Empty Chair Says Rajoy in Damage Control Mode for Spain Vote
- Rajoy is least popular leader in more than three decades
- Polls show prime minister may win most votes, lose majority
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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had the chance to defend his record on live television against his rivals. Instead, he left his place empty.
While the three other candidates jousted over how to build on the economic recovery, address inequality and keep Catalonia within Spain in a Monday night debate broadcast online by El Pais newspaper, the prime minister’s position to the right of the set was unoccupied. He was giving a one-on-one interview to another broadcaster that aired at the same time.