VZCZCXRO8980
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMD #0081 0161657
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 161657Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1634
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 2359

UNCLAS MADRID 000081 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN/ETA POLICY: GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION FIND 
NO COMMON GROUND IN PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE 
 
REF: MADRID 21 (AND PREVIOUS) 
 
¶1. (U) In a lengthy and oftentimes vitriolic debate in the 
Spanish Parliament on January 15, President Zapatero and 
opposition Popular Party (PP) leader Mariano Rajoy traded 
verbal blows over the GOS' anti-terrorism policies and the 
way forward on forging an anti-terrorism pact among the 
parliamentary coalitions.  Speaking during the first 
congressional debate since the December 30 ETA bombing that 
killed two Ecuadorian citizens and destroyed a large portion 
of a parking garage at Madrid's Barajas International 
Airport, Zapatero led off the proceedings with a prepared 
statement in which he admitted to the Spanish people that he 
had been overly optimistic about the potential for 
negotiations with the terrorist group.  Zapatero defended his 
efforts to put an end to ETA violence through dialogue and 
demanded the support of all Spanish political parties to 
achieve a "grand consensus against terrorism."  Zapatero said 
that the sole objective of his address before Congress was to 
reestablish a broad democratic consensus against terrorism, 
and announced that he will attempt to expand a political pact 
against ETA that was signed between his Socialist party and 
the PP back in 2000.  Zapatero now wants to enlarge the 
anti-terror pact to include "all democratic political parties 
and social and civic organizations." 
 
¶2. (U) PP leader Rajoy responded that he would attend the 
meeting of the pact committee but would not accept any 
changes to the agreement or expansion of its members.  Rajoy 
argued that he would have a hard time trusting any of 
Zapatero's new proposals regarding ETA after the "mistake" of 
the peace process.  Rajoy was quoted in left-leaning El Pais 
as saying during his prepared remarks, "There would be no 
bigger error than accompanying you in your failure, you have 
been mistaken in everything, you have committed so many 
errors they are burying you."  The testiest exchange in the 
debate came when Rajoy said, "If you (Zapatero) do not comply 
with what the terrorists want, ETA will plant bombs; if there 
are no bombs, it is because you have conceded."  Zapatero 
called those comments "shameful and contemptible," and tried 
unsuccessfully to have Rajoy retract them.  Zapatero also 
harshly criticized Rajoy for being the only opposition leader 
who had failed to rally with the government after an ETA 
attack. 
 
¶3. (U) Most Spanish media outlets today highlighted the 
entrenchment of each side's position and agreed that there 
does not at present appear to be common ground on which the 
main parties can meet to forge an anti-terrorism pact. 
Zapatero is being praised in some quarters for admitting his 
excessive optimism in the potential for peace talks and 
dialogue to bring about an end to ETA violence, and all the 
other political parties represented in the parliamentary 
debate--save the PP--are supporting his plans to forge a 
broad, anti-terrorism pact.  The PP is refusing to join any 
grand consensus that would, in its view, water down the GOS' 
response to fighting ETA.  In a previously-scheduled courtesy 
call with the DCM on January 16, PP Secretary General Angel 
Acebes said that the PP would not join in any anti-terrorism 
coalition with parties that support continued dialogue with 
ETA or political participation with ETA's outlawed political 
wing Batasuna.  He further rejected Zapatero's call for unity 
because, "Zapatero talks of 'unity' and 'consensus,' but does 
not address the contents of such a consensus." 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment:  The congressional debate was the latest 
(but most vitriolic) chapter in the worsening relationship 
between the Socialist government of President Zapatero and 
the opposition Popular Party.  Despite Acebes' statement to 
the DCM today that PP leader Rajoy criticized Zapatero's 
anti-terrorism policy, "not for the mere purpose of 
Parliamentary debate or to win elections, but because of 
strongly-held principles," it is clear that the PP senses 
that Zapatero may be vulnerable.  The upcoming May local and 
regional elections could provide Spanish voters with the 
opportunity to judge the government on its handling of the 
Basque separatist issue. 
Aguirre