Spain’s new government. Zapping along

A newish prime minister pushes a progressive social agenda

AFTER his surprise win in March's election, Spain's new prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announced that he would withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq as soon as possible. This week the last Spanish soldier duly came home. Two-thirds of Spaniards backed the withdrawal; Mr Zapatero's ratings have soared. Opinion polls suggest that his Socialist Party is running 9-14 points ahead of the opposition People's Party in the European elections on June 13th. He is also winning support for social progressivism.

Indeed, after eight years of the confrontational style of José María Aznar's government, the more congenial Mr Zapatero is in a state of grace. In marked contrast to the Castilian dogmatism of Mr Aznar, he has set out an unabashedly politically correct, secular platform, to reflect the diversity of modern Spain. For example, in his first parliamentary speech after the election, he promised to make equality between the sexes an “emblematic task”. His first move was to appoint eight women to his 16-strong cabinet, putting Spain on a par with Sweden for ministerial sex equality. The most powerful is Mara Teresa Fernndez de la Vega, the first vice-president. A few still complained that the macho jobs such as defence, the economy and the interior went to the boys.

In another sign of commitment to sex parity, Mr Zapatero has pledged to reform the electoral system to ensure that the same number of women as men stand as candidates in elections. He has also outlined plans to legalise same-sex marriages and to give gay couples the right to adopt children. “Homosexuals and trans-sexuals deserve the same treatment as heterosexuals, and have the right to live freely the lives that they have chosen,” he declared.

Mr Zapatero even plans to change the Spanish laws of succession, ending male primogeniture, so that a woman may succeed to the Spanish throne. This reform, which appears to have the royal nod, will not be retrospective, so it will not affect Crown Prince Felipe, who has two older sisters. The prince was married in Madrid on May 22nd, in a suitably sombre ceremony, to a former television news presenter and divorcee, Letizia Ortiz. In keeping with the mood of the times, the wedding was criticised by some for failing to represent religions other than Roman Catholicism, and by others for shamelessly breaking with traditional practice by omitting holy communion.

Much to the chagrin of the Catholic church and many in the People's Party, Mr Zapatero has promised also to liberalise the country's tough abortion laws, and to change the law on the use of human embryos, in both cases bringing Spain more into line with the rest of Europe. And he has suspended Mr Aznar's legislation that made religious education obligatory, prompting the Bishop of Segorbe-Castelln to call those who back the move barbarians. In regions where the People's Party still holds power, such as Madrid, religious classes will remain obligatory.

Most of these socially progressive measures have been welcomed by the young who were prominent among the estimated 1.6m voters who switched to Mr Zapatero in March - hence his continuing popularity. But he may struggle to keep up the momentum. Since he did not expect to win the election, he came to office with some grand, airy and potentially expensive promises. He has, for instance, scrapped Mr Aznar's National Hydrology Plan, under which water was to be diverted from the River Ebro to the parched south, but without suggesting an alternative. He has put in place plans to unify Spain's bewildering array of mutually suspicious intelligence and security services and promised to employ 36,000 more policemen over the next four years. The government has already modified its pledge to build 180,000 houses at “accessible” prices. But it still plans to raise the minimum wage in July, from €460 ($560) a month to €490, and it wants to push it to €600 by the end of the legislature.

Mr Zapatero's biggest challenge will be Spain's autonomous regions, which want more powers. One gesture he has made is to promise to reform the Senate, which has been an impotent arm of the Cortes, so that it represents the 17 regions. In general, Mr Zapatero has promised to respect the constitution and seek “approval by majorities that represent an ample political and social consensus.” This week, he held a first meeting with the People's Party leader, Mariano Rajoy, in an attempt to find common ground. He will now meet the Basque and Catalan nationalist leaders as well. For all his passion for pacts, consensus and dialogue, he may find that it will not be long before some petulant fists start banging the negotiating table.

The new Spanish government under Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is pushing a progressive social agenda. The article looks at this and other measures taken by the new Socialist government in first months after coming into office.