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Spain's Opposition PP party wins 7 million votes compared to Socialists in government winning 6.3 million. PP party won an absolute majority in the Madrid area which means it does not depend on the far right Vox party. Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez and Socialist leader calls for a snap general election on July 23.

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Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez faces calls for resignation of his minority government after a corruption scandal involving the secretary of his Socialist Party Santos Cerdan. It involves kickbacks for government contracts. Sanchez is not said to be involved. The Partido Popular won the 2023 election but lacked a majority and was unable to form a government. Sanchez depends on the support of regional separatist parties in the Catalan region to remain prime minister. A recent rally in Madrid of the Popular Party was held to call for Sanchez's resignation.

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Pedro Sanchez is seen as pulling off a surprise in the recent Spanish snap election by increasing his Socialist workers party votes to 31.5% soon after losses in local elections. The Guardian looks at Pedro Sanchez and his career in leading the Socialist Workers Party since 2014. He is prime minister since 2018 and formed a coalition with Podemos which resulted in policies that gave Spaniards a welcome respite from inflation and the cost of living which is down to 1.9% in Spain. Spaniards were provided with monetary support and free public transportation during the pandemic years lessening the effects of that period and the cost of living crisis in Europe.

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Pedro Sanchez is attempting to form a new government in Spain with the support of Catalan parties. His Socialist party voted with 87% in favor of forming a new government with smaller parties without using the word amnesty for Catalans who protested in 2017 for independence. PSOE's organizational secretary Santos Leon says the party is determined to not let the opposition Partido Popular weaken the welfare state at a time of cost of living crisis and following the pandemic by coming to power at the federal level. In 2023 only 42% of Catalans want independence, 52% actually oppose it, making it easier to let Pedro Sanchez put this episode in Spanish history behind.

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Lilith Verstrynge, former party secretary of Podemos, and daughter of a Belgian politician, describes the rise and collapse of Podemos, a popular party in Spain in a coalition duringthe Covid years with the Socialist party in Spain led by Pedro Sanchez. A 31 year old who now teaches in Paris describes Podemos- a social movement based on online support and no organization under Pablo Iglesias which collapses in Spain by 2024. Podemos or translated into Spanish as "We Can" emerged from the 2009 banking speculation caused financial crisis and the years that followed with the Eurozone financial crisis which entangled the economies of Spain, Ireland, UK, Greece, and other nations in the European Union. As he crisis receded and with action taken under Pedro Sanchez's Socialist government in the areas of housing, support services, and the economy, as the economy improved the movement gradually fizzled out. Under Sanchez the Catalonian independence movement also receded with elections in Barcelona and Catalonia brining to power a socialist government. This period in Spanish political upheaval is described by Verstrynge in The Guardian, who retired from politics in her early 30's as a result. She says without any organizational structure to support such online movements once the initial surge in interest is passed there is no way to sustain it. ...

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Pedro Sanchez's efforts to defuse tensions over Catalonia and still form a government in Spain, without alienating Spanish voters following a tight election. Sanchez needs support from 24 of 25 members of parliament from separatist parties of Catalonia to reach the 176 he needs to form a government. Sanchez calls his efforts to reduce tensions between Barcelona and Madrid "dejudicializing" the process instead of "amnesty," and has been able to govern with support of other parties. In the July election his PSOE Socialist Workers Party was 1.4% percentage points behind the centrist Partido Popular. The PP leader Feijoo has failed to form a government and Sanchez will have a chance to form a government in October.

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The government of Pedro Sanchez has announced additional $10 billion in cost of living aid to take the total to $45 billion. It comes through reduced VAT and $200 one off payments to households making less than 27,000 euros a year. The government has been able to bring inflation down to 6.8%, lowest in the European Union, though food inflation is higher.

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Argentina faces severe inflation of over 70%. The central bank raised its main interest rate to 75% to rein in inflation. In December 2022 the International Monetary Fund approved $6 billion, in a 30 month program that is expected to reach a total of $44 billion. The government of Pedro Sanchez has announced additional $10 billion in cost of living aid to take the total to $45 billion. It comes through reduced VAT and $200 one off payments to households making less than 27,000 euros a year.

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Salvador Illa of the Socialist party, ally of prime minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain, wins 28% of the vote. with 42 seats his party is the largest in Catalan assembly. He will need 68 votes to form a majority government. It opens a new chapter in Catalonia after efforts to form an independent Catalonia by some parties. Socialist party PSC campaigned for amnesty for parties connected to Mr. Puigdemont and for investment in public services to improve the lives of all Catalans within Spain with respect for diversity of opinion.

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Spain lifts its state of emergency and reopens it borders after 13 weeks o coronavirus with 28,000 dead and 245,000 cases. Prime minister Pedro Sanchez said "we can all be a wall against the virus or the means of its transmission. It depends on each and every one of us." He said the government was building up its strategic reserve of essential products to cope with any potential second wave. Masks will continue to be mandatory in public spaces when physical distancing of 1.5 metres is not possible.

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Spain's 7 LNG terminals, its renewable energy projects, its ties with the Middle East and North Africa, make it a potential exporter of energy in Europe. Spain is too dependent on tourism. The Pedro Sanchez government plans to use 140 billion euros from the European Unions's Next Generation Fund for the green conversion of its economy. This includes reviving the Midi Catalonia project, a gas link between Spain and France. This pipeline would have a capacity of 7.5 billion cubic meters of gas in its first stage, one seventh of the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia that was shut down by Germany.

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Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez calls a snap election in Spain after the defeat of his minority government in a parliamentary budget vote. The Catalan party withdrew support leading to the collapse of the government. Twelve Catalan leaders are on trial in Madrid for arranging an independence referendum.

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President Macron of France tests positive for coronavirus on the morning of Dec. 17. He will now self isolate for 7 days. Leaders who he has met recently are the prime ministers of Spain Pedro Sanchez and Portugal Antonio Costa. He was seen embracing Antonio Costa. Mr. Macron was part of the tough negotiations for the European trillion dollar stimulus, for a recent all night EU negotiation, and involved in Brexit talks. He met with Charles Michel of the European Council and Ursula Leyen, head of the European Union. All or most of these leaders will now have to self isolate. Mr. Macron wore a mask during the entire period and was careful not to shake hands. 

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Spain's prime minister agrees to use of Catalan, Galician and Basque languages in parliament in return for support of JxCat pro Catalan party to form a future government. Spain's parliament voted 178 in favor and 169 against for use of these languages. About 9 million people in the region around Barcelona speak Catalan, 2 million in Galicia in the northwest speak Galician, and three quarter million speak Basque in the north. These languages were banned since the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship of General Franco. Pedro Sanchez's government is also seeking approval of these languages as official in the EU joining 24 official languages. For Spain this marks the beginning of a new period in which the Partido Popular whose leader Mr. Feijoo is from Galicia as was a former prime minister Mariano Rajoy from PP, and the governing Socialist Party, both approve the making of these languages official. 

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After recovering from the eurozone financial crisis Spain is recovering with low inflation of 1.8%, and growth of 2.4% in 2024, 2.1% in 2025, and unemployment at 11.2%. Even with high unemployment prime minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain sees new immigrant workers aiding higher growth and supporting pensions- Spain's tourism growth also supports this. “The contribution of migrant workers to our economy is fundamental, as is the sustainability of our social security system and pensions.” This makes Spain one of the only countries to continue supporting legal migration to the country- 250,000 are needed both in high skilled jobs in hospitality and construction, and "invisible" jobs in agriculture and other places. 1 million migrants will arrive each year till 2028. Spain will also give legal stats to 500,000 undocumented migrants mostly from Latin America including Venezuela's middle class. ...

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The Spanish election produced a better than expected result for the Sanchez government. This report in CSIS shows that after a brief period Spain is returning to dominance of the Party Popular or the Socialist Party, the two governing parties in Spain, with smaller parties doing poorly. Both the PP and the Socialist Party are vying for support of a majority of 176 seats with the help of smaller parties. The VOX did not do as well as expected and a PP VOX party government looks less likely says this report. Even if a government with Partido Popular is formed it will continue most of Spain's foreign policy of supporting NATO and the EU. Mr. Sanchez formed a new government in 2020.

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Spain's Mariano Rajoy loses a no confidence motion in parliament and resigns as prime minister in May 2018. He is replaced by Pedro Sanchez of the opposition Socialist Party. It has only 84 seats in the 350 member parliament making his government short lived and paving the way for new elections. Rajoy came in after the 2009 financial crisis assuming the prime minister position in 2011. He has governed throughout the period of the economic crisis and high unemployment in Spain during the eurozone debt crisis, the collapse of the housing boom, the banking bailout and austerity programs in Spain. Economic growth resumed gradually since 2013.

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The Spanish Supreme Court verdict giving jail sentences to 11 Catalan leaders for the part they played in pushing for independence of the Catalan region in 2017, has resulted in clashes of protesters with police. The socialist government of Pedro Sanchez faces elections on November 10, 2019.  The government faces the option of activating Article 155 of the Constitution suspending the state government for central rule from Madrid.  One of the problems Spain now faces is that there is no clear majority for independence with the region divided between people who prefer to remain in a united Spain and people who prefer Catalan independence. In a recent BBC Hardtalk this was brought up in questions put to the Catalan independent movement spokesperson. The support for independence has actually declined in recent years. The Guardian cites a Catalan government poll in July showing 48% of Catalans oppose independence and 44% support it. Independence is not supported by the EU and it is not clear whether Catalan economy would do better outside Spain, as some of the causes of the economic problems stem from the banking and housing crisis in Spain and overborrowing. Mr Sanchez on the Madrid side and the Republican Left on the Catalan side favor negotiations on economic issues raised by Catalan people. As a result there may be less support than previously for outright independence, particularly when it is realized that the economic issues come from mismanagement and corruption and that the new Spanish constitution was designed to give regions special rights after the Franco years.  ...

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This editorial in the Economist says Spain's economy has recovered to pre crisis levels by 2018 with growth at 3 percent. It says Spain had a bigger crisis than Italy and took stronger measures under prime minister Rajoy to fix problems in its banking system, address the housing crisis, and unemployment. Italy's steps by comparison were timid and faltering. Mr. Rajoy had his problems including corruption scandals in his party and a poor handling of the Catalan drive for independence. Yet Spain owes muchas gracias to Rajoy for his leadership in bringing Spain out of the housing and economic crisis, and for running the country for two and a half years after losing his majority in parliament.  Another difference with Italy is the generally favorable attitude to immigration for all parties. Of the newer parties Ciudadanos remains at the centre and the Podemos party remains to the left in politics, as part of the populist changes in Spain during the economic crisis. The new government of Pedro Sanchez has a positive attitude to immigrants and to women, with the largest number of women in the cabinet of any European country. ...

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Catalonia looks more like Scotland as the Socialists win just as Labour wins in Scotland in 2024. The separatist cloud over Spain and UK finally clears and the people become wiser to unscruplous politicians seeking to divide and exacerbate economic problems. Wilkinson of The Times looks at the period 1980-2003 when Jordi Pujol ran the state of Catalonia in the years following the 1975 return to democracy from Franco's dictatorship. Jordi Pujol confessed to $11 million in embezzlement with Andorran bank accounts a decade back. Some reports say $290 million. This report looks at views in Spain that the shift to Catalan nationalism under his successor Arturo Mas was an effort to keep his party in power by appealing to nationalist sentiment. This led to the 2007 independence referendum, and shows how fickle public opinion can be, how it can be moved in different directions to the detriment of the people, the local region and the country by unscruplous politicians. In May of 2024 sentiment in Catalonia shifted as shown in the adjoining article from The Times. The Socialist party of Pedro Sanchez and its leader in Catalonia Salvador Illa became the largest party in the May 2024 elections. The separatist party of Pujol and Puigdemont winning only 39% of the vote.  Pujol is being rehabilitated, the Catalan independence movement having run its course and dissipated, the best course for Sanchez and Spain and the People's Party opposition in Madrid being to close this chapter, as the Catalan people become wiser.   ...