Madrid - Spanish political parties yesterday officially launched their campaigns for general elections which take place on Sunday March 12th, under the shadow of the ETA's new terror campaign which claimed a leading Socialist Party victim last Tuesday, writes Paddy Woodworth.
The centre-right People's Party (PP), which has provided stable and competent minority government since it displaced Mr Felipe Gonzalez's Socialists (PSOE) in 1996, looked likely to win again until very recently. A last-minute surprise alliance between the PSOE and the Communist-dominated United Left coalition has given the Socialists a real chance of returning to power.