Spain coalition tensions flare up over labour reform
Tensions in Spain's leftist coalition government flared on Monday over a promised reform of a landmark 2012 labour reform, with the two ruling parties split over the scope of the proposed changes. Changes to the labour law are one of the reforms Brussels expects by the end of the year in exchange for Spain getting the full €140 billion promised the country from the European Commission's massive coronavirus economic recovery programme. The previous conservative government passed the reform in a bid to revive an economy that had been devastated by the 2008 global financial crisis. Among other things, it made it easier for companies to shed workers and cut wages. Proponents argue it transformed Spain into a more competitive market and created jobs, while critics say it has made jobs more precarious in a country that already has the highest proportion of temporary workers in the European Union. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government has repeatedly vowed to unpick the labour reform by the end of the year. But as the deadline nears, sniping over the crucial reform has increased between members of his Socialist party and those of his junior coalition partners, the far-left...