Most people in Spain dont seem to share your view Frank, they booted the Socialists out....big time
...
...in exactly the same way and for exactly the same reasons as Labour was voted out in the last UK elections.
The average voter here never really wanted a return to the politics of the PP anymore than the UK's Mr. Average really wished for a return to the politics of the Conservatives, but, like the UK, when you have only two choices and the other guys seem to have screwed up, the electorate don't have a lot of choice. Do you vote for more of the same or more of the same with different faces?
The whole point is that it really doesn't matter who was in power when the financial world went to r*t****, it was a foregone conclusion that they would lose the next election because of the draconian measures necessary to attempt to recover.
So as always... Meet the new boss, same as the old boss... Three months in office and already the PP have done 180's and are backtracking rapidly...