A corruption scandal blew up in Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s face over the past few days, sending the stock market down in a crash as bond yields surged dramatically. As opposition leaders call for his head, Rajoy rejected accusations that he and other top members of the Popular Party (PP) received illegal cash payments, promising to post his tax returns online so that “truth may prevail.” It appears unlikely that the so-called Gurtel Scandal will force Rajoy out, but the return of political rumblings have unsettled markets after months of relative calm, raising fears that the European sovereign debt crisis might flare up once again.
|