Spanish general election campaign officially starts

This Thursday sees the official start of the campaign for the Spanish general elections which will be held on November 20th. Opinion polls currently give Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the right wing Popular Party (PP) a lead of around 15 percent over Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, the candidate for the ruling Socialist (PSOE) party. Outgoing Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced in January that he would not be standing for a third term. Zapatero is too closely linked with the effects of the crisis which has left almost 5 million Spaniards out of work. The economic crisis and the high unemployment level is the main factor in Spain and the reason Rubalcaba, who is respected for his role in the fight against Basque separatist group ETA when he was Interior Minister, is carrying a huge handicap. Spain has suffered badly under the crisis and slowdown in the economy and the actions of the PSOE to introduce fiscal controls have alienated the party from both sides of the political spectrum. The party's traditional supporters were angered at spending cutbacks, such as a 5-percent pay reduction for civil servants introduced to reduce the state deficit. Meanwhile there has also been an increase in the voting intentions for the left wing Izquierda Unida from dissatisfied former PSOE voters. There will only be one televised debate between Rubalcaba and Rajoy and no other party leaders have been invited.