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José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (born August 4, 1960) is the fifth prime minister of Spain since the restoration of democracy in 1978, following his party's victory in the March 14 Spanish general election. He was sworn in as prime minister (or president of the government) by King Juan Carlos I on April 17, 2004. He has been Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since 2000. During the election campaign he was given the nickname ZP (Zapatero Presidente).

Early years

Rodríguez Zapatero was born in Valladolid to Juan Rodríguez Lozano and Purificación Zapatero, but he grew up in León whence his family originated. He came from an affluent family with a long tradition of left-wing politics. His father was a prominent, successful lawyer and his grandfather, Juan Rodriguez Lozano , was a Freemason and a Republican captain executed by the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War.

He studied Law at the University of León. Previously, he had attended a private school managed by the Catholic Church (something typical among Spanish affluent families even today).

His performance as a student was above average before his pre-University year. Then it worsened, and his grades in that year and in the University were essentialy mediocre.

On February 23, 1979, Zapatero joined the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, Spanish Socialists' Workers Party) after attending his first political rally in Gijón, where he heard the PSOE leader and future Prime Minister of Spain, Felipe González. The impression Felipe González caused upon him played a fundamental role in his decision of joining the party. In 1977, the PSOE had not yet renounced Marxism as its ideological base (which happened in 1979).

In 1982, Zapatero became head of the socialist youth organization in the province of León.

After graduating in 1983, Zapatero worked as a Law professor in the University of León until 1986. According to this source he was appointed directly without a previous selection process open to other candidates, what aroused suspicions of political favoritism.

In 1986, he was elected to represent the province of León in the Cortes (Parliament), becoming its youngest Member. In 1988 he was elected to head the regional chapter of the socialist party in León, and in 1997 he was appointed to the party's governing body.

Activities as an opposition leader

Main article: Zapatero's years as an opposition leader.

Zapatero was appointed Secretary General of the PSOE in 2000, after a party congress following his party's defeat in that year's general election. Zapatero was the only candidate for Secretary General (in a field of four) with a seat in the parliament, which he immediately put to use after his appointment.

The style of Zapatero's opposition was characterized by the Spanish terms talante (demeanor) and oposición tranquila (calm opposition), intended to highlight a new style of political opposition. By contrast, Aznar's style (and the People's Party's generally) both in the government and early in opposition to Felipe González was dubbed arrogant and authoritarian by the Socialists.

Despite the deliberately alleged calm presentation, Zapatero's criticism of the government was very active from the very beginning. He criticized mainly the Government management of the Mad Cow disease, the presence of the British nuclear submarine HMS Tireless at the Gibraltar harbor, the reform of the educational system, the reform of unemployment insurance, the Goverment's management of the crisis started after the sinking of the oil tanker Prestige, the scheme to transfer water from the River Ebro to other areas, the crash in Turkey of a plane returning Spanish troops from Afghanistan and Aznar's stance regarding the European Constitution.

The main point of friction between Zapatero and Aznar was the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq. Zapatero firmly opposed the 2003 invasion and after Aznar's decision of sending 1,300 troops to the country.

The Iraq situation motivated an unusually drawn-out pre-electoral campaign. In the lead-up to the general election of 14 March 2004, all opinion polls predicted a third term for the People's Party, albeit without the absolute majority they enjoyed in their second term.

The 2003 and 2004 Elections

Main articles: Zapatero and the Local and Regional Elections of 2003 and Zapatero and the 2004 General Election.

The 2004 General Election was preceded by the Local and Regional Elections of May 25, 2003. In general, there were not too many changes in the results compared to those of the previous Elections held in 1999, what was seen as a setback for Zapatero by his critics.

In March 14, 2004 the first General Election for Zapatero took place. Three days before the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks had killed 191 people. It seems clear today that they affected the final result although it is a matter of controversy how and why.

On June 13, 2004, three monts after the General Election, the PSOE obtained a new victory in the elections to the European Parliament, in which Zapatero played an important role as the leader of his party.

Zapatero has lost no election since he started his life as a politician.

Appointment by the Congress and inauguration

Zapatero had won the election but lacked the necessary absolute majority needed to ensure his appointment as Prime Minister (176 are needed for that, he counted only with 164 MPs).

Between the Election Day and the debate prior to his election by the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) a period of consultations and negotiations with different political groups started. In the end, Zapatero obtained the support of United Left and Republican Left of Catalonia, allowing him to be elected in the first vote cast by the lower house, the Congress of Deputies.

The support of Zapatero's allies was intentionally obtained without drafting an official agreement for the rest of his term of office. Because of that, the Socialist Party needs to negotiate with the rest of political forces before any vote takes place in the Parliament. PP leader Mariano Rajoy has repeatedly accused Zapatero's government of being weak due to its lack of permanent support.

The day after the election, Zapatero had announced his intention to seek support for the investiture (appointment) vote but without a formal coalition. According to his supporters, this was in line with his calm demeanor strategy and would intend to bring the parliament to the fore, but was criticised by the People's Party as leading to a weak government.

As a Prime Minister, Zapatero has been the first leader of a Spanish government to have the same number of male and female ministers. He has declared himself to be a feminist.

Prime Minister

Domestic policy

Main article: Zapatero's domestic policy

The first measures related to Zapatero's domestic policy that he announced included his intention to undertake limited reforms to the Spanish Constitution and to legalize same-sex marriage (providing those couples with adoption rights).

The first important law passed by Zapatero was a controversial law against gender violence.

In October 2004 Zapatero's government instituted a Memory Commission to rehabilitate Franco's victims.

In December 2004, Zapatero became the first sitting prime minister to testify before a Congressional Investigative Committee, namely the one created to discover the truth about the March 11 attacks .

At the beginning of 2005, Zapatero has had to face the so-called Ibarretxe Plan, generally interpreted as an attack on Spanish unity.

The relation between Zapatero and the Spanish Catholic Church has suffered an important deterioration as a result of some Socialist policies (as the legalization of same-sex marriages).

Foreign policy

Main article: Zapatero's foreign policy

The last decision was to order back home the 1300 Spanish troops in Iraq. Some months after that withdrawal, the Socialist Government agreed to increase the number of Spanish soldiers in Afghanistan and to send troops to Haiti.

On June 8 2004 - with the withdrawal already finished, Zapatero's government voted in the UN Security Council in favor of the Resolution 1546 (), that asked all the Member States to send troops to Iraq in order to fight against terrorism and help reconstruct the country.

The relations of Spain with the United States are good according to Zapatero although it seems that they have deteriorated because of decisions like that already referred about the Spanish soldiers in Iraq.

Zapatero has decidedly approached extreme left-wing leaders such as Fidel Castro or the President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez. Zapatero has played an important role in the improvement of the relation between the Cuban Communist regime and the European Union.

On the issue of Gibraltar, Zapatero initially took a strong line with the United Kingdom, complaining at Gibraltar's celebrations for the tercentenary of its independence from Spain but at the end of 2004, Zapatero decided to change his policy and to become the first Spanish prime minister to accept the participation of Gibraltar as a partner in the same level than Spain and the United Kingdom in the discussions both countries hold regularly about the colony.

Regarding the writing of the European Constitution, Zapatero accepted the distribution of power proposed by countries such as Germany and France. That new distribution meant a loss of influence for Spanish governments. He called for a referendum on it, which was held on February 20, 2005. Of a turnout of 41% 75% voted in favor of the European Constitution.

Personal Data

Zapatero married on January 27, 1990 with the daughter of a military officer (Rafael Espinosa Armendáriz) called Sonsoles Espinosa Díaz who studied law and is an opera singer and a music teacher. He is father of two girls, Laura (1993) and Alba (1995). He has been the first Spanish prime minister who has not shown his family to the public media, as there exist no available recent images of his two minor daughters. His wife has never said anything in public (March 2005).

He is only fluent in Spanish and has some rough basic knowledge of English.

His favorite sports are football and basketball. Rodríguez Zapatero is a supporter of the Barcelona football team.

See also

• History of Spain
• Politics of Spain
• Zapatero's years as an opposition leader
• Zapatero and the Local and Regional Elections of 2003
• Zapatero and the 2004 General Election
• Zapatero's domestic policy
• Zapatero's foreign policy

External links

Official

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

Press

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

Spanish

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

• 1960 births
• Spanish politicians
• Spanish politics
• Current national leaders