NEWSWEEK (HEART) ZAPATERO [a guest post by Fausta Wertz]:

Newsweek (heart) Zapatero, and thinks His Way Works. The article paints a glowing picture of the Spanish economy, which has been riding a boom that started with the Aznar administration's economic policies. As it is, just yesterday the Bank of Spain warns of economic slowdown.

The Newsweek article ignores Zapatero's protectionist policies towards his socialist party friends. Newsweek finally got around to mentioning (emphasis added),

Ironically, the remainder of Zapatero's term may be judged by neither his social reforms nor his economic management. Last month, after behind-the-scenes talks with the government, the Basque separatist group ETA declared a "permanent ceasefire," ostensibly ending 38 years of struggle. Terror put Zapatero in office. If the ceasefire holds—and the prospects are encouraging—it may now cement his standing.

The elephant in Newsweek's room: March 11, 2004:
If you go by the article, you'd think an ETA attack is what put Zapatero in office, but ETA is just one of Zapatero's worries. As The Economist explained last year, Fear of Islamist terror casts shadows on the country that expelled the Moors (emphasis added):

Spain's relationship with Muslims remains loaded with historical baggage. The vision of the country as a bulwark against barbarism, the expulsion of the Moors and the persecution of Muslim Spanish converts by the Inquisition are all cherished by both the right and the Catholic church. Their views were bolstered by the call from al-Qaeda, both before and after the Madrid bombs, for a holy war to "liberate al-Andalus".

Bin Laden himself talked of Al-Andalus after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and he wasn't joking. On January 4 this year Hamas demanded the return of Seville in internet children's magazine, so they too were listening to Bin Laden.

The March 11 attack threw the elections, and provoked Spain's pullout from Iraq. By caving in to terrorism, Spain gave a very loud signal to Islamic terrorists; however,

According to Zapatero, Spain's unilateral troop withdrawal from Iraq does not mean that "Spain had to pay a price," but rather that "Spain has gained a lot," because it is now in alignment with the majority of the nations in the world.

At the same time, Ceuta and Melilla are overwhelmed with illegal aliens, after Zapatero's government granted amnesty to 700,000 illegal immigrants. By doing so, he certainly went against the "majority of nations" in the EU (emphasis added)

Spain was royally rapped on the knuckles for its unilateral action at a recent meeting of the interior ministers of the G5 - Europe's five wealthiest nations

But back to Newsweek: El Mundo had announced that Zapatero had made it to the cover of Newsweek

"Zapatero, en 'Newsweek'
El semanario estadounidense 'Newsweek Internacional' dedica su portada al presidente del Gobierno español. Sobre un sonriente Zapatero aparece impresa la frase 'Haciendo que el socialismo funcione'"
(my translation)
Zapatero in Newsweek
American weekly "Newsweek International" will feature the Spanish president on its cover. Over the smiling Zapatero the headline will read "Making Socialism Work"

Newsweek's International Edition cover features Hu and Bush. The American edition's cover story is Why Women Can't Sleep instead.

One thing that would keep me awake is the fact that most of the 29 suspects of the March 11 bombings in Madrid were police informants.

You won't see that on any Newsweek covers.

[a big thanks to Fausta for her post -- Barcepundit]