Spain likely to see new protests after election

 

Spain is likely to see renewed street protests after an election that brought a conservative government bent on austerity to power but also boosted a string of small parties. The center-right People's Party (PP) scored the biggest win for three decades in Sunday's election as voters punished the outgoing Socialist government for the worst economic crisis for decades. But many traditional left-wing voters could not bring themselves to vote for the PP because of fears that it will slash their vaunted health and education systems and make the economic pain even worse. They showed their disgust with the Socialists by voting for smaller parties. These groups, including regional, environmentalist and left-wing blocs, doubled their seats in Spain's lower house with the United Left (IU) coalition of communists and Greens making the biggest gains.