Editorial: Could Spain do a Greece?

The alarm bells are ringing in Spain. Last weekend´s victory by the anti-austerity  Syriza party in Greece has got Spain thinking and what is more Spain already has its own Syriza in the form of Podemos. So could Spain go the same way as Greece? Well, Podemos is doing well in the opinion polls and at one stage it was above both the ruling Partido Popular and the opposition socialists. Podemos has a similar manifesto to Syriza and in fact the Spanish party welcomed the Greek victory. The majority of younger  voters that Iknow say that they be voting for Podemos because they believe that a political change is needed in Spain and the present system is no longer working. Now, whether or not this will actually translate into votes is a completely different matter. But Spain is different to Greece. The country is moving out of recession and the Mariano Rajoy government managed to escape an embarrassing European Union bailout. But then there is the issue of corruption. Rajoy´s Partido Popular has been tarnished by corruption allegations and there are some in Spain who believe that a root and branch change is needed to make the country a more equal state. Podemos is promising to increase pensions and pull out of NATOif they are elected. My hunch is that Podemos will do well in the local elections but not well enough to actually take a foothold on power. When times are hard you stick with the party you know or not?