Humphrey CarterPalma07/11/2018 18:28
TW

When the leader of the Socialist party managed to finally worm his way into the prime minister’s seat, winning a vote of no confidence in the PP’s Mariano Rajoy, here in the Balearics the Socialist-led left-wing coalition thought Christmas had come early.

However, there’s no sign of a nice juicy turkey just yet and the opposition parties in Palma are worried that there may be no festive turkey in parliament this year. Palma and Madrid have been at loggerheads, different administrations, over securing a REB special economic regime for the Balearics. President Francina Armengol thought it would obviously be much easier by having her political boss in the driving seat in Madrid. But it appears little ground has been made and the national finance minister, María Jesús Montero, a fellow Socialist, has put her foot down and is having nothing of it.

Moreover, Sanchez may be in the driving seat but he is short of gears. He has a minority government in Madrid and has his own financial problems to resolve - there are serious doubts he will be able to secure cross-party approval for the new national budget, so his clout is somewhat restricted by the likes of Podemos who have got Sanchez where they want him. How fat the turkey gets depends on Podemos and only then will the Balearics know whether they are going to get a leg, the breast or stuffed.