José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

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José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

Term of office	April 17, 2004 – present
Preceded by	José María Aznar
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Date of birth	August 4, 1960
Place of birth	Valladolid
Spouse	Sonsoles Espinosa
Political party	PSOE

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (born August 4, 1960) is the Prime Minister of Spain. His party, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, won the general election on March 14, 2004. Notable actions of his government have included withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq and legalizing same-sex marriages. Another notable government act was the removal of one of the last remaining statues of Francisco Franco, the former military dictator.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Zapatero enters politics 3 Leader of the Socialists 4 Opposition leader 4.1 Early clashes 4.2 Iraq and foreign policy 4.3 Terrorism 4.4 The National Hydrological Plan 4.5 Prestige oil tanker accident 4.6 Employment and education policy 4.7 Intermediate regional elections 5 The general election 5.1 Platforms and debates 5.2 3/11 Madrid terrorist attacks 5.3 The effects of the attacks 6 Prime ministership: domestic policy 7 Main government policies 7.1 Same-sex marriage and church-state issues 7.2 Gender violence 7.3 Regional terrorism and territorial tensions 7.4 Public housing 7.5 Spanish Civil War remanants 8 Foreign policy 8.1 European Union 8.2 Iraq and relations with U.S. 8.3 Gibraltar and relations with U.K. 8.4 Poland 8.5 Latin America 9 Personal data 10 Notes 11 References 12 See also 13 External links

Early years

Zapatero was born in Valladolid to an affluent family with a long history of left-wing politics. His father, Juan Rodríguez García-Lozano, is a prominent lawyer, while his mother, Purificación Zapatero, died in October of 2000. His paternal grandfather, Juan Rodríguez Lozano, was a Freemason and a Republican captain who was executed by the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War, when Zapatero's father was eight years old. It is believed that Zapatero is also a Freemason (the major proponent of this theory is Ricardo de la Cierva, a prominent righ-wing Spanish historian).

Zapatero grew up in León and began his schooling at the religious primary school "Discípulas de Jesús" in September, 1966. In September 1970, he entered the "Colegio Leonés", the only private lay school in León at the time. He later went on to study law at the University of León, graduating in 1982. As a student, he admired the agrarian reforms of Mao Tse-tung as well as those in the Soviet Union.

After graduating, Zapatero worked as a professor of constitutional law in the University of León. He was elected to Parliament in 1986, and in October 1991, his contract was terminated by the new rector of the university after the school's legal advisors determined that Zapatero's dual position as a professor and an MP were incompatible. However, the legal advisors of the Spanish parliament had considered the contract valid.

Zapatero enters politics

Zapatero, accompanied by his family, attended his first political rally on August 15, 1976. It was a meeting organized by the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) in Gijón. Political parties had been legal since July 21, 1976 but the Socialist Party was not legalized until February 1977. At the rally, Felipe González, the PSOE leader and future Prime Minister of Spain, gave a stirring speech, which had a profound impact upon Zapatero. González said that "the Socialists' goal was the seizure of power by the working class to transform the ownership of the means of production" and that "the PSOE was a revolutionary party but not revolutionarist or aventurist as it defended the use of elections as a means to come to power".

Zapatero and his family had traditionally been attracted to the Communist Party, as it was the only well-organized leftist party before Francisco Franco's death in 1975. After the rally in Gijón, however, they started to believe that the Socialist Party had the most potential for the Spanish left. In 1977, the year of the first democratic elections, Zapatero supported both the Communist and Socialist Parties. He officially chose the Socialists in 1979, enrolling as a member on February 23, 1979. In 1982 he became the head of the youth organization.

In 1986, he was elected to represent the province of León in the Cortes (Parliament), becoming its youngest member. Zapatero organized a coalition to obtain the mayoralty in León in 1987, justifying the coalition by arguing that it was necessary to change the "negative dynamics" of the city, to "normalize" its democratic life, and to end its "bad relations" with other institutions, such as the Regional Government of Castilla y León.

In 1988, Zapatero was appointed Secretary General of the PSOE in León after a complex internal fight that ended a long period of divisions and internal confrontation. The situation was so bad that Ramón Rubial, then national president of the PSOE, asked the party in León to create some semblance of unity before the provincial conference later that year. At that time, Zapatero defined himself as a "left-wing conservative," meaning that he considered himself an heir of the Spanish left which lost the Spanish Civil War.

Zapatero was reelected secretary general with 68% of the ballots in the 7th Regional Conference held in (July 1994). In 1995, new regional and local elections were held. Its results were unfavorable for the Socialist Party in León as they lost four seats in the mayoralty of León and two seats in the regional parliament of Catilla-León. The results were influenced by the bad economic situation and corruption accusations against the party. In 1996, following the General Election, Zapatero kept his seat at the Congress of Deputies. The next year, Zapatero was again reelected as the PSOE Secretary General of León, and was also placed on the National Executive, the party's national governing body.

Leader of the Socialists

On March 12, 2000, the PSOE lost its second successive election to José María Aznar's People's Party. Zapatero kept his seat, but the Socialist Party won only 125 seats, 16 fewer than in 1996. The defeat was specially bitter as the People's Party unexpectedly obtained an absolute majority.

Zapatero decided to run for the leadership of the PSOE in its 35th Conference in June of that year. He started a new faction within the party called the Nueva Vía. On June 25, 2000 Zapatero announced his intention to run for the Secretary General at a meeting in León. In his speech, he made a declaration of principles:

1. To build a society that would accept all foreigners.
2. To give priority to education and to create good jobs.
3. To provide parents with more time to spend with their children and take care of elders.
4. To promote culture.
5. To convert Spain into a country admired for helping those with more needs.
6. To help those with initiative and enterprising qualities.
7. To foster democracy, to lend distinction to politics and to promote deeper values over temporary interests.

Zapatero was a "dark horse" candidate. His critics pointed to his inexperience while his backers argued that he had a reformers' image and was the only MP among the candidates. (All the Spanish opposition leaders have been MPs before winning the elections.) Zapatero won by a small margin (414 votes out of 995; José Bono received 405).

Opposition leader

At first, Zapatero claimed that he would be constructive and would not try to damage the government. He even coined the expression "Oposición Tranquila," or "Calm Opposition." Because the Socialist Party did not immediately improve in popularity, he was nicknamed "Bambi," especially in the first months after being appointed General Secretary. Soon, however, he regained his initial political momentum.

Early clashes

Zapatero's first clash with the government was about the perceived inability of the government to control the rise of fuel prices. He asked for a reduction in the excise taxes in order to compensate for crude oil price increases. At the end of the same year, Mad Cow Disease came back into the spotlight after an outbreak in 1996. Zapatero repeatedly criticized the government's management of the crisis arguing that it was out of control. The disease caused dozens of deaths in Europe, though none in Spain (October, 2005).

In 2000, the British nuclear submarine H.M.S. Tireless docked at Gibraltar in order to have its reactor repaired. Aznar affirmed that there was no risk to the population, but Zapatero criticized him for his inability to force the British government to move the submarine elsewhere. The issue became a point of controversy and attracted public attention for months, causing several demonstrations near Gibraltar. After almost one year, the Tireless was repaired and left without having caused any known problem. During Zapatero's government, many other nuclear submarines have docked at Gibraltar without such an uproar.

On December 19, 2001 Zapatero traveled to Morocco after the Moroccan government expelled the Spanish ambassador. Javier Arenas, a prominent member of the People's Party, accused him of not being loyal to Spanish interests. Zapatero rejected this claim and argued that he was actually trying to help solve the crisis.

Iraq and foreign policy

The main source of friction between Aznar and Zapatero was Iraq. Opinion polls showed that a clear majority of Spanish voters (nearly 90%) were against the American-led invasion. Zapatero considered any action against Saddam Hussein's regime to be illegal and opposed the very concept of a preemptive war.

Zapatero's first clash with the U.S. was also related to his war stance. On October 12, 2003, he remained seated during an annual military parade when the American flag passed in front of him. He said afterward that his action was intended to be a protest against the Iraq war and not an insult to the American people.

On May 26, 2003 a Yakovlev Yak 42 plane carrying Spanish soldiers returning from Afghanistan crashed in Turkey. The plane had been hired by a NATO agency. Zapatero blamed Aznar and his government for neglecting the plane insurance and safety. It was not until after the March 2004 elections that it became known that there had been a large number of mistakes in identifying the bodies. The accident became similar to the Prestige in the political arena.

Terrorism

In 2000 after several fatal terrorist attacks by the Basque terrorist organization ETA, Zapatero proposed the "Pacto de las Libertades contra el Terrorismo," or the "Pact of the Liberties against Terrorism." At first, some prominent Popular Party politicians, like Mariano Rajoy, opposed Zapatero's proposal saying it accomplished little, but the agreement was signed in December of 2000. The main aim of the accord was to foster unity between the People's Party and the Socialists in the fight against terrorism. It included clauses to ensure that policies toward terrorism would not be used as a weapon for political gain.

The National Hydrological Plan

The "National Hydrological Plan" has been a great source of regional friction. Its main component, as enacted by the People's Party, was to transfer water from the Ebro River to areas in the southeast of Spain. The scheme received the support of farmers in the southeast, and was backed by Socialist regional governments in these regions, including in the states of Extremadura, Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha. Some Socialist leaders had supported the project when they were members of the government back in the 1990s. Because of the regional and historical support within his party, matters were complicated greatly for Zapatero.

Opposition to the scheme was led by Zapatero, environmental groups, the Socialist regional government of Aragon, and citizens who lived in the areas from where the water was to be transferred. The main criticisms of the scheme were that it would damage the environment and deprive farmers to the north of needed water. The proponents argued that there was no risk of a serious environmental damage and that 14 times more water reached the sea each year than was needed to preserve the ecosystem. Though the scheme was enacted into law under the government of Aznar, it was cancelled once Zapatero became Prime Minister.

Prestige oil tanker accident

In November 2002, the oil tanker Prestige suffered an accident in international waters near Galicia, causing a large oil slick that damaged the coastlines of Galicia, other parts of northern Spain and Portugal, and the south Atlantic coast of France. Governmental authorities deemed the tanker to be irreparable, as it was very old and in a very bad state, and decided to tugged it away from the coast as an attempt to minimize the damaging effects of the accident.

Zapatero blamed the government's management during the accident, especially the decision to pull the tanker away. Zapatero argued that had the ship been allowed to enter a harbor, the worst of the catastrophe could have been prevented. The accident and its consequences became a major issue for the Socialists, and perhaps the largest friction point (save the war in Iraq) entering the election of 2004. People from all parts of Spain came to the coast to help in the cleanup. The military forces show up to help in the cleaning in the third week after the accident.

Employment and education policy

In 2001, one of the largest sources of friction between the government and the opposition was the proposed reforms affecting the education system. The People's Party introduced a law to change the University and later the LOCE, or Organic Act for Education Quality, affecting secondary education. Zapatero strongly opposed both. The People's Party used its absolute majority in the Cortes to pass its reforms, but protests by student unions, which were joined by Zapatero, received a great deal of media attention.

Intermediate regional elections

In the run up to the general election in March of 2004, there were several regional elections during Zapatero's time as the opposition leader.

• A regional election was held in the Basque country on May 13, 2001. The Socialists received 17.8% of the vote, but ended up losing one seat. The Socialists and the People's Party had formed an alliance against the ruling Basque political movements, but the Basque movement's candidates won anyway. Following the election, Nicolás Redondo Terreros, the Basque Socialist leader during the election, was replaced by Patxi López, who had actively supported Zapatero during his campaign to become Secretary General.

• On October 21, 2001, Galicia held a regional election. The People's Party, led by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, obtained a new, absolute majority. The Socialist Party increased its seats from 15 to 17.

• On May 25, 2003, regional elections were held across much of Spain. The Socialist Party received a larger share of the popular vote.

• On November 16, 2003 a regional election was held in Catalonia. Two days before, Zapatero had predicted a historic victory for the Catalan Socialist Party. The final results were 46 seats for a right-wing nationalist Catalan party called CiU (ten fewer than 1999), 42 for the Socialist Party (ten fewer than 1999), 15 for the People's Party (three more than 1999), and 23 (nine more than in 1999) for the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), a pro-independence party. Although the Socialist Party got worse results than in the previous election, it finally prevent took hold of the regional government after almost 20 years of control of the Institutions by CIU thanks to an alliance with ERC and other left-wing party. The Socialist Party alliance with a pro-independence was very controversial as most Spaniards (including a majority of the socialist voters) are in favor of Spanish unity. Socialist supporters have argued that the Socialist strategy was a consequence of the party's openness to other points of views and cultures, which they have sometimes compared with what they have even defined as anti-Catalan policies of the People's Party.

The general election

Entering the general election on March 14, 2004, opinion polls were favorable to the People's Party which was expected to regain its absolute majority. However, the Madrid Bombings on March 11, 2004 -- three days before the elections -- are widely cited as swinging the election to the PSOE.

Platforms and debates

During the campaign, Zapatero harshly criticized the People's Party for its management of the Prestige crisis, its support of the war in Iraq, and the high cost of housing. His electoral promises included 180,000 new houses every year, the preservation of a balanced budget but with a more flexible approach, bilingual education, one computer for every two students and more money for R&D. Mariano Rajoy, the new leader of the People's Party after Aznar's retirement, banked on the success of the Spanish economy since 1996 and attacked Zapatero's possible alliances with parties like United Left and the Republican Left of Catalonia calling them radicals and trying to give a wrong message of what a democratic party is.

The lack of debates between the candidates in the campaign also became a major point of contention. Zapatero proposed a face-to-face encounter to Rajoy, but the Popular Party's candidate demanded that Zapatero should be accompanied at least by who he considered to be his probable allies if he won the election: Gaspara Llamazares, leader of the communist party United Left, and Josep-Lluis Carod Rovira, head of the Republican Left of Catalonia. Finally, no debate took place and both candidates blamed each other for it.

3/11 Madrid terrorist attacks

On Thursday, March 11, 2004, the largest terrorist attack in recent Spanish history took place in downtown Madrid. Several commuters' trains were bombed, resulting in 191 deaths and thousands of injuries. A shock ran throughout Spain and the Western world. The attacks took place three days before the General Election and all electoral activities were suspended. The sorrow, instead of promoting unity, increased already bitter divisions.

Most people, including the People's Party government and Zapatero, initially claimed that the attacks were the work of the Basque terrorist organization ETA. Aznar's government even asked for a UN Security Council resolution condemning ETA by name, which is unprecedented in international diplomacy. Later in the day, an audio tape in Arabic was found in a van near a railway station where the terrorists had boarded the trains. The next day, Aznar declared that all of the possibilities were being investigated [1], although he still believed that ETA was the most likely culprit.

The government's explanations did not satisfy many Spaniards, and it was accused of manipulating information about the real cause of the attacks. The virulence of the criticism increased as election day approached, heightened by events like the broadcasting of the film Asesinato en Febrero on March 13, 2004. Asesinato was a documentary about a murder committed by ETA, and was broadcast by the Spanish Public Television, TVE though it had not been previously scheduled. The showing of the documentary was seen as an attempt to influence public opinion.

On March 13, 2004, the day before the election which is known as reflection day, demonstrations protesting the government's "manipulation" took place in front of People's Party offices across Spain. The demonstrators were summoned by text messages sent from mobile phones. The People's Party later accused the Socialist Party of having organized the demonstrations and even of having sent text messages; such a claim is serious since demonstrations are forbidden on reflection day. The accusation has never been seriously investigated as there was never enough evidence to start a formal investigation.

The next day, on March 14, Zapatero won the election, obtaining 164 seats. The People's Party obtained 148. The Socialist Party could not fully enjoy its triumph because of the sadness of what had happened just three days before. Despite the fact that Zapatero had won the election, he lacked the necessary majority needed to ensure his appointment as Prime Minister (176 are needed). Zapatero began negotiating with possible coalition partners, eventually gaining the support of the United Left and the Republican Left of Catalonia. This was and is not a a permanent coalition, so before every major vote the Socialists negotiate with the other parties. Zapatero became the first Prime Minister to have an equal number of male and female ministers in his cabinet.

The Spanish media allege that in the aftermath of the attacks Zapatero wrongly claimed that suicide bombers had been found among the victims. When asked in December 2004 before Parliament he declared that he did not remember what he had said.

The effects of the attacks

Today it is widely accepted that the electoral result was influenced by the attacks. How it influenced the results is widely debated. The two schools are:

• The attacks changed the electoral winner. A sufficient number of voters decided to vote for the Socialist party either because they disliked the "manipulation" of Aznar's government or because they did not want to suffer the consequences of a foreign policy they disliked.
• The attacks did change the result but not the winner. The Socialist Party was going to win but with fewer votes.

A popular conspiracy theory is that the attacks were planned to cause a Socialist victory. The "March 4 theory," defended, among others, by José María Aznar, states that the attacks would have taken place on March 4 if the election had been scheduled for March 7. There is no definitive evidence behind the theory, but there are some non-conclusive clues: For example, the first question Jamal Zougam, one of the first arrested suspects, asked when he arrived at the courthouse on March 15, 2004 was: 'Who won the election?'

On June 13, 2004 (three months after the General Election) the Election for the European Parliament took place. The Socialist Party won again with 25 seats against 24 for the People's Party (out of 54). Although José Borrell was the official candidate, Zapatero played an important role in that campaign (as is usual in Spain). The new triumph seemed to dissipate the doubts about the causes of his previous victory, though the Socialist victory was exceptionally narrow.

Prime ministership: domestic policy

Much of Zapatero's work has been on social issues, including divorce and homosexual marriage. He has also made it clear that he values funding of research and development and higher education and believes them to be essential for Spain's economic competitiveness. At the same time, he has increased the minimum wage and pursued other classicly socialist policies. He has also announced his intention to undertake limited reforms to the Spanish Constitution, though no specifics have been made available.

Main government policies

Same-sex marriage and church-state issues

The legalization of same-sex marriage (became law on July 1st, 2005) includes adoption rights as well as other rights that were available only to heterosexual couples. The recognition of homosexual marriage, the loosening of laws restricting divorce, the rumors about a legalization of euthanasia, new regulations regulating the teaching of religion in school, and some attempts to change the manner that the government treats the finances of the Catholic Church are all factors that are contributing to the growing tension between the Socialist government and the Roman Catholic Church. [2].

Gender violence

The first law passed by his government was against gender violence. At first, the text was intended to protect only women, leaving out legal protection of other victims like children, elders or men. According to the General Council of the Judicial Power (Consejo General del Poder Judicial), that stance made the initial draft unconstitutional as it discriminated citizens for its sex. Finally, the text was changed and the term 'especially vulnerable victim' substituted that of 'woman' in the articles defining the new punishments established by the law. After that change, it was approved by unanimity in the parliament. (Text of the law.)

Regional terrorism and territorial tensions

Zapatero has often declared that his government will not be "soft on terrorism" and will not allow regional nationalists to endanger Spanish unity. This comment was aroused, probably, for his party alliances with parties like Republican Left of Catalonia.

In December 2004, Zapatero became the first prime minister to face an Investigative Committee after being interrogated by the Committee created to discover the truth about the 11 March attacks [3].

The biggest rejection of Spanish unity has come from Juan José Ibarretxe [4] - the head of the Basque Regional Government. His Ibarretxe Plan is a reform of the statute now regulating the Basque Autonomous Community considered almost equivalent to a declaration of independence by its opponents. The plan was drafted by the Basque regional government and approved by the regional legislature in spite of the opposition of the PSOE and the PP. The PP pressured Zapatero to prevent the vote from taking place, but Zapatero, insisted on debating and voting on it. The Spanish National Parliament rejected the plan, as was expected. The plan then became a major campaign issue in the Basque parliamentary election held on April 17, where its main proponent, the Basque Nationalist Party, suffered an important loss of votes. Zapatero has stated that he will support in the national parliament any statute reform supported by two-thirds of the Basque parliament.

In October 2005, a controversial proposal to reform the Catalan statute arrived at the Spanish parliament after being passed in Catalonia. Zapatero, who has often expressed his support for a change of the statute (although does not support entirely the proposal as it has been originally drafted), became on October 12, 2005 (Spain's national holiday), the first prime minister ever to be booed during the traditional military parade in Madrid, probably due to the large popular opposition to the new statute.

Public housing

One of the most important Zapatero's electoral promises was to make housing more accessible. Housing prices have increased largely in Spain, mostly since 2001. For that purpose he created a new ministry. The Minister of Housing (Ministra de la Vivienda) has declared that its intention is not to reduce housing prices but to allow people to obtain a house more easily. In Zapatero's first year as prime minister the cost of buying a house has increased around 17% on average, a similar to those before being appointed [5].

Spanish Civil War remanants

In October 2004 Zapatero's government undertook the task of morally and legally rehabilitating those who were suppressed during and after the Spanish Civil War, by instituting a Memory Commission chaired by Vice-president María Teresa Fernández de la Vega. Some accused him of deliberately forgetting the incidents in Republican territory affecting right-wing victims. Zapatero's grandfather, in his will, called on family members to clear his name "when the time is right".

Foreign policy

Zapatero favors a multilateral approach to foreign policy with the United Nations playing a fundamental role. He has also affirmed his view that a strict respect to international law is essential for keeping peace; this is a clear reference to the Iraq war. The first time he spoke before the UN General Assembly, he proposed an Alliance of Civilizations as a way to solve the world's problems.

Foreign policy is the area where Zapatero differs most sharply from his predecessor. Aznar defended a foreign policy based on two pillars: A strong alliance with the U.S., and a peripheral European strategy where Spain would emphasize its friendship with European countries like Italy, the UK, and Poland in order to counterbalance French and German power within the EU.

European Union

Zapatero has preferred to focus on what he considers to be the core countries of the EU, mainly France and Germany, which would join Spain in forming a strong block as a counterbalance to American power. On March 1, 2005 he became the first Spanish prime minister to speak to the French National Assembly.

With regard to the European Constitution, Zapatero accepted the distribution of power proposed by Germany and France. This decision, however, in effect abandoned Poland, which had the same stance as that of the previous government under Aznar. Under the new distribution of power, Spain was certain to lose influence, but Zapatero accepted it anyway. After signing up the treaty in Rome with the other leaders, Spain held the first referendum to ratify it, which was held on February 20, 2005. The turnout was the lowest in Spanish history at only 41%, though over 75% voted in favor of the Constitution, which was backed by the two principal parties: Zapatero's Socialists and the opposition People's Party). [6]

Iraq and relations with U.S.

During the electoral campaign, Zapatero had promised to recall the troops in Iraq if control over that country was not given to the United Nations after June 30, 2004. He did declare that he did not intend to withdraw the Spanish troops before that date. In any case, on April 18, 2004, Zapatero announced that the return of the 1300 Spanish troops stationed in Iraq would start immediately. The last soldier was scheduled to be back the same day the European political campaign began in May 2004. Some critics have asserted that this was not a casual connection and that his withdrawal coincided with a large increase in the number of abductions to blackmail governments to withdraw troops.

The withdrawal aroused a great deal of international criticism, as many feared that it could be perceived as a victory for terrorists. Then U.S. presidential candidate Senator John Kerry joined President Bush in asking Zapatero not to recall the Spanish soldiers. Some months later, Zapatero's government agreed to increase the number of Spanish soldiers in Afghanistan and to send troops to Haiti in an attempt to show a willingness to spend resources on international missions.

On June 8, 2004, with the withdrawal already finished, Zapatero's government voted in favor of the UN Security Council Resolution 1546 which included provisions that asked member states and NGOs to contribute military and economic assistance to Iraq. However, in a later visit to to Tunisia, Zapatero asked all countries with troops in Iraq to withdraw their soldiers. This drew an angry response from the President Bush, and the American ambassador to Spain refused to go to the annual National Holiday military parade to protest Zapatero's comments.

Relations between President Bush and Zapatero were still strained in fall of 2004. When Bush won re-election, Zapatero's congratulatory call did not get to the White House unlike many other important world leaders such as Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac. Zapatero's message was later passed on by King Juan Carlos who visited Bush's Texas ranch a week after US elections.

Gibraltar and relations with U.K.

On the issue of Gibraltar, Zapatero initially took a strong line with the United Kingdom by complaining about Gibraltar's tercentenary celebrations of its conquest by Britain. Zapatero's government may have considered those celebrations to be a direct provocation due to the tensions caused by his decision to withdraw troops from the American and British-led coalition in Iraq.

At the end of 2004, Zapatero decided to change his policy and became the first Spanish prime minister to accept the participation of Gibraltar itself as a partner in the discussions about the future of the British colony. The opposition People's Party considered the decision a surrender of Spanish rights over the colony, but Zapatero justified it as a new way to solve a 300 hundred years old problem, since the UK government had committed to honor Gibraltar people wishes..

Poland

In December 2004, Zapatero, after attending sessions of the Parliamentary Investigative Committee about the Madrid Bombings for 15 hours, decided to suspend his meetings scheduled for the next day in Poland. He commented that "he felt a little tired." Some days later, Zapatero was scheduled to meet the Polish prime minister at a European summit in Brussels. This meeting did not take place either because the plane of the Polish leader was said to have suffered an unexpected delay. Some feared that these events served to aggravate relations that had already been damaged after Zapatero's decision to change the Spanish stance regarding the European Constitution. However, some time later, an official meeting meant a reconciliation of both nations.

Latin America

Another change in policy with regard to his predecessor is Zapatero's decision to approach left-wing leaders such as Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. Zapatero has played an important role in the improvement of relations between Castro's regime and the European Union. At the end of March 2005, Zapatero traveled to Venezuela to cement a deal that would allow for the sales of military ships and aircraft valued at about $1.7 billion to Venezuela. The decision was criticized by both the U.S. and the opposition People's Party. Zapatero has claimed that the equipment has no offensive power.

Personal data

On January 27, 1990, Zapatero married Sonsoles Espinosa Díaz, the daughter of a military officer (Rafael Espinosa Armendáriz) [7]. Sonsoles studied law, and is a classical singer and music teacher. Zapatero is also the father of two young girls, Laura (1993) and Alba (1995). His family has never appeared before the Spanish media, and there are no recent images of his two young daughters. Most Spaniards do not even know what his wife's speaking voice sounds like, as she does not give public speeches.

Zapatero is fluent only in Spanish and has some rough basic knowledge of English. This is despite the fact that his father sent him to Britain for several summers to help him learn English, and that he took classes after being appointed Secretary General of the Socialists. Some of Zapatero's hobbies include fishing for trout, walking in the countryside, jogging, and reading political essays. His favorite sports is soccer; he is a fan of Barcelona football team and of César Rodríguez Álvarez, a famous striker from León who had played for the team in the 1940's. Zapatero also smokes, though he has substantially reduced the habit since his university days.

Notes

1. ^ A common taunt used against him is 'Zapatero. ¡A tus zapatos!', which is a Spanish expression meaning 'get on with it' and literally translates to: 'Cobbler. Back to your shoes!'
2. ^  Upon being elected, Zapatero promised that primary elections would be used to elect candidates in the future.
3. ^  After the general election, Alfredo Urdaci, the head of the public news channel until the Socialist victory, declared the decision of broadcasting Asesinato en Febrero was made by Juan Menor, then director of TVE. Menor denied the accusation and kept his job until December 2004 when he was fired due to poor ratings. He was one of the few top executives who was not immediately removed by the new Socialist government. [8][9].
4. ^  According to a poll published a year after the Madrid bombing in El Mundo, 70% of the Spaniards believed that the attacks contributed decisively to the Socialist victory.

References

• [OCAM] Óscar Campillo Madrigal. Zapatero. Presidente a la Primera. 1st ed. updated. (La Esfera de los Libros, Spain, April 2004). ISBN 84-9734-193-7.

See also

• History of Spain
• Politics of Spain

External links

Official

• Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
• Web site of La Moncloa, official residence of the Spanish Prime Minister

Press

• The second transition, a survey of Spain by The Economist, Jun 24th 2004
• Interview published by Time Magazine, 19 Sep 2004
• Copy of the editorial of the Wall Street Journal "The Accidental Prime Minister", 25 November 2004
• Alternet, 11 April 2005, "Zapatero Steps Up" (first year in office)

Spanish

• Extended biography by CIDOB Foundation
• Biography in Spanish of Zapatero
• Website highly critical of Rodríguez Zapatero

Preceded by: José María Aznar

Prime Minister of Spain 2004—present

Succeeded by: incumbent