SPANISH ELLECTIONS 2011: 

Conservatives Swept Into Power

Spain's right conservatives swept convincingly into power and into an economic diificult situation as voters suffering 21.5 percent unemployment punished the ruling Socialist government – the third time in as many weeks that Europe's debt crisis has finished with an administration.

The victory for Spain's Popular Party came just after financially troubled Greece and Italy saw their governments fall.

As thousands of cheering supporters waved red-and-yellow Spanish flags and blue-and-white Popular Party banners on a Madrid avenue outside party headquarters, future prime minister Mariano Rajoy called for Spaniards of all political stripes to work together to overcome the crisis – but terribly sounded like a warning for a country with an economy that has stopped growing.

"It is no secret to anyone that we are going to rule in the most delicate circumstances Spain has faced in 30 years," he said. "For me, there will be no enemies but unemployment, the deficit, excessive debt, economic stagnation and anything else that keeps our country in these critical circumstances."

But the 56-year old Rajoy gave no hints of how he will solve Spain's unemployment nightmare – with a much higher rate for young adults. So far, Rajoy has only promised tax cuts for small- and medium-size companies that make up more than 90 percent of all firms in Spain.

MUAMMAR GADDAFI IS DEAD

Muamar Gaddafi, who ruled Lybia from 1969 until August this year, has been killed by forces loyal to the country's new government. The Libyan government has confirmed his death. Gaddafi 69, was reportedly found hiding in a drain outside Sirte, where he and and others had taken shelter after their convoy was hit by a Nato airstrike as it attempted to escape. 

A spokesman for the National Tranisitional Council – Libya's ruling body – said Gaddafi was alive when captured but died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.

IS THIS THE END OF ETA?

ETA, says, has given up the armed fight. It wants talks with the Spanish and French governments “with the aim of addressing the resolution of the consequences of the conflict and, thus, to overcome the armed confrontation.”

Reaction in the Basque country has been, generally, euphoric. “The nightmare is over,” said Iñigo Urkullu, leader of the moderate Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the region's biggest political party.

So is this the end of more than four decades of separatist violence in Spain's northerly Basque region? Are ETA and terrorism finally removed from the national debate?

Not yet. First of all, there is no guarantee that violence will not reappear under a different guise. People close to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain's Socialist prime minister, know this well. Just as the IRA in Northern Ireland spawned small breakaway groups determined to stick to terrorism, a small but still violent “Real ETA” could appear.

And ETA's declaration, although historic, mentions neither dissolution nor disarmament. It talks, instead, of how “the recognition of the Basque country and the respect for the will of the people should prevail over imposition.”