In the 2008 Spanish general election held on Sunday, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) has emerged as the winner for the second election in a row, edging out the more conservative People's Party in a vote characterized by fears of a faltering economy and militant separatists. With 93 percent of ballots counted, the Socialists, led by incumbent Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero , had 43.8 percent of the vote, while the People's Party, headed by former Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy, had 40.2 percent. On March 7, one day prior to the end of the official campaigning period, former Socialist politician Isaias Carrasco was shot to death in Spain's Basque region. Zapatero blamed the murder on the ETA, a Basque separatist organization. "We know that ETA is defeated by democracy and repudiated by the Spanish people together and by Basque Society," said Zapatero. "Its members have no other future than jail." At Carrasco's funeral Saturday, his daughter called for a massive voter turnout as a way of condemning the ETA. The turnout was estimated to be around 75 percent, close to the record 75.66 percent in the 2004 elections. The newspaper El País commented, "Some are already beginning to put out the idea that a bigger Socialist win than predicted by the opinion polls will be due to the killing of Isaias Carrasco." The killing drew comparisons to the 2004 Madrid train bombings , which killed 191 people three days before the general election in which Zapatero came to power. The conservative government initially placed the blame on the ETA, despite evidence that the attack was done by Islamic extremists angered by Spain's involvement in the Iraq War . One of Zapatero's first acts as Prime Minister was withdrawing troops from Iraq.
In the held on Sunday, the (PSOE) has emerged as the winner for the second election in a row, edging out the more conservative in a vote characterized by fears of a faltering economy and militant separatists. With 93 percent of ballots counted, the Socialists, led by incumbent Prime Minister , had 43.8 percent of the vote, while the People's Party, headed by former Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy, had 40.2 percent. On March 7, one day prior to the end of the official campaigning period, former Socialist politician was shot to death in Spain's region. Zapatero blamed the murder on the ETA, a Basque separatist organization. "We know that ETA is defeated by democracy and repudiated by the Spanish people together and by Basque Society," said Zapatero. "Its members have no other future than jail." At Carrasco's funeral Saturday, his daughter called for a massive voter turnout as a way of condemning the ETA. The turnout was estimated to be around 75 percent, close to the record 75.66 percent in the 2004 elections. The newspaper commented, "Some are already beginning to put out the idea that a bigger Socialist win than predicted by the opinion polls will be due to the killing of Isaias Carrasco." The killing drew comparisons to the , which killed 191 people three days before the general election in which Zapatero came to power. The conservative government initially placed the blame on the ETA, despite evidence that the attack was done by Islamic extremists angered by Spain's involvement in the . One of Zapatero's first acts as Prime Minister was withdrawing troops from Iraq.
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2008 Spanish general election
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Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
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People's Party
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José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
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Isaias Carrasco
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Basque
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El País
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2004 Madrid train bombings
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Iraq War