The Last Election Debate

At least one can say that Spanish politicians are willing to subject themselves to trial by TV debate. Brown and Cameron, no, no, no, that would never do. Last night was the final live slanging match between Mr Bean and Mr Beard, otherwise known as the Señores Zapatero and Rajoy, prior to the general election on 9 March. What a craic it was, too. Both of them calling each other liars. Excellent sport. The general consensus was that current president, Zapatero, won by a fall and a submission, Rajoy stumbling over his immigration policies.

If you are not aware, Sr. Rajoy (Partido Popular) has said there will be this immigration integration thing if the PP get in. On the surface, it sounds remarkably similar to much of what is spoken about in the UK - learning the language and committing to the country and such like. The problem for Rajoy has been that it seems discriminatory as he appears to have in mind people from Africa. As a consequence, he has been accused of racism. While his policy may play well with some of the electorate, it could be his undoing this time round.

The two main parties, the PP and the ruling socialists, the PSOE, are quite close in the polls, the PSOE with a slight advantage, and this despite the parlous economic news at present. In Majorca, the PP is usually pretty strong, but even here the party does not seem to be exactly galloping away from the PSOE. The bets are on Zapatero winning again.

Rajoy hasn't endeared himself to the local electorate by stating that Castilian will become THE language of education under the PP; at present, schooling is undertaken in Catalan. He also came out with some pretty daft stuff about climate change, questioning the whole thing and basing his argument on the opinion of his cousin who works in the physics department of Seville University. Maybe the cousin is an expert, but for a politician who would be president to drum up this source is a bit weak, to say the least. It's not as bad as quoting the bloke in the bar who reckons the world will end in 2010, but it's not much better. The fact is that climate change threatens Majorca significantly. The island lies at 40 degrees latitude which, apparently, is where the effects of climate change can be expected to be most dramatic.

The "Financial Times" has summed the two contenders up quite well. Zapatero has not been that inspiring as a leader and Rajoy has not cast off the shadow of his predecessor Jose Maria Aznar. In 2004 when Zapatero won unexpectedly, both he and Rajoy look bewildered: Zapatero because he didn't seem to know quite what to do and Rajoy because he was the anointed successor who suffered something of a Portillo moment. Zapatero, for all that he may not be inspirational, is generally regarded as a decent enough bloke. Rajoy? It's that beard.

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