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Inside Spain 81 (20 July- 26 September 2011)

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Inside Spain 81 (20 July- 26 September 2011) Inside Spain 81 (20 July- 26 September 2011) William Chislett Foreign Policy Popular Party Begins to Spell Out its Foreign Policy A future government of the Popular Party (PP) would not seek to change the EU’s common position on Cuba if, as expected, it wins the early general election on 20 November, as the present Socialist government unsuccessfully tried to do, and might revise the calendar for withdrawing Spain’s peacekeeping troops from Afghanistan, due to begin during the first half of 2014. These are some of the elements of PP’s foreign policy, as spelled out by Jorge Moragas, the party’s foreign policy coordinator and head of the office of Mariano Rajoy, the PP’s leader, in an interview with El País. The EU’s stance on Cuba was largely engineered by the PP’s José María Aznar, the former Prime Minister, and dates back to 1996. It demands that Cuba makes progress on democracy and human rights before any full normalisation of ties. Moragas, who was expelled from Cuba on his arrival in October 2004 after he had announced he would show his support for Cuban dissidents, said the economic reforms made were ‘timid’ and nothing had been done on the political front. The Socialist government played a leading role in the release of prisoners earlier this year when it airlifted 37 prisoners and 209 members of their families to Madrid, concluding the agreement reached in the summer of 2010 with Havana and the Roman Catholic Church there. The total number freed and flown to Spain was 115 prisoners and 647 family members. Moragas said there were no plans to recognise the independence of Kosovo. Spain is one of five EU countries that rejected a joint EU decision on Kosovo’s status, acquired in 2008. On Gibraltar, the only overseas territory that is part of Europe and which has long been claimed by Spain from the UK, Moragas said the tripartite forum between London, Madrid and the Rock, established in 2004 to achieve cooperation in various issues, was of little benefit to Spain. ‘We reserve the right to fundamentally review that format which has only served to allow the Chief Minister of Gibraltar to pose sovereignty questions which he has no powers to do under international law‘. The latest Transatlantic Trends survey, conducted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and regarded as the pre-eminent source of US and European public opinion on a host of transatlantic issues, showed that Spaniards have the lowest level of support (39%) for their government’s foreign policy among the 14 countries surveyed (see Figure 1). The highest approval rate was in Sweden (74%) and the average for the EU-12 was 54%. 1 Figure 1. Approval of the way Governments are Handling International Policies (% of respondents) Approve Disapprove Refusal EU-12 54 42 4 US 50 44 7 France 54 45 2 Germany 65 32 3 Italy 47 49 4 Spain 39 57 4 UK 55 38 6 Source: Transatlantic Trends, 2011. Foreign Minister Moots Recognition of a Palestine State, Angers Israel Trinidad Jiménez, Spain’s Foreign Minister, angered Israel when she said that EU countries should ‘move forward with recognition of the state of Palestine’ as failure to give such a sign could generate ‘a great deal of frustration among Palestinians’. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, asked the United Nations General Assembly on 23 September to recognise an independent state for his people when he submitted a request for full UN membership. If the issue goes to the UN Security Council, after a vote in the assembly, the US said it would use its veto to block the move. Jiménez’s remarks in an interview with El País resulted in the head of the European section of Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoning the Spanish ambassador in Tel Aviv, Álvaro Iranzo, to relay his displeasure. This was followed by a visit to Madrid of Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Daniel Ayalon, for a meeting with Jiménez. She told the UN assembly Palestine should first be given observer status. Jorge Moragas, the coordinator of foreign policy for the conservative Popular Party (PP), said full UN membership would ‘weaken the peace process’. Madrid Reopens Embassy in Libya The government reopened the embassy in Tripoli, which was closed in March when Madrid evacuated staff because of the uprising against Colonel Gaddafi. José Riera, the Spanish government’s representative since May before the National Transitional Council, based in Bengasi, moved to the Libyan capital as Ambassador. The Transatlantic Trends survey showed that 69% of Spaniards are in favour of promoting democracy in North Africa and the Middle East even if it leads to periods of instability, compared with an EU-12 average of 61% (see Figure 2). Only 34% of Spaniards, however, are optimistic about stabilising the situation in Libya, below the EU-12 average of 39%. 2 Figure 2. Democracy should be Promoted in North Africa and the Middle East even if it Leads to Instability (% of respondents) % of respondents EU-12 61 US 45 France 76 Germany 60 Italy 75 Spain 69 UK 53 Domestic Scene Zapatero Calls Early Elections Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who had vowed to see out his term in office until March 2012, called an early general election for 20 November. Rodríguez Zapatero had already announced that he would not seek a third term in office. The Socialists’ candidate is Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the Deputy Prime Minister, who, according to all opinion polls, will lose to Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP). Rajoy, who had repeatedly called for an early election, lost the last two elections in 2008 and 2004. The only doubt appears to be whether the PP will win an absolute majority. A voting- intentions poll conducted by Metroscopia and published on 12 September gave the PP a lead of 14 percentage points over the Socialists (44.8% vs. 30.7%). This would give the PP an absolute majority in parliament, something the Socialists do not enjoy at the moment (see Figure 3). Figure 3. Results of General Elections, 2008 and 2004 (seats, millions of votes and %) 2008 2004 Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Socialists 169 11.06 43.64 164 11.02 42.59 Popular Party 153 10.16 40.12 148 9.76 37.71 Convergence & Union (Catalan) 11 0.77 3.05 10 0.83 3.23 Basque Nationalist Party 6 0.30 1.20 7 0.42 1.63 Catalan Republican Left 3 0.29 1.17 8 0.65 2.52 United Left 2 0.96 3.8 5 1.28 4.96 Galician National Bloc 2 0.20 0.82 2 0.20 0.81 CC-PNC (Canary Islands) 2 0.16 0.65 3 0.23 0.91 Progress and Democratic Union 1 0.30 1.2 – – – Na-Bai (Navarra) 1 0.06 0.24 1 0.06 0.24 Source: Interior Ministry. Rubalcaba and Rajoy began to draw up their electoral programmes. While the Socialists re-introduced a wealth tax, which was abolished in 2008 (see the next section), the PP pressed for a reform of the whole tax system. Esteban González Pons, the spokesman for the PP, said a future PP government would aim to create 3.5 million jobs in four years. The PP’s campaign slogan ‘Empieza el cambio’ (Change is beginning) echoes the Socialists’ slogan in 1982 of ‘Por el cambio’ (For change) when they won a sweeping victory. 3 Curb on Rumanian Workers as Unemployment Remains High The government re-imposed work permits on Rumanians in a bid to stem the flow of people from that country at a time when Spain’s unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at more than 20%. Spain lifted the restrictions on Rumania, which joined the EU in 2007, in 2009, while France, the UK, Germany and Italy, among other countries, kept work permit requirements. EU members are allowed to keep labour market restrictions on citizens from new member states for up to seven years. Madrid reversed its decision under a ‘safeguard clause’ and became the first EU country to reintroduce work permits after liberalising its labour market. The restrictions will remain in place until the end of 2012. ‘The European Commission understands why, at this particular juncture –because of the dramatic employment situation and the very complex financial environment– the Spanish authorities wish to step back from full free movement’, said Laszlo Andor, the EU Employment Commissioner. Spain’s stated rate of joblessness is 21%, the highest figure in a euro-zone country since the single currency was adopted in 1999 and double the EU average. The unemployment rate for Rumanians, 864,278 of whom live in Spain (the largest foreign community), according to the latest official figure, is 30%. Many lost their jobs in the collapse of the construction sector. The restrictions, as of 11 August, do not affect Rumanians already working in Spain. The measure will be very difficult to police because Rumanians are still allowed to come and live in Spain. However, it sends a clear signal to Rumanians in their own country of the dismal employment prospects in Spain and could deter new arrivals. In the year to March 2011, 89,000 Rumanians left for Spain, according to Rumanian Foreign Ministry estimates. Trade unions said the restrictions would drive Rumanians wishing to be employed into the unofficial economy. Spain’s Population Falls for the First Time since 2002 The arrival of fewer immigrants and the increased number of people emigrating resulted in the first fall in the population since 2002, according to estimates by the National Statistics Office (INE).
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