"A PRIME MINISTER CAUGHT ETWEEN THE UNIONS AND THE BOND MARKET".

"Muddle obscures message".

"A prime minister caught between

the unions and the bond market".

"Slipping Zapatero",

"11.02.2010."IT WAS the week Spanish Socialists, would rather forget. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain’s prime minister, began it on January 28th at the World Economic Forum in Davos where he found himself sharing a platform with the leaders of Europe’s lamest ducks, Greece and Latvia. Mr Zapatero had gone to Davos determined to instil confidence in his country, the only big developed economy still in recession. Instead, he raised more doubts, chiefly this one: is Mr Zapatero the man to lead Spain into recovery?",

"At Davos he boldly announced proposals to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67. But that provoked fury from his trade union allies at home. Then his finance ministry sent a deficit-reduction plan to the European Commission".

"Union anger, however, forced it to be watered down. Mr Zapatero’s next trick was to flag a package of proposals for labour reform, an issue on which he has stalled for almost two years. It turned out to leave all decision-making to employers and the unions, who of course disagree".

"In one poll, the prime minister’s rating has slipped below that of his notoriously plodding main rival, Mariano Rajoy of the conservative People’s Party "PP". In another, support for the Socialists slipped further, with the PP now holding a six-point lead. More than half of Socialist voters now have little or no confidence in him".

"José Maria Barreda, a Socialist who heads the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha, has called for ministerial heads to roll. But the government has encouraged Spaniards to see enemies abroad. “Nothing that is happening, including the apocalyptic editorials in foreign media, is just chance. It’s because it’s in the interest of certain individuals", said José Blanco, the minister of public works".

"Mr Zapatero, now in his second term, lacks a majority in parliament. A solid pact with the moderate Catalan nationalists would greatly help his push for reforms, says Jonás Fernandez, an economist at Carlos III University. But the Catalans are wary of embracing a lame Mr Zapatero before an election for their regional government in the autumn".

"Mr Rajoy says he cannot bring the government down in parliament, because the balance of parties is too complicated. A leadership challenge from within Mr Zapatero’s own party is unlikely. So he is likely to cling on until 2012".

"The prime minister seems haunted by the fact that his two predecessors faced general strikes in the twilight of their rule. Murmurs of a strike are being heard again. Even as he declared a new-found enthusiasm for economic reform this week, he sought to sugar this pill with further aid to the long-term unemployed. But keeping both bond markets and the unions happy is impossible".