who abandoned the stern resistance of the previous conservative government to giving up some of Spain's EU voting power -- eased the way to an agreement on the EU constitution in June. Government officials have little doubt that Spanish voters, who have seen Spain's economy rapidly modernised in recent years helped by large transfusions of EU cash, will approve the EU constitution. Spanish society has little of the eurosceptic strain seen in a number of other EU countries. The main opposition Popular Party, even though it fought when in power to retain the advantageous voting rights Spain enjoyed under the Nice treaty, has said it will support a "yes" vote in the referendum. "The PP will defend the European Constitution. It's not the one we would have preferred, but that is water under the bridge. Europe needs it, it's what has been agreed and it contains many more good things than bad things," the PP's new leader Mariano Rajoy told the party conference on Sunday. The government's main concern is that -- because the main parties back a "yes" vote -- the turnout in the referendum could be very low, government sources say. --SP 2336 Local Time 2036 GMT
