Spanish regional polls test Rajoy government Two Spanish regional elections being held on Sunday will provide Mariano Rajoy, prime minister, the first tangible measure of the political impact of his 11-month-old government's unpopular austerity policies, as the Spanish leader weighs the longer-term consequences of requesting a European rescue. The votes in the northern regions of Galicia and the Basque Country have been cast as a referendum on the Rajoy government's short but tumultuous time in power. Polls indicate his Popular Party could lose ground in both areas. Mr Rajoy, who has been closely deliberating the political consequences of requesting a European rescue for Spain that he had denied was even a possibility less than six months ago, is facing loss of control in his home region, Galicia. This week the prime minister said he had not made any decision on making a request to Europe's sovereign bailout fund to bring down Spain's borrowing costs, which earlier this year shot to euro-era highs as investors lost confidence in the country's ability to weather its economic and financial crises. In the Basque Country, a region where Mr Rajoy's party has never been strong, nationalist and separatist politicians are expected to win more than 50 per cent of the vote. The political landscape in the highly autonomous region has been transformed by Bildu, a separatist party previously banned by Spain's constitutional court for alleged ties to the political wing of ETA, the armed separatist group. While Mr Rajoy won the largest absolute majority in Spanish history in November last year, the prime minister's popularity has tumbled as a result of successive waves of public spending cuts and tax increases in an effort to bring Spain's budget deficit down sharply from close to 9 per cent of gross domestic product last year to 6.3 per cent this year. Mr Rajoy's rivals have been quick to exploit the unpopularity of the austerity measures in the regional campaigns. "[The policies] are unfair, immoral, and the worst of all is that they are economically disastrous," said Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, secretary general of the PP's main rivals, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, when campaigning in Galicia earlier this week. Polls in Galicia, a traditional heartland of the Popular Party where it has ruled for 24 of the 30 years it has existed under Spain's system of post-Franco dictatorship autonomous regional governments indicate that Mr Rajoy's party could lose its absolute majority, which it holds by one seat, to two regionally focused rivals. If this happens, the socialists could form a coalition with the nationalist bloc to remove the PP from power. Regional politicians within Mr Rajoy's party are anxious of the local consequences of regional austerity demands being imposed from Madrid. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Galcia's PP president, requested Mr Rajoy's permission earlier this year to bring the regional elections forward to try and limit the impact of a possible bailout request and austerity on his tightly poised mandate. "It will be difficult for Rajoy to find any good news in these elections," said Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí, an expert in Spanish political communications. If his party make any progress, it will be in spite of him. If they lose ground, more people within the party will question if Rajoy is electorally redeemable after what he has done. The PP was never expected to perform well in the Basque Country. However, a sharp jump in the nationalist vote would be awkward for the Rajoy government ahead of elections in Catalonia in November, which were called in September by its local leader, Artur Mas, to test popular support for an independence referendum at a time when popular separatist sentiment in the region has surged amid tight fiscal limits imposed on it from the Spanish central government. Polls conducted by Spain's official public survey office indicate that the PP will hold its 38-seat absolute majority of the regional parliament's 75, with the nationalist parties making slight progress from Spain's Socialist Party, compared to elections held in 2009. However, other polls conducted by local newspapers show a possibility that the PP could slip below the 38-seat level. In the Basque Country, polls show that the PP could drop from holding 13 seats of the parliament's 75 seat total down to 9 or 10, with Bildu gaining 25 per cent of the vote, which would equate to about 21 seats. The more moderate Basque National Party (PNV), which has held power in the region for 26 of the last 32 years, is forecast to remain the largest party, but drop from 30 seats in elections in 2009 to 27, winning 36 per cent of the vote. Voting closes at 8pm Spanish time.