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.

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.

Related Topics:
General election - March 14 - 2004 - Madrid Bombings - March 11

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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.

Related Topics:
R&D - Mariano Rajoy - Aznar - United Left - Republican Left of Catalonia

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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.

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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.

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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 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3504950.stm, although he still believed that ETA was the most likely culprit.

Related Topics:
Basque - ETA - UN - Security Council

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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.

Related Topics:
Asesinato en Febrero - March 13 - 2004 - ETA - TVE

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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.

Related Topics:
March 13 - 2004 - Reflection day - Spain

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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.

Related Topics:
March 14 - Election - United Left - Republican Left of Catalonia

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The Spanish media allege that in the aftermath of the attacks Zapatero wrongly claimed that suicide bombers had been found among the victims.

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When asked in December 2004 before Parliament he declared that he did not remember what he had said.

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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:

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• 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 ancedotal 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?'

Related Topics:
José María Aznar - Jamal Zougam

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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.

Related Topics:
June 13 - 2004 - European Parliament - José Borrell

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