About José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (Spanish: [xoseˈlwis roˈðɾiɣeθ θapaˈteɾo]; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he would not stand for re-election in the 2011 general election and left office on 21 December 2011. Among the main actions taken by the Zapatero administration were the withdrawal of Spanish troops from the Iraq war, the increase of Spanish troops in Afghanistan; the idea of an Alliance of Civilizations; the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Spain; reform of abortion law; a peace negotiation attempt with ETA; the end of ETA terrorism; increase of tobacco restrictions; and the reform of various autonomous statutes, particularly the Statute of Catalonia. He became the first former Spanish prime minister to be charged when, on 19 May 2026, the National Court charged him with money laundering and membership of a criminal organisation in connection with an investigation into the alleged laundering of the €53 million public bailout that the second government of Pedro Sánchez provided to the airline Plus Ultra in 2021. Zapatero attended his first political rally, organized by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in Gijón in 1976. In 1977, the year of the first democratic elections after Franco's death, Zapatero supported both the Communist and Socialist parties. In 1986, he was elected to represent the province of León in the Cortes (Parliament), becoming its youngest member after the election held on 20 June. In 1982, Zapatero became head of the socialist youth organization in the province of León.
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