Spain kicks the bums out

Experience would have it that a normal electoral reaction to an economic crisis as deep as that being experienced by Spain would be to kick out incumbents of any stripe. What happened in today's municipal and partial regional votes, on the other hand, was that the PSOE was turfed almost everywhere, but the PP which is the main beneficiary has escaped unscathed in its own fiefdoms.

Two interesting datapoints are:

1). In the unredeemed old school socialist region of Extremadura, the PP is currently (with 90 percent counted) one seat short of an absolute majority;

2). Despite an unemployment rate three points above the national figure and a government embroiled in a variety of corruption scandals, the Valencia region PP has managed to amplify its majority with respect to 2007.

A living testimony to exactly how incredibly badly José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's PSOE is perceived to have handled the country's economic situation.

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