Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

ELE

Ciudadanos gains as Podemos wanes

The latest poll shows that newest political party, Ciudadanos – Citizens – which expanded from a regional Catalan party to a nationwide force early this year is now more popular than Podemos.

Published: 27 April 2015 17:01 CEST

Ciudadanos gains as Podemos wanes

Albert Rivera, leader of Ciudadanos. Photo: AFP

Support for Podemos, led by pony-tailed former political science lecturer, Pablo Iglesias, has plateaued after a meteoric rise since being founded in January 2014.

The anti-austerity party has seen support fall from 23.4 percent in March to 17.9 percent in April.

It’s once seemingly unstoppable surge has been checked by the centrist party of Albert Rivera who have jumped on the bandwagon of change yet offer a less than radical alternative to the traditional parties with its more liberal economic line.

The survey byMyWord Institute for Cadena Ser showed that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's PP were still on top with 22 percent of voting intentions.

The Socialist party (PSOE) came a close second with 21 percent followed by Ciudadanos with 19.4 percent and Podemos trailing with 17.9 percent.

The survey reinforces the dramatic transformation in Spain's political scene which has changed from the traditional two party contest to a four-horse race.

If the survey is reliable it will mean that no party will be in a strong enough position to form a government after the general election – which will be called before the end of 2015.

But the first test will be at the end of next month when voters go to the polls in municipal elections.

Commentators suggest that an alliance could be formed between the PP and the Ciudadanos while others see Podemos and PSOE as potential bedfellows.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Spain's basic income scheme hits backlog dead-end

Red Cross volunteers bring food packages to elderly and low income people. Photo: Cesar Manso/AFP

The measure was a pledge made by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's leftwing coalition government, which took office in January, bringing together his Socialist party with far-left Podemos as the junior partner.

The scheme — approved in late May — aims to guarantee an income of 462 euros ($546) per month for an adult living alone, while for families, there would be an additional 139 euros per person, whether adult or child, up to a monthly maximum of 1,015 euros per home. It is expected to cost state coffers three billion euros ($3.5 billion) a year.

The government decided to bring forward the launch of the programme because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has hit Spain hard and devastated its economy, causing queues at food banks to swell.

Of the 750,000 applications which were filed since June 15 when the government started accepting requests, 143,000 — or 19 percent — have been analysed and 80,000 were approved, according to a social security statement issued on August 20.

'Months of waiting'

But Spain main civil servant's union, CSIF, paints a darker picture. “Nearly 99 percent of requests have not been processed,” a union spokesman, Jose Manuel Molina, told AFP.

The social security ministry has only really analysed 6,000 applications while 74,000 households that already receive financial aid were awarded the basic income automatically, he added.

For hundreds of thousands of other households, the wait is stressful. Marta Sanchez, a 42-year-old mother of two from the southern city of Seville, said she applied for the scheme on June 26 but has heard nothing since.

“That is two months of waiting already, when in theory this was a measure that was taken so no one ends up in the streets,” she added.

Sanchez lost her call centre job during Spain's virus lockdown while her husband lost his job as a driver. The couple has had to turn to the Red Cross for the first time for food.

“Thank God my mother and sister pay our water and electricity bills,” she said, adding their landlord, a relative, has turned a blind eye to the unpaid rent.

'Rushed everything'

A spokeswoman for the ministry acknowledged that the rhythm “was perhaps a bit slower than expected” but she said the government was working to “automate many procedures” so processing times should become faster from now on.

“The launch of a benefit is always difficult … and this situation is not an exception,” she added.

But Molina said this was a new situation, that was made worse by years of budget cuts to the public service which has lost 25 percent of its staff over the past decade.

“The problem is that they rushed everything, did it without training and a huge lack of staff,” he added.

The social security branch charged with the basic income scheme has only 1,500 civil servants, who also process most pension applications, Molina said.

These officials are facing an “avalanche” of requests, which already match the number of pension requests received in an entire year, he added.

About 500 temporary workers have been recruited as reinforcements but their assistance is limited because they do not have the status of civil servant, so they cannot officially approve requests for financial aid.

Demand is expected to increase. The government has said the measure was expected to benefit some 850,000 homes, affecting a total of 2.3 million people — 30 percent of whom were minors.

When the scheme was launched the government said all it would take is a simple online form, but this is a problem for many low-income families without computers and internet access, especially since the waiting time for an in-person meeting to apply is about two months, according to the CSIF union

Url copied to clipboard!