Spain to hold election debate Monday

A televised debate between the two main candidates in Spain's general election on Nov. 20 will be held on Monday. The debate between Socialist (PSOE) candidate Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba and the opposition Popular Party (PP) leader Mariano Rajoy will be broadcast on Spanish national TV stations RTVE and Antenna 3, as well as on several regional and satellite stations. The debate is to take place in the headquarters of the Spanish Television Academia in Madrid but there will be no studio audience. About 650 journalists from different countries have been given accreditation to cover the debate, which is seen by many as a key moment of the campaign. Rubalcaba trails Rajoy by around 15 points in the polls. With the PP apparently heading for an overall majority, the PSOE candidate needs to give a convincing performance in order to claw back some ground. The debate, which starts at 22:00 local time (GMT 2100), is to be divided into three sections: economy, social issues and other themes including foreign policy. Key topics will be the country's economy and the nearly 5 million unemployed, while its relationship with the European Union (EU) and the announcement of Basque separatist group ETA that it is abandoning violence forever will also be high on the agenda. The time for the question and answer session will be strictly controlled and it has been agreed that Rajoy will field the first question and Rubalcaba will close the debate.