# Spanish Elections 2011 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 21, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598 "2011-11-21T00:59:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/1 "2011-11-21T00:59:57Z")
Fortunately in yet another victory for conservative forces, Spain has elected a new Popular Party government. [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/world/europe/spanish-voters-punish-socialists.html?\_r=1&hp](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/world/europe/spanish-voters-punish-socialists.html?_r=1&hp) What will this effect have upon the Euro debt crisis? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/2 "2011-11-21T17:51:36Z")
Thank God for the AUHSD! P.S. I have no idea what this portends for the outcome of the current crisis with the Euro, and you might want to check out what “conservative” means in Europe in general (short answer: U.S. Democrats tend to be to the right of most European conservative parties). ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/3 "2011-11-21T18:01:24Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Thank God for the AUHSD! > > P.S. I have no idea what this portends for the outcome of the current crisis with the Euro, and you might want to check out what “conservative” means in Europe in general (short answer: U.S. Democrats tend to be to the right of most European conservative parties). On some issues this may be true but not on others-after all the Labour Party supported the Iraq War. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/4 "2011-11-21T18:07:09Z")
Remember a lot about the “Coalition of the Willing,” do you? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/5 "2011-11-21T18:34:05Z")
I didn’t know the Labour Party was Spanish 😛 and I’ve already given my opinion of the electoral results in the Thanksbitching thread. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/6 "2011-11-22T02:10:32Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Remember a lot about the “Coalition of the Willing,” do you? That’s not a name for a military alliance, that’s a name for a curiously highbrow porn film. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/7 "2011-11-22T02:14:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Mr. Zapatero’s government introduced a series of austerity measures over the last 18 months, cutting spending and laying off state workers, but economists say the new government will have to cut billions of euros more from state spending to meet the country’s deficit reduction targets. In the campaign, both parties’ leaders avoided spelling out in any detail what they would do to pull Spain from its economic quagmire. **No one** escapes the Spanish Ass-Coition! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/8 "2011-11-24T09:36:18Z")
“Fortunately”? While you’re gloating over the Right winning another beauty contest, the austerity measures are going to crash the EU. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/9 "2011-11-24T15:41:42Z")
Is there any evidence at all that austerity measures have helped anything so far anywhere in Europe? Ireland, maybe, is starting to see a little growth again. The one country that has gone from complete basket case to decidedly improved, as far as I can tell, is Iceland. Of course, they’re not on the Euro, so they had more freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/10 "2011-11-25T00:39:06Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > “Fortunately”? While you’re gloating over the Right winning another beauty contest, the austerity measures are going to crash the EU. Erhm the austerity measures are being _demanded_ by the EU. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/11 "2011-11-25T09:51:06Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Erhm the austerity measures are being _demanded_ by the EU. one does not exclude the other… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/12 "2011-11-25T14:02:16Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > “Fortunately”? While you’re gloating over the Right winning another beauty contest, the austerity measures are going to crash the EU. By that do you mean, “crash the European economy,” or “discredit the EU as an organization,” or what? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/13 "2011-11-26T04:40:09Z")
Both, possibly. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/14 "2011-11-26T12:15:55Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > Is there any evidence at all that austerity measures have helped anything so far anywhere in Europe? Ireland, maybe, is starting to see a little growth again. The one country that has gone from complete basket case to decidedly improved, as far as I can tell, is Iceland. Of course, they’re not on the Euro, so they had more freedom. The Spanish region with the lowest unemployment also happens to be the one which already had a law requiring no deficit. The specific measures may or may not make sense (I don’t think the shotgun firings of temporary government workers do, for example, while politicians not getting 4 or 5 separate, simultaneous huge salaries is… well, what’s unacceptable is that they did!), but there needs to be a shift back to knowing how to budget properly, rather than living above your means simply because you can get loans, both in the individual and government levels. The idea that the ECB should emit bonds so it can buy more of the bonds of the national Central Banks, which was being sponsored by some people, makes my head hurt pretty badly - it’s like the multi-level-government equivalent of getting a second mortgage to pay the interest-only installments on your first. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/15 "2011-11-28T18:00:55Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > “Fortunately”? While you’re gloating over the Right winning another beauty contest, the austerity measures are going to crash the EU. Beauty contest or not, it seems pretty clear that Spain, among other countries, _must_ make drastic spending cuts. ---
**Author:** ![Lago\_Ys-Transform](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@Lago\_Ys-Transform](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lago_Ys-Transform)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-elections-2011/603598/16 "2011-11-28T19:47:31Z")
> [@Really All Not That Bright](#): > > Beauty contest or not, it seems pretty clear that Spain, among other countries, must make drastic spending cuts. Or, you know, the ECB can stop wearing their underpants on the outside and accept an inflation target of 5-6% of a few years.