Political woes

Oh dear! The left-wing Balearic coalition government is only a few months old and already there are problems. Today (22 September), local members of parliament from Podemos (a party which forms part of the coalition) broke ranks and voted with the opposition to demand the resignation of the Director General for Health. Podemos, a party which was born from the anti-eviction movement and is to the left of the Spanish Socialist Party, voted with the centre-right Partido Popular. Granted it was only a single motion in the local parliament, but if anyone thought that the new Balearic coalition government would all be unity and towing the party line they were deeply mistaken. I am reliably informed that it is exceptionally difficult to reach an accord with Podemos because of the very nature of the party: everyone has a voice. Balearic President Francina Amengol of the Spanish Socialist Party has much work to do if she is to keep her coalition together. And apart from Podemos, then she has Mes, the third force in the local coalition. Mes are the driving force behind the tourist tax. In fact they have said that they will push ahead with the tourist tax with or without the support of the central administration in Madrid. What appears clear at the moment is that infighting within the new Balearic government is set to cause plenty of problems and could mean a political stalemate on many key issues. The coalition government appears rather shaky.