Zapatero came to power in 2004 after the Madrid train bombings, an Islamist attack that killed 191 people three days before elections. Since the bombings were purportedly in response to Spain's support for the Iraq war, many branded war-opponent Zapatero's surprise victory as a direct response to the attacks. Zapatero will likely be eager to use Sunday's victory as a message from the voters that his initial election was not simply a "fear vote."
However, Sunday's vote was also preceded by a potentially vote-altering event: Two days before the vote, municipal politician Isaías Carrasco of the Socialist Party of the Basque Country was assassinated. Nationwide campaigning was suspended, and Carrasco's adult daughter, who witnessed the shooting, put out an emotional plea for Spanish voters to stick it to the Basque separatist group ETA by casting their ballots. This likely helped the Socialist party, who seem to have beaten the conservatives by about 3.5 percent.
Basque separatism isn't the only problem that threatened Zapatero's shot at a second term: Ballooning immigration and a sinking economy also were concerns faced by voters, but they had enough faith in Zapatero to ask him to stick around and try fixing the issues.
