José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Prime Minister of Spain
In office 16 April 2004 – 21 December 2011
Monarch	Juan Carlos I
Deputy	María Teresa Fernández de la Vega Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba Elena Salgado
Preceded by	José María Aznar
Succeeded by	Mariano Rajoy
Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
In office 22 July 2000 – 4 February 2012
President	Manuel Chaves
Preceded by	Joaquín Almunia
Succeeded	Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba
Leader of the Opposition
In office 22 July 2000 – 16 April 2004
Prime Minister	José María Aznar
Preceded by	Luis Martínez Noval
Succeeded by	Mariano Rajoy
Personal details
Born	4 August 1960 (age 54) Spain
Political party	Socialist Workers' Party
Spouse(s)	Sonsoles Espinosa(1990–present)
Children	Laura Alba
Alma mater	University of León
Religion	Agnosticism

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was born in Valladolid, Castilla y León, on August 4th, 1960. He is the former Prime Minister of Spain, serving two times, the first in 2004 and the second term in 2008.

Political Career

During the year 1979, he joined the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE). In 1982, he became the leader of the socialist youth organization in the province of León. Zapatero was elected to the national parliament and became the youngest member during 1986. Two years after, he was appointed as Secretary-General of the León provincial federation of the (PSOE). Zapatero was able to maintain his seat in the Congress of Deputies after General Election in 1996. From 2000 to 2012, he ran for leadership of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and was elected Secretary General. He was elected as Prime Minister of Spain in 2004. Zapatero’s Socialist Party won the general elections, having more seats (164) in the Cortes than the People’s Party with only (148). During his time as Prime Minister: he withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq, legalized same-sex marriage (2005), criminalization of domestic violence, reformed the education system, increase of Spanish troops in Afghanistan. Zapatero was re-elected as Prime Minister of Spain, serving from 2008 to 2011.

Education

Jose Zapatero graduated with a degree in Law from the University of León in 1982. He then worked as a member of the faculty of the University after graduating from 1982 to 1986.

Further Information

International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy & Religion, "The Promotion of World Peace through Inter-Faith Dialogue & the Unity of Faiths", Center for Cultural Diplomacy - Publications, Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, Rome, Italy, March 31st - April 3rd 2014

External Links

Barcelona Center for International Affairs

Britannica page

Party political offices

Party political offices
Preceded by Joaquín Almunia	Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party 2000–2012	Succeeded by Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba
Political offices
Preceded by Joaquín Almunia	Leader of the Opposition 2000–2004	Succeeded by Mariano Rajoy
Preceded by José María Aznar	Prime Minister of Spain 2004–2011