www.elpais.

com EL PERIÓDICO GLOBAL EN ESPAÑOL SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2011

ENGLISH EDITION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Zapatero keeps Government, opposition square

party and nation up over bailout for Portugal AGENCIES, Madrid leader of the Social Democrat The minister for parliamenta-

guessing on future Just a day after Portuguese Presi-

dent Aníbal Cavaco Silva called
early elections for June 5, the in-
Party (PSD), Pedro Passos Coel-
ho, of “political hypocrisy” in of-
fering to back the Socialists if it
decides to seek external help, a
ry affairs, Jorge Lacao, claimed
Passos Coelho favored asking
the IMF for help, and was now
trying to push the government
Socialist’s keynote speech to party may terim Socialist government of solution the government has de- into doing so.
Prime Minister José Sócrates fiantly rejected. The political sparring took
not end speculation over third term and the main opposition party It was the PSD’s vote against place as Fitch cut Portugal’s long-
on Friday were at each other’s austerity measures proposed by term rating three notches to just
V. JIMÉNEZ / A. DÍEZ, Madrid sumed Zapatero would announce throats over the need for a bail- the government that caused above junk status at BBB-, argu-
he would not run for office again, out to resolve the country’s debt them to be rejected by parlia- ing that “timely external support
“It’s all thought out,” Prime Minis- but now nobody is sure what to crisis. ment and led Sócrates to tender is much less likely” because of
ter José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero expect. See INTERVIEW Ps 4 & 5 The Socialists accused the his resignation on March 23. the elections. See DEBT page 6
told a group of international jour-
nalists regarding his future plans.
“I know it’s my responsibility to
do what’s best for Spain and for
the Socialist Party [...] I know
how and when I need to do
things.” This is the most the Span-
ish leader would say about wheth-
er he would run for a third term
in next year’s elections, an issue
that’s been looming large on the
country’s political agenda. In re-
cent weeks analysts have posited
that Zapatero will step down in
favor of his powerful deputy, Al-
fredo Pérez Rubalcaba, with De-
fense Minister Carme Chacón al-
so considered a possible candi-
date.
In a joint interview with Le
Monde, Der Spiegel, Gazeta Wy-
borcza, The Guardian and EL
PAÍS focusing on the challenges
facing Europe, Zapatero dropped
a few hints.
“Political and institutional sta-
bility, which is parliamentary sta-
bility, is crucial for the task that
lies ahead on the economic front.
And I am doing that job. The gov-
ernment will complete the term,
and it will have sufficient support
in parliament. And this is very
good economic news,” he said. A
week ago, Zapatero suggested
that unveiling his plans would
draw attention away from the
economy and make international
markets even more jittery.
Yet uncertainty and discon- cristina quicler (afp)
tent is how most regional party
leaders described the state of af-
In Seville, Camilla becomes slave to Andalusian rhythm
fairs going into a Socialist federal Britain’s Prince Charles and Camilla, Duch- Charles met British and Spanish business Flamenco Dance Museum. She was joined at
committee meeting on Saturday. ess of Cornwall continued their whirlwind leaders, his wife (second from right) enjoyed the event by the eccentric darling of Spain’s
Until a few days ago, everyone as- tour of Spain in Seville on Friday. While a brief show by dancer Cristina Hoyos at the gossip press, the Duchess of Alba (far right).

Nationalization Prosecutors line up PP’s

looms as caja
seeks state aid Valencia chiefs for graft
Í. D. B. / A. S., Madrid I. ZAFRA, Valencia PP secretary Ricardo Costa and ex-
PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas.
The Caja del Mediterráneo Anti-corruption prosecutors have All the offenses carry prison
(CAM) savings bank, which is formally accused the Popular Par- terms and would entail disqualifi-
heavily exposed to the ailing real ty’s Valencian top brass with six cation from public office. The prose-
estate sector, faces being taken charges of corruption linked to the cutors have also called the corrupt
over by the Bank of Spain and of- kickbacks-for-contracts scandal network of Gürtel businessmen to
fered to its competitors. CAM’s known as the Gürtel case. The pros- the stand, including Francisco Cor-
management said Friday it would ecutors have asked for dozens of rea, Pablo Crespo and Álvaro
seek ¤2.8 billion from the state Or- high-ranking PP officials to be Pérez, as well as construction
derly Bank Restructuring Fund called to the dock of the Valencian chiefs who allegedly helped to fi-
(FROB) to meet new solvency re- regional High Court, including re- nance large-scale PP electoral
quirements. Continued on page 6 gional premier Francisco Camps, events for which public funds were
See EDITORIAL page 2 congressman and former regional funneled back to the network.
2 EL PAÍS, Saturday, April 2, 2011

OPINION AND EDITORIAL

Sale or EL ROTO

takeover
The CAM case lends itself to the belief the ‘cajas’
have been even harder hit by property bubble
THE FAILED Banco Base operation, the fi-
nancial alliance of of Cajastur, Caja Cant-
abria, Caja de Extremadura and Caja del
Mediterraneo, is a serious setback for the
credibility of financial reform in Spain.
The circumstances of the failure lend
themselves to the biased argument that
the balance sheets cajas (publicly admin-
istered regional savings banks) are
opaque and contain more toxic assets
than what has been officially admitted.
The assemblies of the cajas of As-
turias, Extremadura and Cantabria al-
most unanimously rejected a merger,
once it was known that the restructuring
of CAM would require more than ¤2.5
billion owing to the risk of its larger-than-
expected exposure to the real estate sec-
tor. The future of the merger is uncertain
(Cajastur, Caja de Extremadura and Caja
Cantabria will probably go ahead with it),
but the CAM now constitutes a serious
financial and political problem.
It could be sold, but not before costly
restructuring, or taken over by the cen-
tral bank, which would also be an oner-
ous solution.
The CAM case has surfaced after what
the Spanish banking sector bears some of
the responsibility for the failure. When a
merger operation is mounted in which a
“high risk” caja, which is the case of CAM
as others were, is involved, it is unaccept-
able for surprises of this nature to crop
up in the required restructuring exercise
being undertaken. The extent of CAM’s
impaired assets ought to have been
known to all the players in the merger
before it was set in motion. But not only
must the Bank of Spain rethink its super-
visory duties, the managements of all the
cajas involved also need to explain why
they had such deficient knowledge of the
balance sheet of the partner with which
they were about to merge.
The most reasonable political option
is for the three other cajas to proceed
with their merger, after revising their
plans jointly with the Bank of Spain, and
for the CAM to be taken over by the cen-
tral bank with all of what this entails.
All of this, because there is no room
for impunity in the management of a fi-
nancial entity. If a financial institution’s
finances causes the failure of a merger, it “Don’t let those who create the danger decide what is dangerous”
is necessary know through intervention

Until the world dies

was considered to be some decisive steps
in the reform of the savings banks. The
revelation of CAM’s ills may undermine
confidence in the balances of other cajas
at a time when stress tests are under
way, and when the financial markets
seem bent on sniffing out any economic,
financial or political weakness in order to
trigger short-term speculative move-
ments against a country’s debt.
All such merger operations are as-
sumed to be overseen and sponsored by
the Bank of Spain. Thus, the supervisor of
EDICIONES EL PAÍS, SOCIEDAD LIMITADA
whose decisions brought about such a se-
rious deterioration in a caja; and wheth-
er these decisions conform to the criteria
of due prudency action; and what norms
have to be imposed now to avoid the repe-
tition of such collapses in the future.
The answers to these and other ques-
tions will reveal, more clearly than any
academic theory, how the real estate bub-
ble was financed, who made money out
of it, and who is to blame for the lack of
credit now being suffered by many inher-
ently solvent companies.
PRESIDENT
Ignacio Polanco
EDITOR
Javier Moreno
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER DEPUTY EDITORS
Juan Luis Cebrián Vicente Jiménez & Lluís Bassets
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERS EDITOR ENGLISH EDITION
Jesús Ceberio & José Ángel García Olea James Badcock
JAVIER MARÍAS
We love to amend the past, or at least
to judge it in our own terms, which
are normally condescending: “How
stupid people were in those days, how
brutal, how unjust.” Whether people
now are any better remains to be
seen, and in history we see many peri-
ods infinitely more barbarous than
those that preceded them. Yet the un-
speakable pride of the present is al-
ways such that no one who lives in it
thinks that his is a time of decadence
or error — as if the road to the truth
were straight and depended only on
the march of chronology. As if Germa-
ny, for example, were closer to right
posed a posthumous pardon for Will-
iam H. Bonney, better known as Billy
the Kid. Very posthumous indeed, the
sheriff Pat Garrett having shot him
down in 1881. It seems that the then
governor, Lew Wallace, better known
as the author of Ben-Hur, and suppos-
edly a man of his word, failed to keep
it after an amnesty deal he had made
with the outlaw in 1879: leave him le-
gally clean in exchange for his testimo-
ny on a murder he had witnessed. Wal-
lace’s bad faith, they say, caused Bon-
ney to break out of jail, killing more in
the process.
After various doubts and a flood of
emails from around the world arguing
for or against the pardon (so many

Letters A tale of two currencies and truth in 1936 than in 1926, or

to the Editor
Letters submitted to this sec-
tion should not exceed 20
typed lines. It is imperative that
each one is signed and is com-
plete with an address, tele-
phone number and DNI or
passport number of the au-
thor. EL PAÍS reserves the right
to publish such pieces, either
in shortened version or as an
extract when it is considered
opportune. Unless otherwise
stated, original letters will not
be returned, nor will informa-
tion be made available about
them by mail or by phone.
Email: iht@elpais.es
As attempts by EL PAÍS
leader writers to blame the
opposition for the calami-
tous Zapatero regime be-
come ever less plausible, it
is clear that, as M. Á. Baste-
nier has suggested, Spain
has few reasons to patron-
ise some of its erstwhile col-
onies. By contrast with Ibe-
ria, Standard & Poor’s has
just rated the government
debt of Colombia (unem-
ployment 11.8 percent) “in-
vestment grade,” and mea-
sures have been taken to
prevent the appreciation of
the peso precipitating
“Dutch disease.”
However, the devalua-
tions prompted by “20th
Century Socialism” would
appear to be an even worse
affliction, and Barclay’s Cap-
ital has recently calculated
that, despite massive oil rev-
enues, Venezuela has fallen
substantially behind its
neighbours during the last
decade. Had the country
matched other major Latin
American economies it
would by now be about 15
percent more prosperous,
while the figure based on
the OPEC average is no less
than 55 percent.— Iain Salis-
bury. Edgbaston, UK.
Spain a better place in 1948 than in
1932.
The dawn of the 21st century will
probably be seen some day as a period
of particular blindness, arrogance and
fatuity. I have spoken before of the
arrogance of cleansing Mark Twain’s
works of politically incorrect words,
and of the local governments in An-
dalusia who are now banishing the
legendary phrase supposedly ad-
dressed by his mother to Boabdil, the
last Moorish king of Granada (“Weep
not as a woman for what thou couldst
not defend as a man”) as being a slur
on the feminine gender.
But the plague of conceit (what con-
ceit, what arrogance, to amend the
words of the dead, to falsify past
events to our taste) goes further, to
almost inconceivable lengths. One
idea now in the air in Spain is to annul
the kangaroo trials of the Civil War
period, so as to “rehabilitate” those
convicted in them. If a new military
court, which has nothing to do with
those of 1936, comes along in 2011,
and declares these trials now to be
null and void, it is a gesture just as
vain as when the Catholic Church to-
day “apologizes” to Galileo.
One recent foolery of this sort is
that of the outgoing governor of New
Mexico, Bill Richardson, who pro-
people have so much free time on
their hands), Richardson consulted
some descendants of Pat Garrett, who,
for reasons as obvious as they are vain
and childish, were flatly opposed to a
pardon. The governor, unwilling to go
against their wishes, solemnly pro-
claimed that after all, the outlaw
spent his time “robbing and killing,
both those who deserved it and those
who didn’t.” Wonderful, the clairvoy-
ance of this politico in 2011, who
knows who deserved to be shot and
who didn’t, in a series of homicides
previous to 1881.
However, neither the bones of Billy
the Kid nor his variable legend can be
changed in the least by the very post-
humous doings of a governor bent on
publicity and on having the last word
on something that does not concern
him. Billy the Kid himself, who died at
the age of 21, knew better than the
supposedly grown-up governor. There
is an interview, perhaps genuine, with
a journalist from the Texas Star, who
at one point called him Billy, to which
he replied: “Mr Bonney, please.”
And when the reporter asked him:
“As for you, do you believe you will
last long in people’s memory?” — he
immediately answered: “I will be with
the world until it dies.” Not a bad
phrase: would the governor care to
amend it?
EL PAÍS, Saturday, April 2, 2011
PROFILE Fernando del Valle
Marbella’s live-in laundering lawyer
M. DELFÍN, Madrid
When Chilean lawyer Fernando
del Valle was arrested in 2005, he
was billed as the main suspect in
Spain’s biggest money-launder-
ing operation uncovered to date.
The Marbella-based attorney
was indicted on a battery of
charges for trying to hide more
than ¤12 million in mafia and
drug money over the years and
was considered the controlling
figure of more than 1,000 shell
companies registered in various
locations from Delaware to
Gibraltar.
Prosecutors had asked for a
jail sentence of up to 17 years, but
the so-called Ballena Blanca
(White Whale) case fell apart
when defense attorneys chipped
away at the government’s han-
dling of the investigation. On
Thursday, Del Valle was sen-
tenced to six years in prison and
ordered to pay ¤3.4 million in
fines — the minimum sentence
his charges carried.
Once the toast of the Marbella
community, Del Valle did a lot of
work for a lot of people through
his law firm, including helping
the rich get richer and Britons
buy up vacation homes on the
Costa del Sol. Authorities said he
was the mastermind behind a
web of ghost corporations regis-
tered in dozens of offshore tax ha-
vens in which he offered his cli-
ents participation with partners
in Spain and other countries. The
lawyer had complete control over
these shells, investigators say.
The prosecution’s case rested
on phone taps, surveillance re-
cordings and bank records but
the Málaga court threw out the
recordings after defense lawyers
filed a host of motions, including
asking the judge to suppress the
surveillance recordings. Prosecu-
tors say they will appeal the light
sentences given to Del Valle and
five of his co-defendants.
The first phase of the trial,
which got underway in March
2010, was one of the most compli-
cated in Spanish history with
case records comprising 257 vol-
umes. Investigators from a dozen
countries, including the United
States, Canada, Germany and
France, helped authorities in
ETA on failed talks: “We underestimated
the government and they nailed us”
LUIS R. AIZPEOLEA, Madrid
The release of fresh ETA docu-
ments continue to shed light on
the shape of past negotiations be-
tween the terrorist group and the
Spanish state.
“The government nailed us,”
ETA decided, in minutes of a
meeting held in 2008. The abort-
ed talks that took place between
March 2006 and June 2007
broke down because the govern-
ment was not prepared to make
new concessions, ETA concluded
in the document seen by EL PAÍS.
The Socialist (PSOE) govern-
Fernando del Valle looks happy moments after being sentenced in a Málaga court on Thursday. / julián rojas
Authorities believe
the Chilean lawyer
could have laundered
up to ¤250 million
The multi-lingual Del
Valle mingled with
the elite, shady and
infamous in Marbella
Spain to uncover evidence, which
led to more than ¤72 million in
blocked accounts in 28 banks. In-
vestigators believe up to ¤250 mil-
lion may have been laundered
but were only able to trace up to
¤12 million.
Nineteen defendants faced
charges ranging from money
laundering and conspiracy to cov-
er-up and tax evasion. Only five,
including Del Valle, were found
guilty. Among those who were
convicted were a French drug-
trafficker of Tunisian descent,
Sophiane Hambli, and a Finnish
couple.
It was through Hambli that
ment of Prime Minister Zapatero
wanted ETA to lay down arms in
return for improved conditions
for their prisoners — the same de-
mands made by Felipe González’s
government and that of José
María Aznar during previous at-
tempts at dialogue. The report
says the Basque separatists felt
they had made a political mis-
judgment. “The peace process
broke down because we thought
we were dealing with a govern-
ment that had to negotiate with
us and that the PSOE needed us
in order to stay in power.”
The militants criticized their
Spanish investigators discovered
the laundering activities taking
place at Del Valle’s DVA Lawyers
in Marbella.
Hambli had escaped from a
French prison in Metz. Authori-
ties traced him to the Costa del
Sol. In 2004, an associate of his
was arrested in Marbella in pos-
session of 3.2 tons of hashish.
Weeks later the Tunisian was de-
tained following a shootout.
French authorities traveled to
Spain to investigate Hambli’s
money-laundering activities and
discovered that he was using
shell companies such as Silverkey
Properties, Garden Gates Invest-
ments and Funfair Investments
to conceal his illicit profits. The
statutes of all the companies had
been drafted at the DVA offices in
Marbella.
The now 62-year-old Del Valle
arrived in Spain in 1977 and quick-
ly became one of the most promi-
nent lawyers in the Costa del Sol.
Málaga Bar Association president
Nielson Sánchez Stuart described
him as “prestigious and famous”
in 2005 following his arrest.
According to the Chilean
press, Del Valle is the nephew of
Jaime del Valle Allende, a former
own attitude as arrogant. They
wrote that at times they forgot
their own weak negotiating posi-
tion. “We underestimated the gov-
ernment and they nailed us.”
“Technical surrender”
The group thought that for José
Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to be re-
elected for a second term in
2008, he would need to pull off
something extraordinary — some-
thing like an end to the conflict in
the Basque Country region. The
group relates its surprise on dis-
covering that the government
justice and foreign minister dur-
ing the Pinochet dictatorship and
once dean of the Catholic Univer-
sity of Chile’s Law School.
As soon as he arrived, the
multi-lingual Del Valle began to
mingle among the elite, shady
and infamous in the Costa resort.
According to one account, he is a
‘Renaissance man’ who can play
a number of instruments, includ-
ing the cello. He lived the high life
and, “as a devoted family man” as
friends described him, he wanted
the best for his children.
Soon after he was granted
bail, Del Valle gave a news confer-
ence in December 2005. He de-
nied all allegations and charged
that police had violated his civil
rights.
“How can 20 or 30 uniformed
and armed men with assault
weapons barge into a law office,
with their faces covered with ski
masks as if the place were harbor-
ing terrorists and professional
criminals?” he asked, reading
from a statement without taking
questions from reporters. He did
not broach the issue of whether
or not he was part of what could
be one of Europe’s biggest interna-
tional money laundering rings.
was not prepared to make a sin-
gle political concession to ETA.
ETA concludes that the “gov-
ernment wanted to achieve the
following main goals: to weaken
the struggle of the pro-indepen-
dence left as much as possible,
and extend the belief of the need
to negotiate within the limits of
the Constitution. In other words,
a technical surrender.”
The minutes are part of a col-
lection of seized ETA documents
in the possession of the Civil
Guard. The Socialist Party is de-
fending the government against
allegations that its negotiators
3
NEWS
Madrid chief
scorns poison
lake dangers
to wildlife
S. A. A., Madrid
Madrid’s deputy regional pre-
mier, Ignacio González, has
played down the danger to
wildlife posed by a 1.2-hectare
oil-slick lake near Arganda del
Rey. “Over 200,000 birds fly
over that lake. It’s possible
that the odd one might have
fallen in,” he said the day EL
PAÍS published a story show-
ing dead aquatic birds.
Esperanza Aguirre’s gov-
ernment bought the land two
years ago for ¤50,000, ostensi-
bly to clean up the area. The
Popular Party administration
decided against fining the two
oil ‘recycling’ companies re-
sponsible for polluting the
lake, situated in a natural
park in southeast Madrid.
A local resident’s associa-
tion has filed a complaint with
the environmental prosecutor
after discovering dead and dy-
ing birds in the lake. González
said attempts had been made
to “recover the lake,” where in-
dustrial oil and gasoline has
been dumped since the 1980s,
but said the “complexity” of
the issue had slowed work
down. Environmental charity
Grefa estimates that the lake
has killed 20,000 birds in the
last 30 years.
Christian
activists disrupt
‘Gang Bang’
JACINTO ANTÓN, Barcelona
The National Catalunya The-
ater plans to offer security to a
Barcelona venue staging the
controversial show Gang Bang
after two men burst into a per-
formance earlier this week,
yelling “Long live Christ the
King!” throwing stink bombs
and threatening and abusing
actors. The graphic play, by Jo-
sep Maria Miró, is set in an
extreme gay sex venue and
makes references to the pope.
promised to stop arrests during
an ETA ceasefire, and that they
ordered the tipping off of mem-
bers of an extortion racket just
before a raid. The latter allega-
tion is now being probed by the
courts, a process which has
caused the ETA minutes to come
to light.
Controversially, some of the
documents seen by EL PAÍS earli-
er this week suggest the govern-
ment secretly renewed talks with
the terrorist group three months
after the bomb attack against
Madrid’s Barajas airport, in De-
cember 2006, which killed two
people. Since September 2010,
ETA has been observing a new
ceasefire. In January it declared
this truce was “permanent” and
open to verification by interna-
tional observers. The govern-
ment has so far ruled out talks.
4 EL PAÍS, Saturday, April 2, 2011
NEWS
JOSÉ LUIS RODRÍGUEZ ZAPATERO Spain’s prime minister
The Spanish leader met with journalists from five leading European newspapers, including EL PAÍS, as
part of the New Europe collaborative series of reports. In the interview, he argues that the government’s
medicine is beginning to improve Spain’s economic performance and insists that the core values of his
Socialist Party have been maintained. Unemployment, he admits, is still a very serious concern
“The welfare state remains in place”
VICENTE JIMÉNEZ
Madrid
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
arrives for the interview look-
ing relaxed and smiling, seem-
ingly oblivious to the specula-
tion regarding his future as the
leader of the Spanish Socialist
Party, which on Saturday holds
its Federal Committee meeting.
The event has created expecta-
tion in the Spanish media,
which will be waiting to see if
Zapatero finally announces
whether he will run for a third
term in next year’s general elec-
tions.
But while his party may be
in a state of fervor over the is-
sue, when Zapatero met with
journalists from Le Monde, Der
Spiegel, Gazeta Wyborcza, The
Guardian, and EL PAÍS as part
of a series of reports the five
newspapers are preparing on
Europe, the Spanish prime min-
ister insisted that the succes-
sion issue was not going to cre-
ate instability within the party.
During the question and an-
swer session, Zapatero dis-
cussed the impact of the finan-
cial crisis on the euro zone, the
future of the European Union,
the uprising across the Arab
world, and the debate on the
future of nuclear energy, post-
Fukushima.
Question. When you met re-
cently with Spain’s business
leaders they called for political
stability as the basis for econom-
ic growth, and one, Emilio
Botín, even asked you to put the
succession issue to one side.
Will you be announcing at the
Federal Committee meeting
that you won’t run for a third
term?
Answer. I’m not going to say
what I will or won’t announce
at the meeting. But let’s be clear
about the issue of stability. Polit-
ical and institutional stability
mean a stable Congress, and we
need that to get on with the eco-
nomic tasks we have set our-
selves. The government will
meet its commitments and see
out the current legislature, and
it will do so with congressional
support, which is good for the
economy.
Q. But you know you will
have to address the issue at
some point.
A. It has all been thought
through, but I’m not going to
say anything about the issue.
But I will say this. As the leader
of the Spanish Socialist Party,
the support I have received
from my colleagues has been
impressive. They have support-
ed me throughout my leader-
ship. I understand the responsi-
bility I bear. I know that since
2000, my responsibility has
been to do the best for Spain
and the Socialist Party.
Q. Would you say that you
Zapatero listens thoughtfully during the interview. / gorka lejarcegi
have become a liability for the
Socialist Party?
A. I have always worked for
the good of the party, which has
132 years behind it. We have
governed for two-thirds of the
modern democratic period. I
had the opportunity to win two
elections with high turnouts on
both occasions. One cannot be
at the top of one’s game for eter-
nity. I understand that. I have
always made it clear that de-
mocracy is essential. That
means respecting others com-
peting within the democratic
arena. Nobody would deny that
everybody within the party is
free to speak their mind.
Q. Do you think that the de-
bate over who will lead the par-
ty after you is harming the par-
ty and the country?
A. The reason that party
members are discussing the suc-
cession issue is because the me-
dia keeps going on about it.
That said, people obviously
want to know. I think that it is a
good thing that we discuss
these issues, and that we do so
objectively, perhaps even with a
degree of irony. The opposition
Popular Party goes on about me
as a liability, and that the party
has closed ranks around me…
the party leader who has lost
two elections. But these are sim-
ply the paradoxes of life.
Q. Last week, EL PAÍS pub-
lished a survey showing that
Spaniards have a very low opin-
ion of their politicians. How
much of the blame for that
would you accept?
A. First of all, I refute the
premise of the question. Over-
all, the last 30 years have been
very positive for Spain. No coun-
try can match Spain in terms of
the economic change, the
Interview
change in terms of freedoms,
the social changes that this
country has experienced. When
there is a crisis, the voters ex-
pect more from their politi-
cians, which is perfectly nor-
mal. If what you say were true,
then electoral turnout wouldn’t
be so high. In the last two elec-
tions, the turnout was 75 per-
cent. That is the best barometer
of democracy. It is understand-
able after 15 years unprecedent-
ed growth that people feel disap-
pointed. The downturn has
been sharp, and sudden.
Q. On May 22, there are re-
gional and municipal elections.
The polls suggest the Socialist
Party will take a very heavy
beating.
A. We will do better than
they are saying. The Socialist
Party knows how to perform,
and we are going to perform.
There are those who have
sought to use the crisis to wipe
“I won two elections
but one cannot be at
the top of one’s
game for ever”
“The economy is
now growing but
the final task is to
create employment”
the party off the political map.
But we will overcome this cri-
sis, and those who have tried to
use the crisis may well find
themselves left out in the cold.
Q. What will your role in the
campaign be?
A. The same as always: as ac-
tive as possible, bearing in
mind my responsibilities as
head of the government. I will
be attending all the main ral-
lies. My participation will be
the same as in every other ma-
jor campaign. I will be out on
the stump, explaining to voters
why we have gotten over the
crisis, and who has helped and
who hasn’t.
Q. When you say that Spain
has gotten over the crisis, are
you referring to the percentage
points of growth, or something
else?
A. The economy is now grow-
ing; we are stabilizing the debt
risk, and are out of the danger
zone; and we are close to the
final task of being able to create
employment. I have already
said that next month will be bet-
ter and that we will build on
the positive employment trends
in the second half of the year.
Q. At the last European sum-
mit, measures were taken to
protect the economies of mem-
ber states in the event of future
EL PAÍS, Saturday, April 2, 2011
Interview
economic crises. A day later,
the Portuguese Prime Minister,
José Sócrates, resigned after his
latest austerity package was re-
buffed in parliament. There is
now doubt as to whether Portu-
gal should accept what would
be the EU’s third financial res-
cue package after Greece and
Ireland. Do you think Portugal
should accept a bailout?
A. The view within the insti-
tutions of the EU is that Portu-
gal can continue to finance it-
self. I believe in José Sócrates’
ability to handle this, and I
don’t think that it would be
good for Portugal or the euro
zone if Portugal asked for finan-
cial assistance.
Q. Are you afraid that Spain
could find itself in a similar posi-
tion?
A. Nobody asks me that ques-
tion any more. But when they
did, I said that there was no
question of it happening. If
there was barely a 10-percent
chance of it happening six
months ago, then the chances
Zapatero gesticulates during the interview at his official La Moncloa residence. / g. l.
now are less than one percent.
Q. You recently announced
that Spain would be setting its
spending on the basis of GDP
growth and other economic
measures, including a plan to
bring the informal economy out
into the open. Can you outline
how you intend to do this?
A. We have a wide range of
measures at our disposal. First,
we will meet our deficit goals
this year. Secondly, we are just
days away from a deal between
employers and unions over col-
lective bargaining. Thirdly, we
are introducing reforms to
boost competitiveness. There
are also reforms to generate em-
ployment, and plans to regulate
the informal sector, and we are
also introducing training and
skills formation programs. Fi-
nally, we are putting the finish-
ing touches to plans to reform
the financial system. Banks and
savings banks have had to in-
crease their core capital re-
quirements. In the near future
we will introduce measures to
limit public spending, but this
will require further negotia-
tions with the regional govern-
ments via a broad-based agree-
ment.
Q. Despite their rescue pack-
ages, Greece and Ireland contin-
ue to pay more to borrow mon-
ey on the international mar-
kets. So what use did the bail-
outs do?
A. When a country needs to
“I don’t think that
a bailout would be
good for Portugal
or the euro zone”
“The chances now
of Spain needing
assistance are less
than one percent”
ask for financial help, it knows
the process will be long and
painful. We need to think about
the medium term here. Greece
and Ireland both have huge
debts. They will have to intro-
duce reforms, and they will
have difficulties in paying the
debt. That is the reason for the
bailout in both cases. They will
need time, but they can count
on Europe’s support.
Q. What do you say to accusa-
tions that you are betraying the
principles of the left and behav-
ing in the way a right-wing gov-
ernment would?
A. The government is imple-
menting the reforms that this
country needs. This involves
sacrifice and effort, but they
will bring their rewards. I am
absolutely confident that we
can achieve financial stability,
and that we can create jobs. It
will take time, and I wish that it
could be quicker, but the most
important thing is that we are
going to rebuild this country’s
financial infrastructure...
Q. …but these are all reforms
that the right has traditionally
implemented.
A. It’s not about right and
left. There are reforms that
need to be implemented. We
have lowered public sector
workers’ salaries by five per-
cent, and we have frozen pen-
sion increases for a year. The
rest of the measures are vital if
we are to improve competitive-
ness. The left has to look to
ways to create more wealth, to
compete, to innovate. We are
the only country in Europe not
to have cut education spending,
nor health. The main pillars of
the welfare state remain in
place. More than 75 percent of
those without work receive
some kind of benefit payment.
But unemployment is difficult
to budge, and that is a great con-
cern to me.
Q. Wouldn’t it be easier to
raise the tax rate on the
wealthy?
A. We have done that — we
have increased income tax. But
fiscal policy has its limits. If you
raise taxes too high, it eats into
businesses’ profits, and that
puts limits on economic
growth. At a time of economic
crisis, increasing fiscal pres-
sure can stall growth.
Q. Critics of the EU point to
its inability to respond quickly
and effectively to the crisis or to
the uprisings in the Arab world,
saying that it has failed to estab-
lish common policies. How
would you counter those accu-
sations?
A. When you are in govern-
ment, you have to accept criti-
cism, and also know how to be
critical of oneself. We are living
through a time of great change,
and driving that change are the
economy and communication.
What has happened is that pro-
duction has shifted to Asia.
Over the last decade and a half,
millions of people have escaped
poverty. Europe is paying the
price for that. We have to adapt
to the new situation, and that
means strengthening Europe’s
institutions. The only way that
we can produce energy more
cheaply, or that our universities
can compete with those in the
United States, or that we can
join the top internet companies
is by joining forces within Eu-
rope.
Q. You have said that the re-
volts in the Arab world are in-
“Events in
Fukushima have
shown that Spain’s
policy is correct”
“Resolution 1973 is
historic because it is
aimed at protecting
a civilian population”
spired by Europe. Do you really
believe that the emerging econ-
omies of the world look to Eu-
rope?
A. China and India have
achieved a huge amount, but
we have to remember that Eu-
rope created the welfare state;
European workers enjoy better
protection than any others; it is
where women’s rights are best
protected; and where individu-
al freedoms are not subjected to
economic disadvantage. What
do we have to do to maintain
that model? The answer is
clear. We have to further devel-
op our talent, our knowledge
and skills base. We can com-
pete through our talent and in-
novation.
Q. Do you think the EU’s
member states are prepared to
give up their sovereignty?
A. Member states have al-
ready given up much in terms
of economic policy. We are mov-
ing more slowly as regards secu-
5
NEWS
rity and defense. The EU is built
in such a way that there is al-
ways a balance between collec-
tive and national responsibility.
At times like this, maintaining
that balance isn’t easy. But we
will see big changes over the
next five years.
Q. After events in Japan,
should the EU establish a com-
mon nuclear policy, at least in
terms of security?
A. We have decided to test
the security of our nuclear pow-
er plants based on common pa-
rameters. But there is no deny-
ing that there are many differ-
ent perspectives on nuclear en-
ergy within the EU. At either
extreme are France and Aus-
tria: Austria has banned nucle-
ar energy; France has 60 nucle-
ar power plants, with two more
under construction. Events in
Fukushima have shown that
Spain’s policy is correct: use nu-
clear energy if there is no alter-
native. But as soon as there is,
drop it.
Q. So Spain will close its nu-
clear plants when they become
too old?
A. Yes. We do not believe in
building new ones, which
means that we have to find new
ways to replace that capacity.
This will require a huge techno-
logical leap, but we believe that
although the risks from nuclear
energy are minimal, when
something goes wrong, the ef-
fects can be devastating.
Q. Because of its links to
North Africa, can Spain play a
key role in the uprisings there?
It doesn’t seem to have taken
the initiative yet.
A. We are playing a key role
in Tunisia, as well as in Egypt.
We support the reforms there
and in other countries. Spain
went through a transition to de-
mocracy, and we can teach
those countries a great deal
about the best way to go about
implementing new laws, chang-
ing laws… We also support the
demands for reform in Moroc-
co, a country whose stability is
essential for North Africa.
Former Prime Minister Felipe
González is advising the Tuni-
sian authorities.
Q. Do you think that direct
military intervention will be
needed in any other country
than Libya?
A. If there were similar cir-
cumstances, where the civilian
population was under threat.
But it would require the approv-
al of the UN Security Council.
Resolution 1973 is important be-
cause it is the first such resolu-
tion aimed at protecting a civil-
ian population, and because it
establishes the use of only limit-
ed military power, and express-
ly forbids the use of ground
troops. It is a historic resolu-
tion. For the moment, resolu-
tions have been based on
threats to world peace, or the
right of defense, as happened
with Iraq and Kuwait. It is
worth highlighting that in Lib-
ya, there have been no civilian
casualties: only military objec-
tives are being targeted.
Q. Would it be right to use
troops in other countries in the
region?
A. The use of force is to pro-
tect the population. Regime
change would require the use
of force, as well as economic
measures.
6 EL PAÍS, Saturday, April 2, 2011

BUSINESS
Fitch cuts CAM
ratings to junk
status after
merger failure
From page 1
The development emerged af-
ter CAM’s proposed merger
with three other local cajas
to form Banco Base fell apart
after the Alicante-based sav-
ings bank was abandoned by
its erstwhile merger part-
ners.
The central bank is expect-
ed to remove CAM‘s manage-
ment and eventually offer the
caja to some of the stronger
local banks, with the leading
contender being Banco
Santander. BBVA and La
Caixa are also possible candi-
dates to take over the reins at
CAM.
Cajastur, Caja Extremadu-
ra and Caja Cantabria pulled
out of the proposed tie-up
with CAM this week after
Banco Base asked for ¤2.8 bil-
lion from the FROB, almost
twice the amount the Bank of
Spain estimated would be re-
quired to meet the new mini-
mum core capital ratio of 10
percent.
CAM said it also needed
the ¤2.8 billion from FROB to
pass the stress tests being car-
ried out on European lend-
Portugal gets through debt
tender but at high cost
Yields continue to set new records in secondary market
AGENCIES / A. S., Madrid
Portugal managed to sell ¤1.6 bil-
lion in Treasury bills at an ex-
traordinary tender held on Fri-
day but was forced to pay well
over the odds to do so as govern-
ment bond yields hit new euro-
era highs, increasing the likeli-
hood of a bailout.
The auction took place hours
after President Aníbal Cavaco
Silva announced early elections
would be held on June 5 after
the resignation of Prime Minis-
ter José Sócrates on March 23 in
response to parliament’s rejec-
tion of further austerity mea-
sures proposed by the Socialist
government to rein in the public
deficit.
The debt management agen-
cy IGCP said the bills due June
2012 were sold at an average
rate of 5.793 percent, well above
the 3.159 percent paid at an auc-
tion held in July of last year.
However, it was below second-
ary market rates where the
yield on paper with the same
maturity was trading at around
7 percent.
According to Bloomberg, the
yield on the 10-year government
bond climbed to a new euro-era
high of 8.481 percent on Friday.
That also caused the spread
with the German equivalent to
widen to a new maximum of 510
basis points.
Demand for the paper at Fri-
day’s tender eased to 1.4 times
from 2.3 times. The IGCP said
Thursday it had called the auc-
tion in response to “specific de-
mand.” Both China and more re-
cently Brazil have said they
would consider buying Portu-
guese sovereign debt.
The Finance Ministry de-
scribed the outcome as “posi-
tive” in the light of Portugal’s
“difficult political and economic
situation.”
The tender also came the day
after the National Statistics Of-
fice (INE) revised the public defi-
cit upward for last year after be-
ing required by the European
Union to include a further ¤3 bil-
lion of spending incurred as a
result of assistance to two banks
and the public transport sector.
The INE said the shortfall
amounted to 8.6 percent, caus-
ing the government to miss its
target of 7.3 percent.
European Commission
spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said
Friday there was no intention
on the part of the Portuguese
government to deceive with its
figures, adding it simply imple-
mented European accounting
principles.
Sócrates has rejected the
need for a bailout and Finance
Minister Fernando Teixeira dos
Santos on Thursday said the in-
terim government lacked the “le-
gitimacy” to negotiate a rescue
package. The earliest the new
government is expected to be in
place is the end of June.
The country has to repay
over ¤4 billion in maturing
bonds on April 15, as well as cou-
pons on some debt, and will
need a further ¤6 billion on
June 15.
Household
savings rate
declines as
income falls
A. S., Madrid
Heavily indebted Spanish
households beset by the
weakness of the economy
and high unemployment
were forced to loosen their
purse strings at the end of
last year as disposable in-
come fell.
According to figures re-
leased Friday by the National
Statistics Institute (INE), the
household savings rate fell
4.3 percentage points from a
year earlier to 19.8 percent.
For the whole of last year the
savings rate dropped 4.9
points to 13.1 percent.
The INE said the main rea-
son for the contraction at the
end of the year was a drop in
primary income of 0.7 per-
cent due to a fall in wages of
1.7 percent and a decline in
earnings from investments.
At the same time, consumer
spending climbed 4.9 per-
cent.
With a fifth of the working
population currently unem-
ployed, benefits received
climbed 6.3 percent, while so-
cial security payments de-

Manufacturing sector improves

ers. creased 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, Fitch on Fri- The European Union’s sta-
day cut CAM’s long-term rat- tistics office Eurostat said Fri-
ing to junk-status BB+ from day that Spain remained at
BBB+ as a result of the caja’s
need for outside help. The rat-
ings agency also cited the de-
but local demand remains weak the top of the unemployment
table in February when the
jobless rate rose to 20.5 per-
terioration in the quality of A. S., Madrid at 51.6 points last month, down ery in the manufacturing sec- cent from 20.4 percent at the
its assets. from 52.1 points in February. A tor, albeit with little sign of a start of the year. By contrast,
Fitch also put Cajastur Operating conditions in the reading of over 50 points indi- strengthening of domestic de- the overall rate in the euro
and Caja Extremadura’s rat- Spanish manufacturing sector cates expansion, while one of mand,” Markit economist An- zone dipped to below 10 per-
ings under review with nega- improved, albeit at a slower below 50 points signifies a con- drew Harker said. cent for the first time since
tive implications. The ratings pace than the previous month, traction. Markit also noted a record October 2009.
agency does not cover Caja while employment fell again, The consultant said the re- rise in output prices in the In a report released earli-
Cantabria. The three cajas consultant Markit said on Fri- covery is largely being driven month, although companies er this week, the Bank of
are expected to try to pursue day. by foreign demand. “The first continue not to fully pass on the Spain predicted the savings
an alliance among them- Markit’s Purchasing Manag- quarter as a whole saw steady increase in inflation as demand rate would continue to de-
selves. ers’ Index for the sector came in progress on the road to recov- remains on the weak side. cline this year. “Households
are projected to consume a
larger proportion of their dis-
IBEX35 posable income in 2011, so
Latest Annual Variation %
Ibex 35 that the decline in the saving
Daily variation Yesterday
Equity price 14,000 Yesterday rate from its 2009 peak is ex-
Euros % Min. Máx. Previous Current 10,729.90
Abengoa 23,305 -0,065 -0,28 23,250 23,545 4,2 26,8 pected to continue,” the re-
12,000
Abertis 15,455 0,125 0,82 15,180 15,500 8,0 14,9 port said.
Acciona 77,210 0,530 0,69 76,100 77,770 -11,0 48,2 10,000
Acerinox 14,015 0,090 0,65 13,920 14,090 0,8 7,6

Automobile
ACS 33,315 0,235 0,71 32,860 33,385 4,6 -2,5 8,000
Amadeus 13,575 0,075 0,56 13,465 13,650 14,1 -13,4
Arcelor Mittal 25,600 0,075 0,29 25,335 25,900 -15,6 -5,2 6,000
Banco Popular
Banco Sabadell
4,208
3,101
0,060
0,014
1,45
0,45
4,150
3,069
4,251
3,134
-14,4
-16,0
11,1
5,1
F

Source: Bloomberg.
M A M J J A S O N D J F M

EL PAÍS
sales stay on
Banco Santander
Bankinter
8,410
4,990
0,218
0,150
2,66
3,10
8,210
4,851
8,410
4,998
-20,4
-26,5
7,7
21,5 CONTINUOUS MARKET FOREIGN CURRENCIES
slide in March
BBVA 8,624 0,206 2,45 8,456 8,678 -23,7 19,6
BME 22,730 1,260 5,87 21,550 23,000 11,5 27,5 BIGGEST HIGHS Buy Sell
% Euros
A. S., Madrid
Criteria 5,010 0,033 0,66 4,933 5,090 68,5 29,9
Ebro Foods 16,610 0,030 0,18 16,420 16,750 19,0 4,9 Puleva Biotech 28,06 0,195 US dollar 1,4202 1,4201
Enagás 16,025 0,105 0,66 15,840 16,100 10,1 7,4 Azkoyen 7,25 0,150 Argentinean peso 5,7621 5,7560 Sales of new passenger cars
Endesa 22,135 0,270 1,23 21,760 22,195 -0,1 17,8 BME 5,87 1,260 Australian dollar 1,3689 1,3685 declined 29.1 percent in
Brazilian real 2,3009 2,2993
FCC 23,410 0,050 0,21 23,320 23,655 -12,3 23,6
Amper 5,70 0,220
Canadian dollar 1,3694 1,3690 March to 88,396 units in the
Cie Automotive 4,05 0,225
Ferrovial 8,964 0,114 1,29 8,761 8,980 18,7 20,6
Sniace 3,50 0,056 Czech koruna 24,4930 24,4520 absence of direct govern-
Gamesa 7,365 0,032 0,44 7,250 7,420 -36,6 28,9 Bankinter 3,10 0,150 Danish krone 7,4566 7,4562 ment subsidies that were
Gas Natural 13,325 0,070 0,53 13,210 13,370 -3,0 19,8 Banco Santander 2,66 0,218 Hong Kong dollar 11,0482 11,0466 available a year earlier, ac-
Grifols 12,480 0,180 1,46 12,320 12,480 3,8 22,4 Hungarian forint 265,5700 265,1700
Duro Felguera 2,46 0,140
Icelandic krona 162,3100 161,7900 cording to figures released
Iag 2,581 -0,016 -0,62 2,540 2,669 - -22,0 BBVA 2,45 0,206
Iberdrola 6,217 0,081 1,32 6,110 6,220 -4,2 7,8 Indian rupee 63,0518 62,9513 Friday by the industry associ-
Iberdrola Renov. 3,085 0,040 1,31 3,047 3,085 -6,3 16,2 BIGGEST LOWS
Japanese yen 119,6300 119,6100 ations Anfac and Ganvam.
Inditex 57,570 0,950 1,68 56,520 57,600 34,6 2,8 % Euros
Mexican peso 16,8103 16,8056 Sales in the first quarter of
Moroccan dirham 11,3050 11,3050
Indra 14,175 0,025 0,18 14,025 14,270 -9,5 10,9 Quabit -3,33 -0,007 Norwegian kroner 7,8103 7,8057 the year dropped 27.3 per-
Mapfre 2,714 0,055 2,07 2,661 2,730 -0,1 30,6 Tubos Reunidos -3,24 -0,075 Polish zloty 4,0223 4,0186 cent to 208,151 units as con-
Gral. de Inversiones -2,97 -0,055
OHL 25,600 0,110 0,43 25,320 25,890 38,4 12,9
GAM -2,65 -0,050
Rusian ruble 40,2106 40,1711 sumer confidence remained
Red Eléctrica 40,115 0,015 0,04 39,800 40,345 10,1 15,9
Fergo Aisa -2,63 -0,005
Singapore dollar 1,7908 1,7900 weak. Sales to individuals fell
Repsol 24,540 0,365 1,51 24,055 24,600 37,6 20,6 South African rand 9,5151 9,5047
Sacyr 8,273 0,073 0,89 8,060 8,390 4,9 75,5
Almirall -2,54 -0,200
Sterling pound 0,8815 0,8814 46.4 percent. Ganvam said it
Técnicas Reunidas 43,180 0,760 1,79 42,480 43,340 12,9 -8,0
Faes -2,46 -0,070
Swedish krona 8,9429 8,9398 expected sales for the full
Reno de Médici -2,22 -0,005
Telecinco 8,193 0,115 1,42 8,020 8,230 -9,3 -0,5 Iberpapel -2,21 -0,340
Swiss franc 1,3165 1,3163 year could drop below the ini-
Telefónica 17,950 0,285 1,61 17,680 17,970 -1,1 5,8 Elecnor -1,54 -0,170 Units per euro at 18:00 tial forecast of 900,000 units.
EL PAÍS, Saturday, April 2, 2011 7

SPORTS
Ronaldo out Nadal and
for Sporting Greek tragedy for Barça Federer meet
and Tottenham Reigning Euroleague champion crashes out to Panathinaikos again — back
games ROBERT ÁLVAREZ / EL PAÍS
where it began
EL PAÍS, Madrid Regal FC Barcelona’s dream of J. J. M. / EL PAÍS, Madrid
defending its title on home turf
The bad news for José Mourin- at the Palau Sant Jordi on May 8 Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Ber-
ho is that Cristiano Ronaldo was over on Thursday night. dych and Roger Federer went
will not be fit to play in Real The Euroleague champion went through against Gilles Simon
Madrid’s home match against down 78-67 to a tactically superi- to set up a semifinal encounter
Sporting Gijón on Saturday, or Panathinaikos in their fourth against each other in the place
nor in next week’s Champions quarterfinal playoff game in Ath- their rivalry first began in
League quarterfinal first leg ens — an overall 3-1 series de- 2004 — at the Miami Masters.
against Tottenham. Marcelo feat. The Spaniard faced a tough
and Karim Benzema are also On a bad night for Spanish ride against world number sev-
unfit. The good news, though, basketball, Caja Laboral also en Berdych in his quarterfinal
is that Real’s Argentinean strik- missed out on a place in the Eu- match, prevailing 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
er, Gonzalo Higuaín is fit roleague Final Four with a third in two hours and 17 minutes.
enough to called up after four defeat against Maccabi Tel Aviv, The Swiss world number
months out of action. Also on while Power Electronics Valen- three had a considerably easi-
Saturday, Barcelona faces a cia pushed its series against Real er time against Simon after
tough test at Villarreal, while Madrid to a deciding fifth game the Frenchman retired due to
Valencia travels to Getafe. with a 81-72 win over the eight- injury after three games and
time title holder. less than 10 minutes.
LIGA BBVA / 1st DIVISION Week 30 There were few traces of the It was at the same stage of
SATURDAY Time Television Barcelona team that has earned the same tournament back in
Real Madrid-Sporting 18.00 C+ Liga, GolTV admiration across Europe at the 2004 that the 17-year-old Mal-
Getafe-Valencia 20.00 C+ Liga, GolTV OAKA stadium. Navarro wasn’t lorcan first met, and beat, Fed-
Villarreal-Barcelona 22.00 La Sexta, Aut. Navarro. Alan Anderson was er- erer, who lost his ATP second-
SUNDAY ratic. Ricky Rubio and Victor Sa- place ranking after his defeat
R. Sociedad-Hércules 17.00 PPV da weren’t capable of imposing a to Novak Djokovic at Indian
Espanyol-Racing 17.00 PPV more lively rhythm of play to Wells two weeks ago.
Levante-Málaga 17.00 PPV suit the style of the team. Time “We have played each oth-
Deportivo-Mallorca 17.00 PPV and again, Barça lost the re- er few times in semifinals,”
Sevilla-Zaragoza 19.00 C+ Liga, GolTV bound battle, missed the three- said Nadal after his quarterfi-
Osasuna Atlético 21.00 Canal + pointers and showed they didn’t nal win. “It has normally been
MONDAY know how defend against a at big title deciders. It is al-
Almería-Athletic 21.00 PPV, GolTV Panathinaikos that had a field ways special to play against
day at the basket. him. They are very important
P. W. T. L. GF. GA. Pt.
It was the Greek side’s Serbi- matches for our careers: finals
1. Barcelona 29 25 3 1 81 15 78
an coach Zeljko Obradovic who at Roland Garros, at Wimble-
2. Real Madrid 29 23 4 2 69 21 73
emerged as the hero of the night don, at the Australian Open
3. Villarreal 29 16 6 7 48 30 54
for getting his team to turn ev- Barcelona’s Fran Vázquez shows his despair. / thanassis stavrakis (ap) [...] that makes our rivalry spe-
4. Valencia 29 16 6 7 42 33 54
erything he wrote on his tactics cial.”
5. Espanyol 29 14 1 14 37 41 43
board into results on the pitch. bound. The Catalans’ luck ran down, I thought that we could “I think the hard court, es-
6. Athletic 29 13 3 13 44 41 42
7. Sevilla 29 12 6 11 43 43 42
Panathinaikos went round and out when baskets by Diamanti- get back in. But we lost the ball pecially the slow hard court is
8. Atlético 29 11 6 12 42 39 39
round until they found the in- dis and Calathes increased the and now didn’t believe. Then we a neutral territory, so it sets
9. Mallorca 29 11 5 13 30 38 38
side pass, including to some of gap between the teams to 13 fought, but without options. In things up for a great match,”
10. Levante 29 10 5 14 30 39 35 its outside players. And went it points with five minutes to go. the second half we weren’t our- said Federer, who has lost 14
11. Osasuna 29 9 8 12 34 33 35 didn’t, Nick Calathes or Dimitris “The round has had three and selves. and won eight against Nadal.
12. R. Sociedad 29 11 2 16 39 48 35 Diamantidis penetrated. The half very equal matches,” reflect- “It is a tough day for every- However, he leads the Span-
13. Getafe 29 9 7 13 39 45 34 problem for Barça was closing ed Barça coach Xavi Pascual. body. Since we began the season, iard 5-2 in their meetings on
14. Racing 29 8 9 12 28 43 33 the door on the inside while pre- “But in the second half there one of the objectives was to be in outdoor hard courts.
15. Sporting 29 7 11 11 27 35 32 venting Panathinaikos from was only one team. The first the Final Four. It was what we Spain’s David Ferrer failed
16. Deportivo 29 7 10 12 23 39 31 comfortably circulating the ball. lead they got over us, six points, were most excited about and we to make the semifinal grade,
17. Zaragoza 29 7 9 13 28 40 30 The third quarter was the seemed like a mountain. At the felt a sense of duty because it is going down 5-7, 2-6 to Ameri-
18. Málaga 29 8 5 16 38 59 29 most devastating. Barça lost first moment of weakness, we in Barcelona and because we are can Mardy Fish. Fish was play-
19. Almería 29 5 11 13 30 48 26 balls and Panathinaikos tri- stopped believing. When the last champions. I feel disappointed. ing Djokovic in the other semi-
20. Hércules 29 7 5 17 25 47 26 umphed in the battle for the re- quarter began, at nine points It is very painful for everyone.” final at press time.

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start to Saturday morning in south and
eastern Spain over the course of the day.
The northeast will be mostly rainy and
overcast throughout, with scattered
storms and this wet weather will spread to
Cantabria, Castilla y Leon and Alto Ebro.
The Balearics will see mostly clear skies
while the Canary Islands can expect
cloudy spells. Saturday‘s highs: Madrid
22ºC, Barcelona 21ºC, Valencia 24 ºC.
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The Estonoesunsolar collective created this garden with a room for association meetings in a street in the old quarter of Zaragoza.
Space invaders
A new order of public architecture is blooming in Spanish cities
ANATXU ZABALBEASCOA
What happens when architects
become not-for-profit builders?
When they become interested in
addressing society’s most basic
needs, trading in the blueprints
for construction sites? A specter
is haunting Spain, the specter of a
kind of architecture made up of
the leftovers nobody else wants,
and made possible through tem-
porary concessions by landown-
ers, business donations, the good-
will of various city councils and
the poorly paid (or unpaid) work
of scores of young people. Groups
such as recetasurbanas.net from
Seville and estonoesunsolar.com
from Zaragoza are creating an op-
timistic new architecture that is
changing the rules of the game.
Vacant lots, temporary con-
structions, public participation,
employment plans and a new log-
ic are all part and parcel of Park-a-
Part, a building made out of three
freight containers that the collec-
tive Straddle3 erected in
Arbúcies, Girona. The space
works as a social center, a dance
school and an architecture stu-
dio. Park-a-Part was made entire-
ly from recycled material that oth-
ers had discarded, and its price
was ¤169 per square meter. A lo-
cal resident, Fran Casadesús, al-
lowed Straddle3 temporary use
of the land.
“We tried to apply the con-
cepts of ecology and open-source
systems to architecture and city
zoning. We want to renew the
concept of public space on public
land,” said a spokesperson for the
group.
These approximately 50
groups do more than design build-
ings (more often than not there is
no time for technical drawings,
anyway) and take charge of the
actual construction. But what
they do is becoming increasingly
visible through projects like Alg-a-
lab in Barrocas, Vigo (where
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2011
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ENGLISH EDITION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
space goes for ¤107.70/m2 rather
than the average ¤700/m2 for sub-
sidized housing), or Niu, a branch-
covered construction at the Con-
temporary Art Center of Bòlit, in
Girona (¤308.35/m2).
The sense of commitment is
clear when you learn how these
architects make a living. “From
teaching, from small fund alloca-
tions for culture, from profession-
al jobs... Each group juggles sever-
According to articles 8 and 32.1, second paragraph, of the
intellectual Property Law, it is expressly prohibited to
reproduce, distribute or communicate in public, including
al options,” says Santiago Ciruge-
da of Recetas Urbanas. “We’re al-
ways looking out for resources,
and often share the projects we
are offered, in order to also share
the budget, and of course the re-
sponsibility, the authorship and
the beers.”
And the beer reference hints
at the fact that good vibes are as
crucial as ideology for these col-
lective projects. It was 15 years
making available, the entirety or segments of this publication for
commercial ends, in any shape or form, without the authorization of
Ediciones EL PAÍS, SL.”
Above: A plaza built on vacant
land in Zaragoza. Left:
Seville’s Recetas Urbanas
used engineer Julio Barba’s
system for supporting
buildings being restored.
ago that Cirugeda began his per-
sonal battle to change the face of
cities, starting with Seville. He
studied the zoning legislation and
found out how to use the loop-
holes to make way for a different
type of architecture. There were
precedents for this. In the late
1960s, the British architect
Cedric Price — whose ideas influ-
enced Rogers and Piano’s design
for the Pompidou center in Paris
— replaced blueprints with on-
site work. He also felt that users
should participate creatively in ar-
chitecture. But things had never
gone this far. The internet was
the medium that got the ball roll-
ing and brought together the ex-
perience, knowledge and the
ideas of all the various groups
working along similar lines. They
call it open-source architecture
because they do not charge intel-
lectual copyright fees.
“Instead of seeking clients, the
architect must seek situations of
social urgency,” explains the de-
signer José María Galán Conde.
Paula V. Álvarez, author of Ca-
miones, contenedores, colectivos
(or, Trucks, containers, collec-
tives), has been documenting this
work in what she describes as “a
handbook for open-source archi-
tecture.”
When Cirugeda heard, follow-
ing a conference in Zaragoza,
that a Gypsy shantytown was go-
ing to be torn down (its dwellers
were moved to subsidized hous-
ing), he did the necessary paper-
work to be able to offer some of
the containers to cultural associa-
tions. The book explains what
those containers turned into and
“Instead of seeking
clients, the architect
must seek situations
of social urgency”
illustrates an entire process
whose ideals are as lofty as those
of the hippies in the 1970s.
There are more and more sto-
ries like this across Spain. A mu-
nicipal employment plan turned
20 vacant lots in Zaragoza into
parks, community gardens and
sports courts in under two years.
The architects Patrizia di Monte
and Ignacio Grávalos, from Esto-
noesunsolar, submitted the win-
ning project. The idea was to
change the appearance of fenced,
vacant lots that its owners have
an obligation to keep clean. Patri-
zia led a team of 50 jobless people
and turned these spaces into lei-
sure spots for the local residents.
She hired workers, organized
talks with neighborhood associa-
tions, supervised the work and de-
signed “with no plans.”
In 2009, her team inaugurated
some 10 parks in the historical
area of Zaragoza on a budget of a
million euros (of which ¤700,000
went to pay the salaries of the for-
merly unemployed team mem-
bers). In early March, Mayor
Juan Alberto Belloch inaugurat-
ed the beach-park Vadorrey, on
the banks of the River Ebro.
Cirugeda is convinced that the
future lies in international aid
projects, “although it requires
more attention than local
[projects], because there is a lot
of mistrust in some countries.”
Both Recetas Urbanas and Strad-
dle3 erected cultural centers in
Saltillo, Mexico, while Todo por
la Praxis, La Creactiva and Club
de Alterne inaugurated sports
courts in Bogotá.
The architects of the modern
era were committed to making
accessible housing. Today’s collec-
tive architect groups seem intent
on taking space back for the citi-
zens. These groups are neither
trying to stay on the fringes of the
system, nor to be an accomplice
to the same. They merely ask
themselves whether their work
can confront the system from
within. They are living proof that
it is possible to protest without
being destructive. The overarch-
ing goal is to fix what doesn’t
work, and to rethink architecture
from the viewpoint of people’s re-
al, everyday needs.