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DE RUEHMD #0553/01 1601620
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091620Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0746
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 4021

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000553 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN'S RULING SOCIALIST PARTY SUFFERS SETBACK IN 
EU PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 
 
MADRID 00000553  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  In the June 7 European Parliament elections, 
the opposition Partido Popular gained an edge over President 
Zapatero's ruling Socialist Party (23-21 seats).  With 46 
percent participation, Spain compares favorably with other 
European Union countries in terms of voter turn-out.  While 
the Socialists trailed by 3.7 percent in the vote tally, they 
claim the results are "relatively positive" and reflective of 
the global economic downturn rather than any specific 
criticism of President Zapatero.  With plenty of time to 
redirect the situation before the 2012 general elections, 
Zapatero and his team are not expected to make any immediate 
shifts in response to the election results, particularly 
since Zapatero shuffled his cabinet in advance of the 
elections.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Spain,s June 7 European Parliament elections resulted in 
the following distribution of seats: 
 
PP or Partido Popular (conservative, current opposition 
party)  23 
PSOE or Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol (socialist, current 
governing party)  21 
CEU or Coalicion por Europa (coalition of Convergencia i Unio 
and Partido Nacionalista Vasco)  2 
IU or Izquiera Unida (in coalition with other minor leftist 
parties ICV-EUiA-BA)     2 
UPyD or Union Progreso y Democracia (progressive party)  1 
Edp-V or Europa de los Pueblos (coalition of Catalan, Basque 
and Aragonese separatist parties)  1 
 
Forty-six percent of eligible Spanish voters cast a ballot, a 
slight increase over the 45.14 percent participation in the 
2004 European elections in Spain.  Spanish leaders from both 
parties claim this year,s participation demonstrates that 
Spain is actively participating in European politics; average 
European voter participation was 43 percent.  For purposes of 
comparison, turnout in Spain's last general election (2008) 
was 74 percent. 
 
------------------------------------ 
PP Claims Vote Reflects PSOE,s Ineffectiveness 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  In celebrating what PP leader Mariano Rajoy described as 
a mandate for change by an "immense majority of Spaniards," 
the PP has claimed this election to be an precursor to a 
potential victory in the 2012 general elections.  Media 
reports claim this election has at least given Rajoy "room to 
breathe" after months of negative press highlighting charges 
of PP corruption and calls for a change of leadership after 
he lost the 2008 Presidential campaign.  It also comes on top 
of the PP's success in recapturing Galicia from the PSOE in 
March 1 regional elections.  The PP attributes its victory to 
citizen's anger with the PSOE's management of the economic 
crisis and other affairs.   Of note, the two autonomous 
communities where the PP battled the most prominent 
corruption charges, Madrid and Valencia, are also the 
communities in which it won the greatest number of votes. 
 
-------------------------------- 
PSOE Maintains that Election ResultCQ%Z;mRQ.a EX.b" 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  PSOE,s Secretary for Organization Leire Pajin claims 
that the results are "reasonably positive," and that they are 
"the best" for a socialist party in Europe.  The PSOE is also 
discounting the election results as indicative of general 
frustration with the economic crisis, noting that other 
European leaders were even more negatively affected by the 
global downturn.  While the PSOE trailed the PP by 3.7 
percent in the vote tally, the party is taking this result as 
a warning sign to remain focused on economic recovery and 
x4%Q QGeneral and chief party 
strategist, Jose "Pepe" Blanco, said that the results were an 
aberration and that the PP shouldn't start celebrating in 
anticipation of 2012 since there are ample precedents of 
parties winning municipal elections and then losing the 
general elections the following year. 
 
--------------------------------- 
No Immediate Shifts Anticipated as Zapatero Anticipates 
Spain's EU Presidency 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  There is plenty of time before the 2012 general elections 
and President Zapatero and his advisors are counting on an 
upswing in the economy and perhaps an afterglow from Spain's 
January-June 2010 EU Presidency to boost PSOE's credibility 
 
MADRID 00000553  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
and popularity during the interim.  The next electoral 
contest will be the regional elections in Catalonia in 
November 2010.  In their campaign rhetoric, both the PSOE and 
the PP attempted to associate their candidates and 
politicians with President Obama in an effort to demonstrate 
that their party could ensure Spain's prestige and relevance 
in global affairs. 
 
CHACON