Polls predict trouncing for Socialists

With one week to go before the general elections, on Sunday the Popular Party (PP) was celebrating the results of the latest polls, which gave its candidate, Mariano Rajoy, an ample majority of votes over Socialist rival Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba.

The Metroscopia poll, conducted on behalf of EL PAÍS, puts Rajoy and the PP ahead with 192-196 seats in the 350-member parliament, in contrast with the Socialists, who stand to win 110-113 spots. If the poll is accurate, it will be the worst defeat the Socialists have suffered since 1978.

A total of 45.4 percent of voters said they will back the PP, while 30.9 percent said they will vote for the Socialists, according to the survey of 9,675 people.

A poll by newspaper El Mundo, also published Sunday, gave 47.6-percent support to the PP and 29.8 percent to the Socialists. The PP stands to win 198 seats, according to the survey.

Speaking to 20,000 supporters in Valencia, a jubilant Rajoy continued to fling criticism against the current government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, saying that the prime minister acted too late in dealing with the economic crisis.

Flanked by Valencia Mayor Rita Barberá and regional premier Alberto Fabra, the PP leader said that more jobs would be the key to reactivating the economy but again was short in detailing how he would create them for the nearly five million people who are out of work.

"I will never tell you that there isn't a crisis when there is one. I will never try to invent green pastures when in reality there aren't any," Rajoy said.

His speech was interrupted for a few seconds by protestors waving a banner with the slogan "PPSOE corrupt," similar to one of the hash tags used by the 15-M movement on Twitter and other social networks. The protestors also waved flags in support of Western Saharan independence.

Meanwhile in Zaragoza, former Prime Minister Felipe González called on voters who are "angry" with the Socialists to vote for Rubalcaba because "the rest of the parties are not capable of doing what is needed for this country."

González was present at a rally for Rubalcaba, which was attended by an estimated 15,000 people. "It must remain clear that the only way to stop the avalanche of cutbacks that the PP is proposing is to vote in favor of the Socialist Party," the former prime minister said.

The Socialists have been in power since 2004 under Zapatero, who decided in July that he would not run again. They have 169 seats in the lower chamber compared to the 154 seats the PP holds.

According to the latest polls, the Catalan nationalist CiU bloc would remain the third force in parliament and will probably increase its seats from 10 to 14. The United Left (IU) coalition would snatch seven seats compared to the two it holds now, the surveys indicated.