Word: pp
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...Aznar convened a committee of experts during his second term in office (2000-2004) to devise suitably patriotic lyrics, but committee member Jon Jauristi says it couldn't reach an agreement. Even without lyrics, the anthem has been a recent object of contention between the conservative Popular Party (PP), which has taken to playing it at demonstrations against government policies, and the ruling Socialists, who accuse the opposition of attempting to "appropriate" the symbols of the state. With its pro-Spanish-unity stance, the PP has been noticeably more vocal than other parties in expressing its support for new lyrics...
...Zaragoza. "Whenever one person takes out a flag, someone else brings out a different one. It's the same with national anthems." Casanova suspects that political interests, more than sporting ones, lie behind the effort to pin words to melodies. "Whether it's the national anthem, or the PP's efforts to get everyone to display the flag, it's manipulation," he says, referring to the recent call by PP leader Mariano Rajoy for Spaniards to display the Spanish flag on October 12, a national holiday which commemorates the Spanish discovery and conquest of the Americas with military parades. "They...
Criticism by the opposition Partido Popular (PP) that Zapatero is soft on the nationalists - and separatists - in the Basque and Catalan provinces appear to have pushed the Prime Minister toward a tougher stance on nationalist demands. He has certainly come down hard on ETA and has closed off negotiations with Batasuna for a political solution to the decades-old Basque conflict. Zapatero acknowledged recently that there should be "no expectation" of new negotiations with...
...some critics believe Zapatero's calculations may backfire. Paul Rios, general coordinator of Lokarri, a social movement for peace in the Basque Country, sasy: "[Zapatero's] strategy is wrong either way. The PP is still going to come after him, whatever he does. At the same time, by taking out [Batasuna's leadership] he is leaving the door open to the hard-liners, just as the group was undergoing a profound debate on the consequences of the broken cease-fire...
...sentiment is also shared by a wide spectrum of ETA victims who fear the government may be tempted to show excessive leniency and give in to ETA's political demands in exchange for an end to violence. "What are we going to negotiate with ETA?" says Pilar Elias, a PP councilwoman in the town of Azkoitia, whose husband was killed in 1980 by a neighbor belonging to ETA (and whose life he had saved 18 years earlier). "First they have to turn over all the weapons and ask for forgiveness. After that, we will...