The leader of Spain’s anti-austerity Podemos party and its parliamentary spokeswoman are submitting themselves to a confidence vote in the hope of putting an end to criticism of their decision to buy a €600,000 (£525,000) house in the mountains outside Madrid. Among those who have criticised the move is José María González, the Podemos mayor of Cádiz. “It should be party members who decide whether we should carry on as general secretary and parliamentary spokeswoman and whether we should carry on as MPs. Along with the centre-right Ciudadanos (Citizens) party, it has ended decades of dominance by the conservative People’s party and the Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE). In February last year, Iglesias tightened his grip on the party after seeing off a challenge from his more moderate deputy, Íñigo Errejón.

Source: The Guardian May 20, 2018 10:36 UTC