Zapatero says winning financial Battle of Spain

Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero gave Reuters an exclusive interview in which he said he was winning the “Battle of Spain,” the struggle to restore the country’s credibility on financial markets as the euro zone debt crisis continues to spook investors. Zapatero expressed optimism that Germany would back a stronger rescue facility for troubled European economies and told Reuters correspondents he felt like he’s been in combat since the 2008 financial crisis sent Spain into recession. He also said Europe should give economic aid to develop new democracies emerging from uprisings in the Middle East and Northern Africa. In addition, Zapatero said the Basque guerrilla group ETA would never return to its former violent force and that the end of the Basque conflict is approaching. The television, photo and text content was used heavily in Spanish media, everywhere from financial paper Expansion to Web sites of major dailies ABC and El Pais. Zapatero posed for portraits, spoke for an hour with Reuters correspondents, and then did a separate, 20 minute interview for Insider and RVN, yielding three separate text stories as well as pieces for television and Insider. The Madrid bureau packaged the Zapatero interview along with factboxes, analysis, graphics, political risk scenarios and other interviews.