EDITORIAL

TONY Blair survived a possible backlash in the local elections despite widespread opposition to the war on Iraq. Will Jose Maria Aznar's Partido Popular in Spain do the same? In the Balearics the Partido Popular are seeking to retain Palma, and take the Balearic government and possibly Calvia. You get the impression that the Partido Popular is concerned and they are fearful of an anti-war backlash. Eventhough the actual campaign has not started the Partido Popular big guns have already headed for Palma. Deputy Prime Minister of the government Rodrigo Rato was in Palma last week and the Prime Minister's wife was in Majorca on Thursday. She is standing as a candidate for the Madrid council. Although no opinion polls have so far been published it appears that the Partido Popular are going to have a hard fight and they are facing a possible whitewash. If they fail to retain Palma and loose out again to the coalition in the Balearic government elections then you can safely say that the grip the party has held on the islands for the last two decades is well and truly over. While it is widely believed that local elections are fought over local issues Aznar's stance on Iraq will affect voters on polling day. Added to this there is the Prestige tanker disaster (widely condemned as an example of Partido Popular mismanagement). The socialists and the other smaller parties have made important inroads over recent months. But in the Balearics, the Partido Popular do have one ace, the tourist industry. Since the coalition came to power tourism has been in decline with the tourist tax being named as one of the chief culprits. On voting day it will be interesting to see whether the state of the principal industry or the war on Iraq will determine who votes for who. At the moment it appears that what happened in Baghdad is influencing voters to a greater degree.