Jason Moore02/08/2016 00:00
TW
1

I think the time has come for Spain´s political parties to grow up and think of the national interest. At the moment Spain is facing its third general election - a nightmare scenario. The four parties: the centre-right Partido Popular, the overall winner in both polls but without securing a majority; the opposition PSOE, who came second; Podemos (third); and Ciudadanos, who came a distant fourth.

Spain needs a government and it can't continue holding elections. I suspect that the gridlock will never be broken. The PP will win but without a majority, and PSOE will be unable to form a coalition. So probably the best solution is for the PP and PSOE to join forces in a grand coalition in the interests of Spain. This state of affairs can't continue.

Let us remember that a coalition government was successful in Britain, even though the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had very different election programmes.

Mariano Rajoy of the PP is deeply unpopular with his left-wing rivals. There is no easy solution to the political deadlock but the situation needs to be resolved and resolved soon. It is almost laughable to think that Spain hasn't had a government in the last seven months. In fact one Spaniard remarked to me that Spain perhaps works better without a government because the economy continues to prosper.