Las dos Españas

You can´t live in Spain long without being aware of the topic of "the two Spains". This can mean several things; the two sides in the Civil War historically, or the Socialists-v-Conservatives as the two main political powers, or people who are progressive/liberal against the traditionalists. All of these are connected strongly, but not, as we will see, exactly the same. For example, I know someone who is a supporter of the "right" but is extremely open-minded.

Politically, how much difference is there between the socialists and conservatives? Objective opinion (which isn´t easy to find here) makes a good case for their policies being very similar. Certainly the protestors in Puerte del Sol didn´t seem to think that there was a viable alternative, one or the other.

But how many people would really change their vote in a general election? Many have said that it has been the case that the result of a general election didn´t depend on the voters´choice, but how many voted. More of the eligible voters always supported the PSOE (socialists). But if the turnout was low, that gave the PP (conservatives) more of a chance, as the PP supporters always turned out.

We will find out next year if the crisis has changed this theory.