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True, but it isn't just about linguistic closeness, but also power dynamics and priorities. Far more Dutch people and even Germans speak English than Portuguese people speak Spanish (properly, not just portunhol) because for obvious reasons it is treated as a much bigger priority to succeed in life.
Saying that Portugal's propensity towards misrule and poverty is due to its left-wing politics is rather one-eyed. Spain and Italy under Rajoy and Berlusconi were hardly bastions of probity and prosperity, and neither is Orban's Hungary. And the less said about recent British Tory and US Republican administrations, the better.As for the governance, Portugal is probably the most left wing country in Europe, even in it's constitution it is mentioned that is directioned towards Socialism. The main centre left party (the Socialist one, similar to the Labor party in the UK), which despite it's name is a Social Democrat party is governing trough an agreement with the other two leftist parties which belong to the left to far left wing spectrums (The marxist-leninist PCP, which became an orphan of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the East Bloc and the Trotskyist Left Bloc).
The country is growing slower than the predictions of the government and unemployment has been decreasing for almost 4 years, also the minimum wage was increased, so now people are all happy, and every poll is predicting a major left wing victory with the three leftist parties having 55-60% of the votes combined (even though it is projected a percentage decrease for the Communist Party, a trend since 1991 for obvious reasons), but with the global markets and many experts expecting a new global recession, perhaps in the early years of the next decade all will be ruined. Also the Socialist Party is seaking for an absolute majority which historicaly have been disastrous for Portugal, but the Portuguese are notorious for having a short memory. Also public debt is increasing, but has the gdp has increasing too, the ratio public debt to gdp has been decreasing but not that much.
We are witnessing a wave of left wing populism, I will vote for a new party, the Liberal Initiative, which is a Classical Liberal movement, we need new parties and new fresh faces in the parliament, above all we need new centre right and right wing parties with more and more seats, the two traditional right to centre parties (which would be hardly right wing in the US by the way) are shitty and can't oppose the actual government.
Socialism always works for a while, I will expect new election in between these ones now (October 2019) and the projected ones in 2023, at best between 2023 and 2027.
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