Of the group's 12 MEPs elected at the last Euro-election, one was subsequently jailed for fraud and another has been charged with false accounting and money laundering (which he denies).
This was the first election since Mr Zapatero's May austerity measures, designed to fend off Suggestions that Spain might be on the list of euro countries needing bail-outs.
Mrs Merkel is not to blame for the euro crisis but she dithered when it came, hoping that bail-outs of Greece and other shaky euro-zone members could be put off until after NRW’s election.