Spain: Test For PM As Voters Go To The Polls

Voters in the Galicia and Basque regions of Spain are going to the polls in what is seen as a key test for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Mr Rajoy's Popular Party is tipped to win in his home region of Galicia, where it holds an outright majority, but a recession and biting cuts could yet cause an upset.

On another front, separatist forces are expected to gain ground in the Basque Country's first regional vote since separatist group Eta last year renounced guns and bombs in their fight for an independent homeland.

Almost 4.5 million people are eligible to vote in the regions - almost 10% of Spain's total population - and it may be for that reason that Mr Rajoy has not yet revealed whether his government will seek a national bailout from the EU.

Most Spaniards believe it to be inevitable and that the prime minister will announce details of a bailout soon after the elections.

Mr Rajoy is already grappling with rising separatism in Catalonia which, he says, is a threat to Spain's unity as he fends off warnings that the country will need to be bailed out by its neighbours.

Observers say the elections will be a key test for PM Mariano Rajoy

"The biggest mistake we could make is to add a political and institutional crisis to an economic crisis," he said recently, referring to Catalonia and to the Basque Country, known as Euskadi in the Basque language.

Eta is blamed for 829 deaths during its four-decade armed campaign for an independent Basque homeland in parts of southern France and in the northern Spanish region.

The Spanish Basque Country is home to 2.2 million people and includes the major city of Bilbao. Its current unemployment rate, though high at 14.5%, is well below the national average.

In Galicia, polls indicate the Popular Party faces a tight race to defend its narrow absolute majority, ahead of Spain's other main party, the Socialists.

Mr Rajoy has insisted Spain must stay united as it fights to stabilise its public finances and pushes through reforms that, he says, will strengthen its economy in the long term, in the face of mass street protests.

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