Rajoy calls extraordinary meeting on party facelift

PRIME MINISTER Mariano Rajoy has called 600 officials from the governing Popular Party to an extraordinary meeting of the National Executive Committee on Tuesday.

This top level, internal body has been summoned to Madrid for a meeting so as to address demands for a party overhaul ahead of elections, signalling that Rajoy is concerned with the figures coming from the latest opinion polls.

The main fear is that the poor performance suffered in the recent Andalucian elections will be echoed nationwide in eight weeks when all the regions vote, therefore setting a trend that could lead to an unsurmountable task in the autumn general election.

The PP enjoyed a landslide victory in 2011 at a time when Spain was in crisis, and the ruling Socialists were being blamed for budget cuts and layoffs.   

But despite a trickling recovery, Rajoy will have a harder time convincing Spaniards to vote for him this time around because of the widespread corruption accusations, and the fact that new parties such as Podemos and Ciudadanos have emerged, whose anti-establishment and anti-corruption messages have caught the attention of many disgruntled voters.