Senior conservatives in Spain have balked at the terms set by the far-right party Vox to support their bid to form a center-right government in Andalusia. Read more
Spanish Conservatives Balk at Terms of Deal with Far Right
People’s Party (Spain)
Kurzism Doesn’t Travel Well
The Financial Times wonders if Austria’s Sebastian Kurz is the savior of Europe’s center-right or an enabler of the far right.
His supporters, including the liberal-minded former prime minister of Finland, Alexander Stubb, see the Austrian as the antidote to Orbanism:
He talks about an open world, internationalism and is pro-European. But he is pragmatic about solving issues. And one of the big issues is immigration.
Critics argue that by taking a hard line on immigration, Kurz is legitimizing the far right. “You don’t fight fire with kerosene,” according to former chancellor and former Social Democratic Party leader Christian Kern. Read more
Socialists Lose Election in Andalusia, Far Right Breaks Through
The right and far right did better in elections in Andalusia on Sunday than the polls had projected, possibly ending forty years of left-wing rule in the most populous region of Spain. Read more
Harder Line Neither Helps Nor Hurts Spain’s People’s Party — For Now
Pablo Casado has pulled Spain’s conservative People’s Party to the right, taking a harder line on everything from abortion to Catalonia to Gibraltar to immigration.
So far, it has neither helped nor hurt his party in the polls. Read more
The Spanish Right’s Gibraltar Hypocrisy
When Spain’s conservative People’s Party was in power, it promised not to exploit Britain’s exit from the EU to renegotiate the status of Gibraltar.
Now that the party is out of power, it blames the ruling Socialists for failing to do just that. Read more
Spanish Right Takes Harder Line on Catalonia, Immigration
The new Spanish conservative party leader, Pablo Casado, is making good on his promise to move the People’s Party to the right.
- In talks with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who leads a minority left-wing government, Casado refused to support dialogue with Catalan parties that want to break away from Spain.
- Separately, he argued Spain cannot “absorb millions of Africans who want to come to Europe in search of a better future.”
Both positions mark a hardening from those of Casado’s predecessor, and the previous prime minister, Mariano Rajoy. Read more
With Casado, Spain’s People’s Party Turns Right
Pablo Casado has won the leadership of Spain’s conservative People’s Party with 57 to 42 percent support from party delegates.
Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the former deputy prime minister, was considered the establishment favorite. Her defeat signals a desire for a more right-wing program. Casado’s economic policy is more liberal and he takes a hard line against the Catalan independence movement. Read more