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was responsible, prompting accusations that
the PP was attempting to mislead the public
by blaming the bombings on ETA and
thereby escape a backlash for its support for
the war in Iraq. Three days after the bomb-
ing, the PSOE won the election. Subsequent
court cases have established that the bomb-
ings were carried out by a local group of
North Africans settled in Spain.
Spain's new PSOE government hit the
ground running. The Zapatero government
quickly pulled Spanish troops out of Iraq. It
also legalised gay marriages, made divorce
easier, took religion out of the compulsory
school curriculum, gave dissatisfied Catalo-
nia an expanded autonomy charter, and declared an amnesty for illegal immigrants.
In March 2006, ETA, which wants an independent state covering the Spanish and
French Basque Country and Navarra, declared a 'permanent ceasefire', but re-
sumed violence with a bomb that killed two people at Madrid airport nine months
later. Zapatero then called off any moves towards dialogue. A year later, parliament
also passed the 'Historical Memory Law' designed to officially honour the Republic-
an victims of the civil war and the Franco dictatorship.
Although the government's social and regional reforms prompted a fierce (though
peaceful) response from the PP and Catholic Church, the PSOE won national elec-
tions in 2008 with an increased majority. Soon after the victory, however, the world
economic crisis swept through Spain and unemployment rose to around 20%.
Zapatero's second term of office looked likely to be a lot harder going than the first.
3 EUSKAL MUSEOA, BILBAO
(
CLICK HERE
)
4 MUSEU D'HISTÓRIA DE
BARCELONA (
CLICK HERE
)
TIMELINE
8th century BC
The Phoenicians found Cádiz, which is Europe's oldest continuously inhabited
city.
218 BC
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