Podemos

Spain’s king is meeting Monday and Tuesday with the country’s political parties following four months of political paralysis in a last-ditch effort to install a government and avoid sending voters back to the ballot box.

The Socialists’ habit of running from the left and governing from the center is not a formula that will work anymore in Spain.

Spain entered a governing void Monday, facing weeks or months of uncertainty over what political party or parties will lead the country following a national election that fragmented the status quo. The result was so blurred that a German government spokeswoman said it was impossible to determine who deserved congratulations.

Spain’s political landscape has changed dramatically since 2011, when voters ousted the Socialist Party and gave a landslide victory to the right-of-center Popular Party.

There is an air of calm in Portugal. Like Greece and Spain, Portugal was bailed out by international creditors and underwent austerity measures that included tax hikes and salary cuts across the public sector. But the political effect of this has been starkly different.