News

The state of Spain''s recession-plagued economy has begun to erode confidence in the government among the electorate, two polls published Sunday said.

The polls showed the conservative opposition in Spain would win if elections were held now.

The Popular Party has close to a 6-point lead over the Socialists of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero according to Sigma Dos and Metroscopia polls published in the country''s two leading newspapers.

The economy, which has contracted for six consecutive quarters, was the main worry of those polled, overtaking traditional concerns over Basque separatist terrorism or illegal immigration.

Some 87 percent felt Spain was not emerging from a recession that has plunged it to EU-high unemployment levels of 18.8 percent, with 4.05 million workers out of jobs.

Late Friday Zapatero unveiled proposals aimed at trying to stimulate the flagging jobs market. He said his government would aim to reduce the benefits employers must pay in case of unemployment from 45 days'' pay for each year worked down to 33.

The proposals also said agreements should be arrived at with employers whereby workers could shift to part-time work as well as making it easier to relocate people who had lost their jobs.

A total of 1,200 people took part in the surveys and the margin of error was 4.5 percentage points for Metroscopia and 3.8 for Sigma Dos.

Zapatero has been in power since 2004. He must call an election within the next two years.