The economy

"The majority of the new jobs you have created are short contract-low paid jobs and if you have walked around Palma you would have noticed that the queues outside the soup kitchens continue to grow." These were some of the allegations levelled at the Partido Popular candidate, Mateu Isern, standing for the Balearics in this weekend’s Spanish elections. And I must say that the allegations do ring true and cast a question mark over claims by the Partido Popular that they have pulled off an economic miracle and deserve to be re-elected. The principal candidates standing for all the parties came together on Wednesday night for an very interesting debate on the local TV station, IB3. The Partido Popular are pushing their economic credentials in the election campaign, but it was clear in the local debate that many believe that Spain has still not left the economic recession, while the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow and the so-called middle class have been heavily penalised with higher taxes. I would say that Isern, a former mayor of Palma, was on the ropes for most of the night. The biggest problem faced by the Partido Popular is that, while in financial and economic circles the Spanish government has been praised for their economic record, the feelgood factor has still not reached many Spanish households. Wages have been falling and the number of young Spaniards moving abroad in search of employment continues to grow.