Zapatero Wins Another Term in Spain

In elections held yesterday, Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has emerged victorious, winning another four-year term and promising a new era in Spanish politics. His Socialist party claimed five more seats than in the last election but was still short of an absolute majority.

The results of the election were hotly anticipated as, after a decade of growth, Spain is showing great economic strain. Inflation is at a 10-year high, unemployment is the highest it's been this century, and the Spanish housing boom is waning. Voter turnout clocked in at over 75 percent.

A Socialist Party spokesmen said the result was clear approval of the prime minister's agenda of liberal reforms: a gender-equality law, fast-track divorces, and same-sex marriage. The progressive changes have been wildly opposed by conservatives and the Roman Catholic Church. Interested in the man moving Spain's social agenda? The BBC has a great profile of this unusual leader.

Source