Spain's new conservative leaders make rapid push to overturn liberal laws

The speed with which Spain's conservative People's Party has pursued social reforms has stunned many Spaniards, who expected the government to wait until the economy improved.

By Andrés Cala, Correspondent / February 2, 2012

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (front c.) and his ministers pose before their first cabinet meeting at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid in this December 2011 file photo.

Sergio Perez/Reuters/File

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Madrid

Spaniards have been taken by surprise by the new conservative government's aggressive efforts to implement social reforms, overturning several liberal laws passed by the previous government amid tremendous economic uncertainty.

The previous Socialist government passed a substantial amount of liberal legislation in the last eight years, including limiting the role of the Catholic Church in the state, legalizing gay marriage, relaxing abortion restrictions, and reforming the educational curriculum. While the Catholic Church and the ruling Popular Party accused Socialists of imposing an ideologically-motivated agenda too quickly, Socialists said they were only harmonizing Spanish laws with European standards – with the support of the majority of Spanish citizens. Dozens of polls over the past three years have consistently showed an even split on social issues.

The People's Party was voted into parliament with an absolute majority in November, mostly on a mandate to fix the economy, but it also promised to roll back some socialist laws on abortion and education. Now, some Spaniards are stunned with the party's decision to take on a cultural counter-revolution of sorts during a time of such great economic and political uncertainty.

“This is the first time such profound revisionism takes place so fast, but the fact that nobody expected it makes it worse,” says Fermín Bouza, a sociology professor specializing in public opinion in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

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