It is time to review the means that the Spanish government has sheepishly taken while under intense pressure from the EU and the financial markets. As Zapatero is about to deliver his final state of the union address and Spanish risk premiums are blowing up, the government is nixing a law to control regional government spending. They are proud of their reforms.
Long ago they created a firewall around Spain so that it would not be grouped with the weakest European countries.
But these measures have been insufficient and in order to avoid uncertainty it is necessary to go deeper. Major events include: a mini labor reform has not generated jobs, a decrease in employment, the government just finished selling their souls to CiU (Catalonia?s Nationalist Party) and a huge advance in collective bargaining was watered down after the government reached agreements with the nationalist parties PNV and CiU.
There are more projects in which the government could pat itself on the back about: distribution contracts or officially-named tourist zones where stores can stay open for more hours, which is something that not treat the issue deep enough.
And it will surely try to spin a seasonal increase in summer jobs as a direct result of their work. This kind of self-promotion is obvious and looks like the governments attempt to justify its actions for a few more months and avoid holding earlier elections.
Translated and Edited by Brandon Dyches and Jose L. De Haro (joseluisdeharo@eleconomista.es)
