The need for an urgent clear message on the economy and more importantly, stick to it.

Jose Blanco, PSOE's secretary of organisation, points out in his blog that the economic slowdown in Spain is being fueled by the economic data in those regions governed by PP.

Navarra (10.15%), Murcia (9.63%), Valencia (8.14%), La Rioja (7.87%) and Madrid (7.7%), all governed by PP, are the regions where unemployment has risen the most. On the other hand Socialist regions such as Galicia (3.99%), Extremadura (3.59%) and Andalucia (4.4%) have the lowest unemployment rises in the country.

There is a very simple explanation for this. While in the last four years the Zapatero government has focused in switching the national economic model to a more competitive system, PP regions have stuck to the model they know best, unsustainable construction. The central government on one hand has invested in R+D, education and scholarships to improve human capital and high-tech employment, while PP regions have the lowest investments on those fields.

The Spanish economy is ready for a global crisis because public finances are healthy. However, if we want the country to switch economic models to higher efficiency, quality of labour and high value-added production, we need to target those regional economies that lag behind. And those ones are clearly conservative-led ones as unemployment data shows.

Time to speak up. The economy has become by far the most important issue in the campaign, PSOE needs a clear and coherent message to counteract PP's economic demagogy. Once that message is found, and I think regional differences between PP and PSOE regions is a key issue, PSOE should repeat it consistently to let it sink into the electorate's mind. There is too much at stake to let PP win in the last metres of the race.