Politics in Spain

The two main themes which have dominated Spanish politics for the past few weeks - the new Catalan Statute and the anti-smoking legislations - continue to do so, and now that the cold stormy weather which has affected most of Spain over the past few days seems to be letting up, once again media attention is firmly fixed on the outcome of the former, and the effects of the latter.

The Popular Party has started its campaign to collect signatures for a petition designed to force the Goverment to call a national referendum on the issue of constitutional reform and, in particular, the proposed new statute for Catalonia. Yesterday a Euroresidentes colleague received a text message in her mobile phone informing her that it was now possible to vote "in favor of Nation Spain" and encouraging her to do so by entering the Popular Party website, clicking on the appropriate link and electronically signing the petition for a referendum which the PP word in the following way: "Do you believe that Spain should continue to be one nation in which all citizens enjoy the same rights, obligations and access to public services?".

According to the website, 242.000 people have electronically signed the petition in 3 days. Detractors argue that it is relatively easy to inflate the numbers of supposed electronic signatures, especially since the form does not require people to include their address. Yesterday PP leader Mariano Rajoy travelled to Cadiz where he and his fellow party members set up tables to collect signatures in what they announced to be the start of a nationwide campaign.

The implication behind the wording of the petition is, of course, that if the Catalonian statute is passed, then the rights of fellow Spaniards are at risk. And indeed the whole strategy of the Popular Party is centred around the accusation that in acknowledging Catalonia's desire for increased autonomy and negotiating the terms of a new statute, the present Government is putting the whole concept of "Spain" at risk. Not all PP party members are happy with this scaremonger strategy. The leader of the PP Catalan party, Josep Piqué (a "moderate" who served as Minister of Industry and Foreign Secretary under previous PP governments), while criticising the way Zapatero had opted to personally intervene in the process by holding individual meetings behind closed doors, did actually admit last week that the wording of the new proposed statute negotiated by President Rodriguez Zapatero and CiU leader, Artur Mas, the previous weekend was much more feasible than the original proposal. When his opinion was challenged by one of the national PP leaders, Piqué went to Madrid to hand in his resignation, but the PP leader, Mariano Rajoy, persuaded him to stay on as leader. Since then Pique appears to have been silenced, but most commentators allege he is still uneasy with the hardline his party is taking with regard to the whole process of constitutional change.

Meanwhile, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero appears to have put his foot in it once again, this time with respect to the recent anti-smoking laws in Spain. Even though the general opinion regarding the new legislation seems to be more or less favourable, the extent to which the law restricts smoking in all places of work, public places and restricts the right of newsagents and unlicensed shops to sell tobacco has inevitably been criticised by pro-smoking groups and trade unions. Last week it emerged that during the meeting held between President Zapatero and Artur Mas, both party leaders spent the whole afternoon smoking while they negotiated. Apparantly it was Artur Mas himself who spilt the beans when he told colleagues in surprise that they had "smoked all afternoon" in the Moncloa (headquarters of the Spanish presidency and home to the President and his family) despite new the anti-tobacco restrictions.

The PP have jumped on this latest apparant blunder of the Spanish president and have promised to put a number of questions to the government in a parliamentary session in the near future. A government spokesman, while not denying that "mucho" smoking went on during the meeting, claimed that the meeting was held in private quarters of the Moncloa, in a meeting room looking out onto the gardens on the ground floor of the private presidential residence. Meanwhile, the Popular Party allege that the Moncloa is a place of work, and if Rodriguez Zapatero smokes there during meetings, he is violating the new anti-tobacco laws. The opposition members are expected to ask Elena Salgado, Spain's Health Minister, what measures the government plans to take against people who occupy positions of power within the public administration and continue to violate the new law by smoking while they work.

Breakthrough in talks for a new statute for Catalonia, Spain

This weekend President Zapatero appears to have broken the stalemate in which all parties involved in negotiations for increased Catalan autonomy had found themselves for the past month. In what may turn out to be a surprisingly astute move, the Spanish president met with leaders of the moderate CIU Catalan party (moderate, that is, compared with the increasingly radical Esquerra Republicana) and managed to get them to compromise on two key issues which had been source of contention between Catalan separatists and most members of all the other parties of the Spanish national parliament.

The first was the word "nation". The proposal for a new statute presented by all Catalan parties (except the PP whose members remain firmly opposed to any constitutional change in Spain and terribly critical of the Government's policies which, they claim, are "disloyal" to the Spanish state) described Catalonia as a "Nation state" throughout all clauses, which caused an uproar among Spanish mainstream political parties, including many members of the governing socialist party. It also lead to some key military leaders to criticise the process and one general even went as far to say that if the Spanish national constitution was ever threatened, it was the duty of the army to protect it.

Despite the fierce criticism, until now the Catalan socialists and all indpendentist parties had defended their "right" to call Catalonia a nation. But in their meeting with the Spanish president this weekend CIU leaders agreed to modify the text, and refer to Catalonia as "a nation of Spain" in the atricles of the new statute. Catalonia will be described as a "nation" in the introduction but, apparantly, because it is not included as such in the actual articles, this will have no legal significance.

The second big compromise is on fiscal policy. The Catalan separatists were demanding total control over all taxes - income and VAT - aswell as local taxes. This weekend Zapatero proposed a 50/50 solution, whereby central government will administer half of the money generated by income and VAT taxes, and the Catalan government will administer the other half. And this was accepted by the Catalans.

Last night members of the Socialist party expressed their satisfaction with the new agreement, even colourful members such as the President of Extremadura who had strongly condemned the Catalan proposal for a new statute from the moment it was presented to Congress. Last night he told reporters the agreement reached this weekend was a victory for non-nationalists in Spain.

Meanwhile the leader of the Esquerra Republicana, Carod Rovira, said his party would not support the modifications to the text.

Infact this may turn out to be in Zapatero's in the long term. With Esquerra Republicana becoming portrayed more and more as extremists in the Spanish media, the more moderate CIU (who in the past have enjoyed the balance of power in both PSOE and PP national governments) are again gaining ground within Catalunya. And if the Statute is finally approved by Congress with the abstention of the Popular Party and the Catalan left wing separatists, it will be much more difficult for the PP to sustain its claims that Zapatero's government is in the hands of Catalan extremists. It also might be quite an embarrassment for the respective party leaders, Mariano Rajoy and Carod Rovira, who have spent the past two years insulting eachother, to suddenly find themselves voting for the same thing.

So against all odds, at least this morning, it looks like for the first time since what many see as the "pandora's box" of Catalan autonomy was opened, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero may have (for the moment) gained control of the situation. Although, of course, as is often the case in Spanish politics, it is impossible to predict for how long this will remain the case.

Related:
Support for Spain's government slides away
Basque nationalism
Zapatero announces constitutional reform in Spain

Wages in Spain

According to a report published yesterday by the Inland Revenue Office in Spain about the Spanish labor market and pensions, men earn salaries which are on average 30 percent higher than those of women. The average annual salary of men in 2004 was 17,964 euros, compared to 12,464 for women - a difference of 5,500 euros per year. If you multiply this amount by 40 (years in an average working life) the total difference adds up to almost a quarter of a million euros. Which is a very big gap indeed.

The study puts the difference down to the fact that the relatively recent incorporation of women into the labor market in Spain on a large scale means that they earn less because they have been employed for fewer years, and that their jobs tend to be more at risk than in the case of male employees. Furthermore, mothers tend to put their children's interests before their own professional development, and the percentage of women working part time in Spain is higher than in any other European Union member state. The report also highlights the lack of equal opportunities for women compared to men as far as professional promotion is concerned.

Statistics show that 58 percent of workers between 18 and 45 years old are men, and 42 percent women, whereas for workers between 45 and 65, the difference is much higher (over 20 percent).

Not surprisingly the report puts wages in Madrid at the top end of the scale, followed by Ceuta, Melilla and Catalonia (in that order). Jobs in the Energy and Water and Banking industries boast the highest average wages (31,846 and 28,911 euros respectively) whereas the Tourism (8,680 euros) and Trade (11,360 euros) industries offer the lowest average wages.

Related:
Unemployment in Spain at all-time low

First effects of anti-smoking laws in Spain

Much of the Spanish media has been obsessed with the new anti-smoking laws in Spain which in theory came into effect one second after midnight on New Years Eve. Radio, newspapers and television gave the new laws massive coverage during the last week of December and during the first few days of January, interviewing people with all sorts of opinions, smokers and non-smokers alike.

According to the new law, smoking is now forbidden in all places of work, both public and private and all public buildings. Employees who want to smoke must do so outside, and must make up the time lost at work too.

Restaurants, discos and bars over 100m2 must provide a separate area for smokers which must be equipped with clear signs, be properly divided from the main area with its own ventilation system, must not be in an area where people have to walk through to get in or out of the establishment and can not be more than 30 percent of the total area of the establishment and never more than 300 metres. Any establishments unable to provide a separate area with the said features are obliged to prohibit smoking altogether.

Owners of bars, cafes and restaurants under 100m2 can decide whether or not to allow smoking on the premises. Shops, supermarkets, newsagents (kioscos) etc. are no longer authorised to sell cigarettes, cigars or tobacco. The only establishments allowed to sell tobacco are licensed estancos, the traditional stamp and cigarette shops in Spain.

We travelled to north-west Spain last week for a short trip and it was interesting to see the regional differences in how the law was (not) being applied. In Castilla Leon, a region dominated by the opposition PP party, we did not come across one single establishment where it was forbidden to smoke. All small cafes and bars we visited in Avila and Zamora had notices in their windows saying "Smoking permitted on these premises". In the parador of Avila and the Parador of Zamora we were asked whether we wanted to sit at a table for smokers or non-smokers. Although we said non-smokers, we were placed at a table next to a couple of smokers, so the area made available for people wishing to smoke wasn't exactly far away from non-smokers. And smoking was permitted in the cafes of both paradors.

Further south in Castilla la Mancha however (governed by the PSOE), things were different. In Alarcon Parador smoking is now forbidden in the restaurant and in parador rooms, and when we rang to book a table at the restaurant Las Rejas, we were "warned" by the person who took the booking over the phone that the restaurant was now a smoke-free zone.

And finally yesterday, when we went to collect some family members arriving at Alicante Airport, it was amusing to watch from the barrier hoards of mostly British and German tourists lighting up cigarretes as soon as they approached the arrivals barrier, completely oblivious to the continuous bilingual announcements on the airport tannoy system politely, but firmly, informing everyone that it was now forbidden to smoke in any public buildings in Spain, including inside the airport, except in the special areas made available for smokers.

In all regions we did seem to notice more people smoking in the streets, but that may be just have been because we were looking out for smokers more than usual. According to news reports a couple of days ago, local authorities are now worried about the increased amount of cigarette stubs on the pavements outside large office buildings and are appealing to smokers to deposit their stubs in the external ashtrays provided. We noticed that some shops, especially in the North, were still selling cigarretes. And there were still alot of cigarrete machines around.

So, it remains to be seen just how effective the new law proves to be. I have never ever seen the cashier at the local branch of my bank serve people without a cigarette burning in an old red ashtray next to her which she usually smokes infront of customers between transactions. I went to withdraw some money on New Years Eve, and there was still one burning away at her side and I was tempted to say "ultimo día, eh?", but didn't. I am looking forward to going next week to see if the ashtray is still there, lying empty next to her. Perhaps she will be one of the 500,000 people the Spanish government hopes will give up smoking thanks to the new restrictions. Or maybe she'll be puffing away on the pavement outside, watching the queue of customers getting longer and longer!

Related:
Smoking in Spain
Smoking to be banned on RENFE trains
Increase in women smokers in Spain
New fines in Spain for illegal smoking
New anti-tobacco reforms in Spain