Political mood in Spain dour despite economic recovery, FT says

The Spanish economy may be recovering, but not enough for the dominant centre-right party led by Mariano Rajoy to benefit from it.

The newspaper pointed out two crucial issues:

- Is Spain’s economic recovery gaining traction fast enough to secure another term for Mr. Rajoy’s centre-right PP party?

- Can the country’s established parties, the PP and the Socialists, hold off the challenge from the anti-austerity Podemos movement and the liberal Ciudadanos party?

Read more: Full live coverage of Spain's local and regional election 2015

"The latest polls suggest the answer to both questions is no," the FT said.

Podemos and Ciudadanos are expected to make big gains nationwide at the expense of Spain’s mainstream parties

The newspaper emphasised that Podemos (We can) and Ciudadanos (Citizens) are expected to "make big gains nationwide at the expense of Spain’s mainstream parties".

"For the moment, there is no sign that political sentiment is catching up with the brighter economic mood", FT added.

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