Leo Wieland on Spain's domestic political crisis

"An icy wind of polarisation is sweeping through Spanish politics," writes the newspaper's Spain correspondent Leo Wieland. "This political erosion comes at a time when Spain, the 'land of the economic miracle', is doing better than ever. The world's eighth largest economy which can even afford to expand its social welfare system with its current budget surpluses, is committed in international politics and has peacekeeping forces stationed in countries from the Balkans to Afghanistan. Within Spain, however, the ambitious but weak (because dependent on the Greens, Communists and regional powers) minority government and the isolated opposition are wearing each other down. The only ones to have an apparent advantage in this situation are the separatists, who are gaining more and more political and financial concessions, and the supporters of ETA, which is once again operating with breathtaking audacity. If it doesn't regain its old, but crucial, minimum of consensus, Spain is in danger of falling apart at the height of its prosperity."

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