Spanish Elections Send Message To EZ Leadership

Eurozone leaders have been using Spain as an example to the rest of Europe.  They claim that structural reforms in Spain have restored its economy.  Apparently, the public thinks otherwise.  The ruling party that pushed structural reforms and austerity was punished at the polls.  The electorate does not believe that a 25% unemployment rate, and high levels of political corruption, should be rewarded.  The two major political parties in Spain lost ground to protest parties in Spain's major cities.  Protest parties in Spain, and in the recent English elections, have altered the political maps in Europe.  The two party system in those countries is being threatened by protest parties that are not pleased with either of them.  The elections in Spain offer a glimpse of the political future in the EZ.  Its poster child for successful structural reform has lost electoral support in Spain.