Spain elects conservative government

Spanish voters handed the centre-right Popular party of Mariano Rajoy the biggest victory in its history on Sunday, the Financial Times reports. At the same time, the country’s general election made the incumbent Socialists the latest political casualty of the European Union’s sovereign debt crisis. The conservatives won 186 seats in the lower house of parliament, while the centre-left obtained just 110 in the 350-seat chamber. Spain faces 21.5 per cent unemployment and over $40 billion in cuts if the new government is to reduce the public deficit to 4.4 percent of GDP by the end of 2012.

Financial Times

The Associated Press