The ´honeymoon period´ is officially over for Spain’s socialist government, and the question on everyone’s lips now, is whether Prime Minister Zapatero can continue to keep his promises.

He has always said that he was inspired by his grandfather, who was shot by Franco’s forces early in the civil war, and despite some hard line socialists publicly nicknaming him ´Bambi’, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s first one hundred days in office has been given the ´thumbs up’ by the majority.

Two of his main electoral promises were to create a gender friendly government and to withdraw troops from Iraq. However, with a pool of more than capable female ministers to choose from, the first was not such a difficult task and in carrying out the second, he aligned Spain with France and Germany, received an international standing ovation, and probably took some personal delight in upsetting President Bush.

Ever since he was given a platform, Zapatero’s rhetoric has always indicated a desire to move away from the global arena dictated by America and towards a stronger European power base.
Some critics have claimed that the new government have spent their first one hundred days in power simply dismantling the policies of the previous administration. However, according to a recent survey just over fifty percent of Spaniards have a very good opinion of their new President and the majority support all the major decisions and policies undertaken since he took power, especially his hard line against violence in the home.