Spanish PM delivers triumphant speech before general election

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy delivered a triumphant speech in his final State of the Nation address before the general election scheduled for later in the year.

Rajoy used his speech in the Spanish Congress to insist that he and his Popular Party (PP) government had saved Spain from near bankruptcy with the program of reforms they introduced after winning the November 2011 general elections, adding he would use the remaining months of his mandate to introduce measures to encourage economic recovery and "alleviate the situation of the middle classes."

Rajoy even looked ahead into the post-election future and said his party's aim was to create 3 million new jobs: "That must be our objective, because it is obtainable."

"If we are able to maintain the pace of growth ... we can grow at well above two percent a year and we might be able to say we have the creation of a million net jobs within reach between last year and this year," he said, explaining his government would look to maintain a job creation rate of "over half a million jobs every year."

To this end, he predicted the Spanish economy would expand by 2.4 percent during 2015, well above previous growth forecasts, but he based his prediction on increased consumer spending, higher levels of exports and low oil prices.

"The state of the nation is that of a nation that has woken up from a nightmare, that has bailed itself out, recovered prestige, is attractive to investors, has reorganized how it works and is growing in terms of consumer spending and investment," said Rajoy, who was said he had resisted pressure to ask for a Greek or Portuguese style bailout from the European Union for Spain.

He did not, however, talk about the 2012 bailout for Spain's banks, and although he said the government was working to beat corruption, his speech evaded mention of ongoing corruption cases such as the Barcenas and Gurtel scandals, in which his party is deeply implicated, or the recent scandal of the 'black' credit cards given to Directors of Bankia, which needed to be part-nationalized due to its economic problems.

Instead Rajoy preferred to highlight measures aimed at encouraging job creation, such as tax breaks for new contracts and flat-rate permanent contracts. The Prime Minister also spoke of plans for welfare checks and a law to help those in need restructure their debts through the use of a payment agreement.

Rajoy's optimistic tone was attacked by opposition parties with the Socialist (PSOE) Spokesman in Congress Antonio Hernando saying the speech contained "half-truths, lies and big lies."

"It is a big lie to say there was no bailout or cuts, or that he has seriously fought against corruption. It is the view of a Spain that doesn't exist," criticized Hernandez, words echoed by Plural Left spokesman, Jose Luis Centilla, who said Rajoy "spoke to us of an unreal Spain which exists only in his own world," and compared the speech to an "election rally."

Convergence and Union's Jose Antoni Duran Lleida, expressed his sadness that, "the increase in poverty has been forgotten, as have those who died before receiving dependence grants and all of the young people who have had to leave the country."

However the hardest criticism of all came from Rosa Diez of the center-right Union Progress and Democracy (UPyD) party, she said Rajoy had done: "nothing but lie, when he spoke about pensions, education, poverty and energy, both in terms of what he has done and in terms of what he is going to do." Endit