5 million real estate scam in Mallorca has been arrested in Colombia followed by the round-up of 11 suspected accomplices.
The Guardia Civil confirmed it’s frozen 98 bank accounts and taken control of 38 properties owned by the criminal organisation involved in the fraudulent sale of non-existent off-plan homes.
Carlos Garcia Roldan and the other suspected members of the ‘firm’ are believed to have swindled more than 300 expatriates, offering 21 different large scale promotions on the Island.
The houses were offered at lower prices and buyers were asked to give at least 10 per cent in advance. Some victims paid as much as €200,000.