José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

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 General Franco, the former fascist dictator.

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.

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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 did caused dozens of deaths in Europe, though none in Spain, in (April of 2005).

Related Topics:
Crude oil - Mad Cow Disease - 1996 - Spain - April - 2005

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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.

Related Topics:
2000 - Gibraltar

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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.

Related Topics:
December 19 - 2001 - Javier Arenas

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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.

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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.

Related Topics:
U.S. - October 12 - 2003 - Iraq

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On May 26, 2003 a Yakolev 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.

Related Topics:
May 26 - 2003 - NATO - Prestige

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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.

Related Topics:
2000 - ETA - Mariano Rajoy

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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.

Related Topics:
Extremadura - Andalusia - Castilla-La Mancha

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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.

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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 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 move it away from the coast towards Portugal believing the decision would make Spain to skip the problem and pass it to other country. The Prestige finally broke in two and sank after being tugged away from the coast for several days.

Related Topics:
November - 2002 - Prestige - Galicia - Oil slick - Spain - France

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Zapatero blamed the government's management during the accident, especially the decision to pull the tanker away from the coast. 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. The PP's authorities of Galicia said that only a little fuel was escaping from the tanker while there were tons of oil dirting every day the coast of Galicia. People coming from all parts of Spain came to the coast to help in the cleaning while Mr. Aznar Government passiveness made a bigger catastrophe. The military forces didn't appeared in the scene to help in the cleaning till the third week after the sinking. This huge scandal has also made the Popular Party (PP) and his galician and historic leader (Mr. Fraga) lose once more another election (election for the Presidecy of the Regional State of Galicia).

Related Topics:
Iraq - 2004

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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.

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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.

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• 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. And that was a historic win. After almost 20 years of control of the Institutions by CIU, the Socialist got the Presidency of the Generalitat with the support of another left wing party (ERC). Popular Party become the 4th party far away from PSOE and experienced that their anti-catalan policies and no respect for others's cultures didn't help much.