SPAIN: PM Zapatero's Socialists Suffer Historic Losses; Youth Protests Vs. Politics Continue For 9th Day.

NYTIMES/ R. Minder

    PM José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (pictured) admitted that voters punished his Socialist Party for 21% unemployment as it suffered historic regional and municipal electoral losses.
     The conservative Popular Party won 37.6% of the votes vs 27.8% for the Socialists.
     Socialists lost their long-held major cities of Barcelona and Seville, its traditional strongholds in Castilla-La Mancha and could lose Extremadura.
   “Almost two million jobs have been destroyed and I know that a lot of Spaniards are facing serious problems. Today, without a doubt, they have expressed their discomfort,” Zapatero said.
     Meanwhile, thousands of the self-labelled “indignant” youths continued their protests of Spain's political system...for the 9th day.

     “If you had told me a few months ago that thousands of people would take to the streets to complain about our political system,” said one Madrid protester. “I would have found it hard to believe, because it looked like we were an apathetic generation that was incapable of responding to a crisis even when it was destroying our jobs like a tsunami.”

SPAIN/PORTUGAL: With Troubled Economies, Looking At A Future Together.

G.POST/ Guy Hedgecoe /
"...Spain and Portugal have recently been thrown together ...trying to convince global markets of the viability of their economies so as to avoid a bailout."
“Spain had its housing bubble, which increased the wealth of Spanish families,” said economist Rui Barbara of the real estate boom whose end coincided with Spain’s slump. “Portugal didn’t have that. But even without having a housing bubble we’ve spent a lot. We increased our household debt levels by buying shiny new TVs and cars.”

VENEZUELA: Spain Furious Over Alleged Chavez/ ETA Terrorist Link .

GUARDIAN.UK/   A Spanish judge has accused President Hugo Chávez's government of involvement with the Basque terrorist group ETA. Magistrate Eloy Velasco found that the Chávez government acted as an intermediary between ETA and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group. Velasco issued international arrest warrants for 6 alleged ETA members and 7 Colombians believed to be members of Farc. Spain's Prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero called for an immediate explanation from Venezuela.

SPAIN: Zapatero Defends Economic Progress But Structural Reforms Remain.

NYTIMES/  Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero addressed his nation's Parliament saying that "recovery is not far away" but failed to detail plans for reducing the EU's highest unemployment rate of 19% or reform labor laws that make Spain uncompetitive.

The EU: Europe Feeling Snubbed By Obama.

NYTIMES/  Some EU members are feeling slighted by President Obama’s decision to skip a May U.S./E.U. summit in Madrid. Spain's Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was described as angry and embarrassed. American officials said that Obama felt that the previous major American-European summit meeting, last June in Prague, was a waste of time. Researcher Charles Grant described Obama's decision “as a useful wake-up call for the E.U.” He said the European Union must realize “that no one will court them or have summits with them because Europe is a nice idea.
“They need to deliver.”

On Tour With Hugo Chavez: Joking With Spain's King, Recognizing Russia's Disputed Regions.

AP.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stirred-up more controversy during a swing through Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Russia and former Soviet satellites. Get all the details.

Or Read The Latin American Herald Tribune's Editorial:

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=343577&CategoryId=13303

Re-Structuring Spain's Economy.

From the NYTimes.

Many Spaniards are wondering if young Socialist visionary, Prime Minister Zapatero, has what it takes to combat the unemployment crisis in an old entrenched economy.