Voters turn out
in Spain
Spanish voters went to the polls on
April 28 in the country’s third general
election in four years. As Soltalk went to
press, the Partido Popular (PP) was
losing ground to the socialist PSOE
party which was expected to take the
largest share of the votes, but not
enough to give it an absolute majority
in parliament. However, around 40 per
cent of the electorate at that time
declared themselves to be undecided.
The socialists seized power last
summer after a series of scandals hit
the PP government of Mariano Rajoy
leading to its defeat in a No Confidence
motion. The new prime minister,
PSOE leader Pablo Sánchez, led a
minority administration until February
when he failed to get his budget –
which he described as “the most
socially-friendly in history” - through
parliament, forcing him to call the
election. All 350 seats in Congress and
208 of the 266 seats in the Senate, the
Spanish parliament’s upper house,
were up for grabs.
The campaigning ahead of polling day
was described as one of the most
aggressive ever. The PP and
Ciudadanos predicted doom and
gloom, and warned of the “dangers” of
voting for the PSOE, referring to the
socialists as “secessionist’ who are
“threatening the unity of Spain.”
Podemos, in coalition with Izquierda
Unida and running as Unidos
Podemos, continued to urge voters to
reject “the establishment” or the
“Caste” as leader Pablo Iglesias refers to
the PP and PSOE.
Far-right group VOX, which won its
first seats ever in Andalucía’s early
regional election in December,
declared it had already won because,
“you can’t put the genie back in the
bottle.” A recent survey suggest 54% of
Spanish voters would never vote for
VOX and its ultra-right policies which
include restricting immigration and
controlling immigrants rights,
scrapping the equality rights of
women, homosexuals, bisexuals and
transgender people, and campaigning
against abortion. VOX was banned
from a TV debate between party
representatives by the Electoral
Soldier detained
Commission who said its involvement
would not be “proportional” as it has
not yet won any seats nationally.
As Spanish nationals prepared to vote,
pundits were predicting that a coalition
between the PSOE and Podemos would
probably return Sánchez to power.
However, another possibility being
suggested was a possible right-wing
coalition of the PP, Vox and
Ciudadanos plus the pro-secession
parties in Cataluña. No doubt the
wrangling will continue well into May.
An off-duty British service woman was
arrested in Magaluf last month
suspected of using a broken glass to
attack her best friend in a nightclub.
Sarah Garrity, aged 22 from
Middlebrough, was found with a neck
injury and admitted to intensive care.
The suspect, Sydney Cole, 19, from
London, appeared in court in Palma on
April 15 and was later released after
Garrity declined to press charges. The
investigation continues.
Motorway thieves
Many of those not permitted to vote
on April 28 will have their chance to
cast a ballot at the end of this month.
Spain will stage municipal and
European elections, plus some regional
elections, on May 26. Six men from Serbia and Kosovo have
been detained in a huge police
operation against attacks on tourist
vehicles on the AP-7 motorway on
Spain’s east coast. CCTV footage shows
gang members slashing tyres of cars
driven by foreign holidaymakers and
then stealing valuables when the driver
stopped to investigate the puncture.
Investigators last month recovered
more than €50,000 in stolen property.
Spanish support Raider detained
The Spanish Royal Household sent a
message of support to France following
last month’s fire at Notre Dame in
Paris saying it was confident the
cathedral would “rise from its ashes.”
Meanwhile, Madrid has ordered an
immediate health check on Spain’s
main monuments. Culture Minister
José Guirão said the most potentially
dangerous element is old electrical
installations. US authorities have arrested a former
US Marine who is allegedly part of a
group that raided North Korea’s
embassy in Madrid during February. He
has been identified as Christopher Ahn
while a human rights group, Free
Joseon, has claimed to have been
involved. During the incident several
embassy staff were held hostage and
data taken from stolen computers have
allegedly passed to the American
authorities.
Toddler’s death
Boyfriend summoned
The final report on the death of a
toddler who fell 72 metres down a
narrow bore hole on January 13 has
concluded the two-year-old died
immediately from head injuries
sustained in the fall. A difficult rescue
operation at a farm in Totalán finally
recovered his body almost a fortnight
later. Last month’s definitive post-
mortem statement came as an
investigation into possible criminal
liability for the tragedy continues. The German boyfriend of a 28-year-old
British woman whose body was found
in the sea off Tenerife in December is
under investigation. Amy Gerard
trained whales at the Loro Parque
marine theme park on the island and
disappeared after a night out with
friends on November 30. Last month, a
secrecy order on the case was lifted and
it became known that Dennis Kissling
had been summoned to give evidence.
Terror suspect Team arrest
A suspected terrorist, arrested in
Casablanca last month, is the 23-year-
old son of an the imam at a mosque in
Sevilla. Zouhair al Bouhdidi has been
accused by Moroccan authorities of
preparing to stage a terrorist attack.
Spanish anti-terrorism sources claimed
this was to have been in Andalucía and
the suspected jihadist was awaiting
instructions from IS. A group of 25 British football players
was arrested when their flight touched
down at Alicante on April 6. The
amateur soccer team was reportedly
drunk and had acted “aggressively and
defiantly” during the journey from
Bristol. As they were marched off the
aircraft by Guardia Civil and security
officers, other passengers cheered and
clapped.
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