Rubalcaba owns up to Socialists' "mistakes"

The Socialist candidate to the prime minister's seat, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, said he will not play down the fact that he was until recently a leading member of the administration of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who is widely viewed as having mismanaged the economic crisis. He also admitted that "mistakes" were made during these two terms in office, which prevented a better solution to the downturn.

One of these mistakes was not having burst the real estate bubble, and another was failing to reform the financial system earlier. "We had eight years but we didn't do it," the former interior minister, deputy prime minister and government spokesman said Sunday.

While other countries have pulled out of the crisis that began in 2008, Spain continues to struggle with a 21-percent unemployment rate, a stagnant economy and a regional banking system that has been hit hard by the real estate crunch.

Meanwhile, the head of at least one major commercial bank appears to be publicly supporting the conservative candidate, Mariano Rajoy. Comments made by BBVA chief Francisco González, who said Friday that "Spain needs a strong government that makes decisions that place it once again at the same level as major European countries," were interpreted as support for the PP leader.