zapatero

Mr Zapatero's next trick was to flag a package of proposals for labour reform, an issue on which he has stalled for almost two years.

In a frenzied few days, however, Mr Zapatero has made up for it, with appearances in six countries from Chile to Turkey.

His demands that Mr Zapatero hand over the minutes of any meetings with ETA did not get far.

Mr Zapatero must have known he could not fulfil his pledges, which seem to have been devised for the European election on June 7th.

He did not. If Mr Zapatero fails to pull off his balancing act this time, he may not get another chance.

Zapatero said there were "no apparent indications" that there would be a U. N. resolution meeting his requirements by the end of June.

The supposed resemblance of the bumbling slapstick character to Spain's Prime Minister Zapatero has been a running joke in Spain for years.

Unless he is prepared to cut spending, Mr Zapatero can only keep his promise to cut the deficit to 3% of gdp by raising taxes.

His vision of an expanding welfare state was dumped. With it may have gone Mr Zapatero's political future.

Two figures sum up the dilemma Mr Zapatero found himself in.

He eventually carried off his prize, when Barack Obama declared that he was "glad to call him a friend" .

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spaniards well understand the suffering of the British people.

Bold labour-market reforms to make it easier to fire workers will not be, to avoid upsetting Mr Zapatero's trade-union friends.

The Zapatero government has finally begun to force consolidation of the banking system , forcing troubled regional cajas to merge.

"Education, education, education, " Mr Zapatero said, aping Britain's Tony Blair, as he announced his new priorities.

This would likely force Zapatero to call advance elections and spook investors.

In 2004 Mr Zapatero fell out with George Bush by withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq soon after being elected.

To his credit, Mr Zapatero has begun to cut the cost of hiring.

A tentative recovery, it says, may not come until late in 2010, a year later than Mr Zapatero has predicted.

Yet, as one ally concedes, if he fails to win an absolute majority, that will be a mark of Mr. Zapatero's failure as leader.

Having said he will not stand in next year's election, Mr Zapatero can take more bullets.

Mr Zapatero sweetened the pill a few days earlier by announcing a tax increase for the rich in 2011.

Mr Zapatero's government has passed some of the most liberal laws in Europe, including legalising gay marriage.

Mr Zapatero's popularity has proved inversely proportional to the wisdom of his decision-making.

While revitalizing the economy, Zapatero also wants to save his own party.

Another lesson from the crisis is the need for greater economic policy coordination within the European Union, Mr. Zapatero said.

Mr Zapatero will probably scrap his income-tax rebate, or most of it. But he is cautious about raising income tax.

But now Mr Zapatero must pull off a delicate balancing act if he is to stay in power until his second term formally ends in 2012.

Mr Zapatero is only now starting to pay the price for recession.

Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero won parliamentary approval for the measures last month by a single vote.

If Mr Zapatero can get ETA to move to a permanent end of violence, then he may gain some more voters.

Zapatero said that Spain is willing to be China's friend. Spain enjoys sound economic development.

Mr Rajoy says unemployment will be his first priority, and he is likely to take up Mr Zapatero's unfinished work on labour-market reform.

Zapatero said at a meeting of a Socialist Workers Party said his decision.

He has abandoned overblown claims that Mr Zapatero is tearing Spain apart by giving more autonomy to its regions or destroying the family.

It is hardly surprising, then, that Mr Zapatero's government is mistrustful or that Spaniards as a whole are sceptical.

Markets will be convinced by Mr Zapatero's belated conversion to reform only if he hits his deficit targets.

Polls suggest that Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's ruling Socialist party will be handed a heavy defeat.

Pension reform, including a later retirement age proposed by Mr Zapatero four months ago, has drifted into the background.

It has helped pass Mr Zapatero's previous budgets, usually in return for regional investment.

Mr Zapatero, his hand forced by the markets, is imposing austerity measures and labour reforms unwillingly.

CiU, a party that likes to wield power in Madrid, has enough seats there to offer Mr Zapatero a more stable government.

The ruling Socialist Party is expected to hold primaries to elect Mr Zapatero's successor as party leader after local elections on May 22nd.

But now Mr Zapatero's opponents can no longer accuse him of being soft on terrorism by talking to the gunmen.

A so-called sustainable economy law, which Mr Zapatero announced in May 2009, is still stuck in parliament.

Indeed, Mr Zapatero and his ministers have in the past consistently poo-poohed the notion of constitutionally mandated deficit limits.

To crown it all, Mr Zapatero's Socialist Party (PSOE) has a comfortable, if not huge, lead in the opinion polls.

now Mr Zapatero, whose minority government has secured parliamentary support to pass next year's budget, is closing the gap.

Unusually, Mr Zapatero also failed to keep his government shuffle a secret.

Spaniards have grown used to Mr Zapatero's showmanship.

A ruling by Spain's constitutional court watering down an autonomy statute passed by Mr Zapatero has raised passions.

Instead, he raised more doubts, chiefly this one: is Mr Zapatero the man to lead Spain into recovery?

Unfortunately, Mr Zapatero's frantic week abroad coincided with trouble at home.

Mr Zapatero accuses Prisa's media outlets of sharpening their knives. He also denies favouring Mediapro.

If he is to do so, Mr Zapatero must take several steps fast.

Mr Zapatero is on an official visit to China and Singapore to meet Asian investors.

Mr Zapatero's belated reforms have eased some of the pressure.

Mr. Zapatero and Mr. Rajoy are vying to make ever more extravagant promises of tax cuts and spending plans.

For all Mr Zapatero's dilatoriness, Spain has taken more decisive action than Italy to tackle the budget deficit.

"The situation is difficult and it would be nonsense to hide it, " said Mr Zapatero.

Mr Zapatero calls Turkey a "great country" that has waited too long at Europe's gates.

Mr Zapatero has pledged to look after them, but that will cost money.

Mr Zapatero says that these cajas could then be bought by a domestic or foreign bank, or by a large caja.

Will Mr Zapatero really face a general strike after his labour-reform announcement next week?

Mr Rajoy has criticised Mr Zapatero's pension reform without offering an alternative.

Merkel and Zapatero 3 at a joint press conference that: "Spain to fulfill the mission, on the right path. "

He has also vowed to maintain the spending power of pensions, which Mr Zapatero froze.

Mr Zapatero, now in his second term, lacks a majority in parliament.

It was further proof that Mr Zapatero's political weakness is damaging his ability to pep up an economy that shrank by 3% in the past year.

Mr Zapatero came to power pledging to reduce the historic tensions between Madrid and Barcelona.

Mr Zapatero introduced urgent reform and fiscal austerity.

Polls show that Mr Zapatero is increasingly a liability to the Socialists.

That is not enough to win back the absolute majority the party lost in 2004, when Mr Zapatero came to power.

Mr Zapatero's legacy is a deeply unpopular party overseeing a torpid economy with 20% unemployment.

Even Mr Zapatero has admitted that the recovery is slow and uncertain.

Those concerns pushed Zapatero, who is not running for another term, to call for early legislative elections.

The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero welcomed the result.

Mr. Zapatero refused to endorse Mr. Putin's decision to invite Hamas to Moscow, saying he deplored the group's use of violence.

On June 16th, unless unions and employers miraculously agree their own deal first, Mr Zapatero will impose labour reform on them.

However, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has pledged to change the law, saying it discriminates against female royals.

Then Mr Zapatero, who has shown no real understanding of the need for reform, made a big mistake.

Socialists fear that Mr Zapatero has handed the PP an early electoral gift.

Famously optimistic, Mr Zapatero points to studies suggesting that Spain will grow faster than the EU average as early as 2013.

This matters, for the economy will be Mr Zapatero's biggest headache.

Spain's Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero smiled at the remark.

The players will have a brief siesta before a reception hosted by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Zapatero said Spain's economy will grow less than 2% this year and the salary freeze will take effect in 2009 and last 1 year.

Yet prolonged austerity will drain Mr Zapatero's support on the left.

But Mr. Zapatero refused to confirm a ransom payment.

The less Mr Zapatero does about the economy, the more disenchanted voters may become.

Mr Rajoy wants CiU, which is critical of Mr Zapatero's lukewarm reforms, to help him oust the government.

But the Catalans are wary of embracing a lame Mr Zapatero before an election for their regional government in the autumn.

The first wobble for Mr Zapatero comes with the autumn budget debate.

The second factor weakening Mr. Zapatero is his policy on the Spanish regions.

'We are awaiting such explanation, ' Mr. Zapatero said.

Mr Zapatero's party saw its support nationwide fall by 19% compared to local elections four years ago, against a PP rise of 7%.

And Mr Rajoy has also toned down his anti-Zapatero rhetoric.

Even if Mr Zapatero himself is less popular than he was, he still bests Mariano Rajoy, the plodding opposition leader.

After the election of Nov. 20, 2011, the Spanish prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, stepped down.

But Mr Zapatero is also a skilled political operator.