AZNAR BLITZES THE BALEARICS

SPANISH Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar addressed thousands of Partido Popular supporters at an election rally in Palma last night after a difficult weekend overshadowed by the Casablanca terrorist attacks and accusations from the opposition that the government's backing of Bush over Iraq “has put Spain on the international terrorist map.” With only four days of campaigning left, Aznar was yesterday keen to get back to local election issues, attending a rally in Mahon, Minorca at 2pm and then Ibiza at 5pm before flying into Palma, and give all the Partido Popular's local election candidates, in particular those running for president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas, and Mayor of Palma, Catalina Cirer a boost. But Aznar knows that the party, the popularity of which was damaged by the Prestige oil slick and then the Iraq war, is in danger of also paying the price for the death of three Spaniards in the Casablanca bombings. This Sunday's elections pose a challenge to the ruling Partido Popular's sustained grip on town and city councils, in which it has emerged victorious in all three local elections in the past 12 years. Aware of the danger, Aznar decided early on to throw himself into the campaign, personally leading the counter-attack based on his government's main economic achievements: lower taxes and inflation, higher employment and a public deficit which, unlike those of France and Germany, remains well under control. These achievements were met by rapturous applause in Palma last night.

PROTESTS
This time around, the polls come in the wake of unprecedented anti-government demonstrations that saw three million Spaniards take to the streets on February 15 to protest against Aznar's staunch backing for the US-led invasion of Iraq. The left-wing coalition government in the Balearics was deeply opposed to the invasion, in line with the majority of local public opinion.
But while the finger is pointed at Aznar over Iraq and the alleged terrorist reprisals, Jaume Matas, as Spain's former Minister for the Environment is also caught in the cross-fire. The environment, not traditionally an electoral issue in Spain, is now certain to become one in the northwestern coastal regions of Galicia and Cantabria, still struggling to recover from the country's worst ever oil spill when the Prestige tanker capsized last November. The tanker disaster, when the single-hulled vessel split in two and dumped more than 20'000 tons of fuel oil into the sea off Spain, also provoked unprecedented street demonstrations over the handling of the catastrophe by authorities at local and national level - both under the conservatives.

“Aznar has put us in the sights of global terrorism”

BALEARIC Minister for Tourism, Celesti Alomar, claimed yesterday that the Casablanca terrorist attack on the Spanish cultural centre shows that the Prime Minister “has put us in the sights of international terrorism” by supporting the Iraq War, which in turn will only harm the tourist industry as a whole. Just hours before Jose Maria Aznar arrived in Majorca for a political rally, Alomar said that the terrorist attacks in Morocco have “worried” the tourist industry, adding “it's shameful that Aznar will not face facts and stop claiming that the Casablanca bombings have nothing to do with Iraq.” However, on the domestic front, and in particular with regards to the Balearics, Alomar does not consider that “Aznar's irresponibility in deciding to go it alone in the war” will directly hit the Balearics. “The Balearics is considered an extremely safe destination,” the minister said, “but Aznar's policies the most anti-tourism the government has ever adopted, because he has failed to address the problems of certain destinations reaching saturation point and has failed to invest in the necessary resources to conserve resorts and the environment.” The minister also accused central government of “mistreating Spain's strong points,” such as tourism, “by pushing up taxes on transport and by introducing economic policies which have led to inflation levels higher than in Great Britain and Germany, where the Balearics' key clients come from.”