Rubalcaba and Rajoy campaigns toy with the idea of one TV debate

If the negotiations between the Socialist and Popular Party (PP) campaign teams don't run into any complications, there could only be just one televised debate between the two main candidates for prime minister in the November 20 general elections.

Talks between Elena Valenciano, the Socialist campaign manager, and her PP counterpart Ana Mato are advanced but haven't been concluded, according to sources.

During the first conversations, negotiations centered on scheduling two televised debates between Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba and Mariano Rajoy but now the PP has said it doesn't want any of them to be televised on state-broadcaster RTVE, which the conservative party has accused in recent weeks of being biased. Rajoy's camp proposed allowing private broadcasters Telecinco and Antena 3 to organize them, an offer Rubalcaba's Socialist team has found impossible to accept.

The two parties are now discussing holding just one debate and for it to be organized independently, as was the case in 2008 - the only time other than 1993 when televised debates have been held in Spain. A final decision is expected to be made this week.