Hero to zero

That tabloid term, from hero to zero, really sums up the performance of the leader of the Balearic government Jose Ramon Bauza who has seen his approval ratings nose dive in the space of 12 months. Bauza swept to power just over a year ago promising to fix the Balearic economy. His centre right Partido Popular won a landslide victory; he had a clear mandate to rule. But things have gone seriously wrong for Bauza who has been forced to make major spending cuts even closing two hospitals. There has been a voter backlash. I don´t think anyone had imagined that the cuts would be so deep and so severe. No-one has escaped them. I think this has effectively ruined Bauza´s popularity ratings. But his government, despite promisng plenty while in opposition, has done relatively little. The Balearic economy should recover from recession at the end of next year, according to the government. There is little good economic news. I think many Partido Popular voters will be bitterly disappointed. Now, obviously he has only been in power for 12 months and has another three years to go. But still it is quite amazing how his popularity has fallen.The scale of public protest against him has become so big, that every time he ventures out he is met by public protest. It could be argued that he has become the unacceptable face of politicians in the Balearics. Bauza faces a long fight back and unfortunately for the Balearics there is little good economic news on the horizon.