It has been a year of near constant parliamentary deadlock for Spain's left-leaning government but also one of strong economic growth in comparison to other eurozone economies. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialist Party won the Catalan elections in May and were once again the largest social democratic force in Europe after June's European parliament elections. Yet Sanchez and PSOE have also be subject to a long string of judicial investigations - most of which seem politically motivated.

Yet beyond the headlines of these cases, and with the government’s legislative agenda largely blocked, the country’s acute housing crisis and the difficult clean up operation after the floods in Valencia are both ongoing in the background.

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