Spain's political masters face bloody nose in regional vote

Socialist Party leader Pedro Sanchez campaigned inside Valencia's bullring in the run up to Sunday's vote

Voters across Spain have their chance on Sunday to deliver the year's first nationwide verdict on a political class whose reputation has suffered greatly as a result of the country's economic crisis and a perception of rampant corruption on the part of public officials.

All the country's town and city councils are on the slate, as well as 13 of Spain's 17 regional parliaments ahead of a general election due at the end of 2015.

Nowhere are the effects of crisis and corruption more visible than in the region of Valencia.

Four years ago the centre-right Popular Party (PP) racked up a comfortable majority in the Valencian parliament after winning 49% of the vote, despite the fact that the regional leader was being investigated as part of a sprawling kickbacks-for-contracts scandal, which affected Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's party nationwide.

PM Mariano Rajoy has been caught up in a series of corruption investigations affecting his party

The PP's traditional rival, the socialist PSOE, has also faced corruption scandals, most notably the systematic misappropriation of jobless subsidies in Andalusia by party officials, trade unions and business associates.

'Disgrace'

Now Valencia's electorate seems eager to punish the conservatives after four years in which the regional government became effectively bankrupt and needed a bailout from Madrid.

During this period, more than 100 Valencian PP officials have been targeted in slow-moving judicial corruption probes. In 2013 the party's leader in Castellon was given a four-year sentence for tax fraud.

Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias (second left) joined the party's regional candidate at Valencia university

New parties on the block

According to an opinion poll published by El Pais newspaper, the PP's vote is set to halve, down to 24.5%.

But the same poll predicted that PSOE would pick up only 21%, also well down on 2011, while the centrist Citizens and left-wing Podemos - both new to Spain's national political scene - stood on 18% and 17%, respectively.

Eduardo Vicent, a 30-year-old sociologist from Valencia who works as a waiter, plans to vote for Compromis, a local grouping aiming to improve on its 7% result in the 2011 regional election.

"It's not so much their left-wing policies that attract me as the fact that it is an alternative to the PP and the Socialists," says Eduardo.

"The PP's legacy is a disgrace. They have created a crony network and it's time to try to destroy it."

Anti-corruption protesters hold placards saying "Enough!" outside PP headquarters in Madrid

The PP is set to lose its majority in almost all of the 10 regions it currently controls.

Coalitions or minority governments will be the order of the day, a situation the Andalusian parliament is still trying to work out, after the election there two months ago left PSOE short of a majority.

Both Citizens and Podemos have so far conditioned their backing on anti-corruption measures.

In the run-up to the 2011 local elections, thousands of "indignant" demonstrators occupied Madrid's Sol square in protest at Spain's electoral system, the ingrained corruption of the big two parties who traditionally benefited from it, and the influence of global capital.

Four years on, the ballot papers are covered in new offers of participatory politics and anti-corruption platforms.

Podemos is running in Spain's regions, but does not have official candidates at the municipal level, instead lending its support to ad hoc platforms.

Barcelona's activist frontrunner

Among the candidates supported by Podemos is Barcelona en Comu, whose leader, anti-eviction activist Ada Colau, has taken the lead, according to opinion polls.

Anti-eviction activist Ada Colau has the support of Podemos in Barcelona

Her platform is simple:

• Direct democracy

• Clean-up of city hall

• Slashing salaries and perks

• Action plan against poverty, including a halt to evictions

• Public takeover of utilities

Madrid's women's rights pioneer

Manuela Carmena is challenging the mainstream Popular Party for mayor of Madrid

In the capital, the lead candidate for the Podemos-backed Ahora Madrid is Manuela Carmena, a 71-year-old former judge and pioneer of women's rights and the labour movement under dictator Gen Franco.

Ms Carmena promises a "different form of government" to the outgoing PP team of Mayor Ana Botella.

"We want the citizens to enjoy a participative budget because then we will begin to see a different way of appreciating what taxes mean."