José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero because he was sure of his victory after only one ballot and he apparently did not want to humiliate his adversary. After being elected Secretary General, he was congratulated by Lionel Jospin (then the Prime Minister of France), Gerhard Schröder (Chancellor of Germany) and José María Aznar. He moved to Madrid with his family that year. As a Congressman he had lived from Monday to Thursday in Madrid and the rest of the time in León. This was the period when Zapatero was appointed as Secretary General of the PSOE in 2000 until he became Prime Minister of Spain on
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Civilizations; the legalisation of same-sex marriage; reform of abortion law; a peace negotiation attempt with ETA; increase of tobacco restrictions; and the reform of various autonomous statutes, particularly the Statute of Catalonia. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was born in Valladolid, Castile and León, to Juan Rodríguez y García-Lozano (born 1928), a lawyer, and María de la Purificación Zapatero Valero (Tordehumos, Valladolid, 1927 – Madrid, 30 October 2000). He grew up in León, where his family originated. His paternal grandfather, Juan Rodríguez y Lozano (28 July 1893 – Puente Castro, León, 18 August 1936), was a Republican captain, executed by