The starter's gun has fired and the great European referendum marathon has begun. In 10 days' time the voters of Spain will be the first in the European Union to cast their direct ballots for or against a new constitutional treaty.

There is not much doubt about the outcome. Popular opinion in Spain is overwhelmingly in favour of the treaty, even though the Spanish government failed to get all it wanted from the negotiations in terms of its voting weight among the 25 member states.