Left-wing coalition sends jitters through Spanish banking

Spanish bank profitability will sink even further as left-wing populists Podemos enter a coalition with the socialist party, making a private-sector future for Bankia ever more remote.

Podemos’s Pablo Iglesias embraces PSOE’s Pedro Sánchez after signing the coalition agreement

Banks in Spain are bracing themselves for yet another big blow to their profits, thanks to the anti-establishment Podemos party’s moves towards forming a coalition with the centre-left socialists after Spain’s indecisive November election.

Podemos and its bank-bashing leader Pablo Iglesias have advocated higher corporate taxes, especially on banks, as well as a new financial transactions tax.

Podemos rose to prominence after the eurozone crisis on the back of popular anger against the Spanish establishment, especially banks.

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