Innocent Accused wrote:
Spain has a Conservative government.

it has now !!!!!

Labour (called the Spanish Socialist Workers Party !) were kicked out in Nov 2011 suffering their biggest election loss since Spain became a democracy (achieving only 28.8% of the vote)!

Just like here ... the Conservative government now has to put the damage right.

veritas wrote:
ITK ...your 'looney Labour' ..... I'm not sure they can be blamed for Spain's woes.

from Wikipedia -

New records were set at the elections. The ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party under Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba was badly punished at the polls, winning only 110 seats and 28.8% of the share, their worst result in a Spanish general election since transition to democracy.

Rubalcaba's party's poor performance came as a result of Spain's high unemployment rate, the highest in the European Union, as well as previous PM José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's government's handling of the economic situation after the severe financial crisis that had been affecting the country since 2008.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_general_election,_2011

... and France's VAT rate rises to 21% today !

In The Know wrote:
veritas wrote:
ITK ...your 'looney Labour' ..... I'm not sure they can be blamed for Spain's woes.

from Wikipedia -

New records were set at the elections. The ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party under Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba was badly punished at the polls, winning only 110 seats and 28.8% of the share, their worst result in a Spanish general election since transition to democracy.

Rubalcaba's party's poor performance came as a result of Spain's high unemployment rate, the highest in the European Union, as well as previous PM José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's government's handling of the economic situation after the severe financial crisis that had been affecting the country since 2008.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_general_election,_2011

Spain is paying the price of being in the EU!
Get out,set its own currency at a low level,they would do a lot better.