A BAD MONTH FOR ZP

By Jason Moore FOR the first time since the general elections in Spain two years ago, the ruling socialists are trailing in the polls with the opposition Partido Popular edging ahead. It hasn't been a great month for Prime Minister Zapatero, on all fronts. He has the canny knack of backing the wrong horse; he vocally supported John Kerry in the U.S. elections and gave his full backing to Gerhard Schroeder. As we know both men are now in the political wilderness and unfortunately to some extent they have taken Zapatero with them. The Partido Popular, who under former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, maintained close relations with both Britain and the U.S., now claim that Spain's closest allies are Morocco, Venezuela and Cuba. On the home front things are even worse for the Prime Minister. Zapatero, as he failed to secure a majority made a pact with the Catalan party, ERC. A very honourable party which has plenty of support across Catalonia and in fact rules the all-powerful province with the support of Zapatero's socialists. But, the letters ERC stand for (in Catalan) the left-wing Republican Party, who are ultra-nationalists. Earlier this month they announced, with the support of all other parties in Catalonia apart from the PP, that the region wanted to be considered a “nation” with far greater powers. The rest of Spain are not impressed with Catalonia which is like the “cash-cow” for the rest of the country. But Zapatero can't dismiss the Catalan claim because he governs in coalition with ERC. Some sections of Spain fear a break-up of the country as we know it. Then there are Spain's North African enclaves which are causing plenty of trouble as Morocco has once again claimed sovereignty. All-in-all a bit of a mess. Two things Zapatero must learn; one is to be more diplomatic in international affairs and two to stamp his authority on the provinces.