Josep Antoni Duran y Lleida, who leads the Convergence and Union coalition, said he abstained and saved the government only out of a sense of duty to Spain.<\/p>\n
“I don’t want Spain to be helped out like Greece,” Duran y Lleida said. But he added that Zapatero’s time was running out and joined the Popular Party in calling for early elections before those scheduled in 2012.<\/p>\n
The emergency measures cut public sector wages an average of 5 percent beginning in June, froze the wages and then froze most retirement pensions in 2011.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Zapatero said Spain would also introduce a new tax for the country’s highest-income earners, trying to stave off criticism that only low-income workers were being targeted by the cutbacks.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, lawmakers in both chambers cut their base salaries by 10 percent while municipal governments announced pay cuts up to 15 percent for mayors and other local officials.<\/p>\n