08 September 2011

Madrid and Rome – two sorts of crisis

Spain is easier to bring to heel than Italy, and we're seeing evidence of that these days. Despite Spain’s inveterate pride, the country does whip into line when things turn serious. Spain is a less complicated country than Italy, unions are not very strong and the 15-M movement is a rebellion without direction – a spasmodic outbreak. Elections are on the horizon, too. A cycle is drawing to a close, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is determined somehow to salvage his place in the history books. Feeling vulnerable during this disaster that’s overtaken the PSOE, and knowing what stuff the far right is made of, he has decided to protect himself.

Italy is putting up stiffer resistance to the ECB, falling back on the catenaccio system in football that stresses defence. Italy is the land of cities, of family businesses, unions, societies that are more or less secret, and acquired rights. Its economy is more self-contained. There is little foreign penetration into industry and banking and public debt is concentrated in domestic saving books. Berlusconi is on the way out, but no alternative to him is marching over the horizon just yet. Italy moves to its own rhythm, and a precipitous collapse of its internal balances could be catastrophic for Europe. The South of Italy is a tinderbox. Remember the 2008 movie Gomorrah? The Germans know the film, and that’s why they regard a little iron discipline for the Iberian Peninsula as absolutely essential. And that helps to explain some of the pressure on Spanish Parliamentarians to reform the Constitution with some alacrity.

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Original article España frente a Italia, ©LaVanguardia

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