Spain anti-austerity party leads in opinion poll
A recent survey shows that Spain’s anti-austerity party Podemos is leading public opinion just ahead of regional snap elections.
The survey, conducted by Spanish daily El País, showed that the left-wing party is ahead with at least 28 percent of the votes while the ruling People’s Party is lagging behind with 19 percent.
Podemos, founded by Pablo Iglesias in 2014, is taking root in Spain, where the unemployment rate is nearly 24 percent.
This comes following the key victory of the anti-austerity Syriza party in Greece.
Last Thursday, Iglesias was a guest of honor at one of Syriza’s meetings.
“Change in Greece is called Syriza, change in Spain is called Podemos,” he said, adding, “Hope is coming. Onwards to victory with Syriza-Podemos.”
Since its creation last year, Podemos has rocketed to a leading position in polls.
Spain is one of the European countries that received bailout funds from the International Monetary Fund and the EU. In return for the loans, the Spanish government has had to enforce unpopular austerity measures. Madrid and other major cities across the country have been the scene of mass protests against such measures. But the government has remained adamant saying that reforms and austerity measures are needed to weather the crisis.
In another development, the president of the regional government in the Spanish region of Andalusia is set to announce snap elections later on Sunday. The late-May elections will be held at a time when anti-austerity sentiment is rising nationwide.
Unemployment in Spain, despite a recovering economy, remains at 23.7 per cent.
JR/HJL/HRB
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