Before and after Spanish election.

 
Zapatero's ending, Rajoy's beginning....

Spain has turned blue, the color of conservative party Partido Popular, after a crushing victory over the ruling socialist party PSOE in the regional and municipal elections that took place Sunday. The spirits of both political parties’ leaders couldn’t be more different after learning the results. JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO, PSOE: It was reasonable to expect that the socialist ruling party would be punished today by the people. We understand these results and we take them into account. REPORTER: Meanwhile, at the Popular Party headquarters, the mood was understandably more jubilant. MARIANO RAJOY, PARTIDO POPULAR: Today is a beautiful day for our party. We have reported the best result in our history in a regional election; the best. El Mundo reports socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been punished for his handling of Spain’s financial crisis so severely -- that the question in the air is whether he will even be able to finish his term. The 'populars' have erased the socialists from the map. The figures speak for themselves. It was more than a 2,000,000-vote of difference ... The PSOE ... has bled in vote numbers, losing more than a million and a half votes. Motivated by the victory, Partido Popular leader Mariano Rajoy is asking to move up the general elections -- claiming the current government doesn’t have the support of the people. But El Pais thinks Partido Popular is all talk -- and no action. The writer suggests the conservatives present a vote of censure for the socialist party. The idea remains the same: to maintain the pressure and wait for the PSOE to fall under its own weight; sunk by dreadful results, a likely internal crisis and an economic situation that shows no signs of immediate improvement. Yet Iñaki Gabilondo, a well-known journalist in Spain, suggests the Popular Party’s victory in the general elections is imminent. But he points out the ‘populares’ won’t be able to ‘just wait’ much longer. The time to come smells so much of ‘populares time’ that from now until March or October they won’t be able to go on just playing the ‘waiting or PSOE criticism game.’ They now have to start giving hope to this country. Somebody needs to give hope to this country. And it seems it’s the ‘populares’ turn. For some, the elections reflected the people’s voice and the true democracy demanded by last week’s protesters. But Sky News reports the defeat of the ruling Socialist Party wasn’t enough to disperse the young people fed up with the country’s 45% youth unemployment rate. Spain’s problems aren’t going away. 40% of its young people are out of work and fears remain the country will be the next in the Eurozone to need a bailout. The protesters aren’t moving either, they voted to keep their camps in place until next weekend. The challenge now facing Mr. Zapatero is to rebuild confidence both in the economy and in his government. 'Like' Newsy on Facebook for updates in your newsfeed. Get more multisource video news analysis from Newsy Transcirpt by Newsy