Spanish Press Mocks Zapatero Over U.S. Snub
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

MADRID – Prime Minister Zapatero, faced a barrage of derision yesterday over his government’s anti-Americanism following a snub by President Bush.
Mr. Zapatero was one of the first premiers to send a congratulatory telegram to Mr. Bush after his election victory last week.
But, in what was a clear reflection of the poor state of relations between Washington and Madrid, he has yet to receive a reply.
Mr. Zapatero had also telephoned Mr. Bush before the election result was made official but was not put through to the president.
Spain’s newspaper columnists, the opposition People’s Party, and satirists have made much of the silence between Washington and Madrid. Mr. Zapatero wrote himself firmly into the White House’s black books by accusing Mr. Bush and Prime Minister Blair of lying over the reasons for going to war with Iraq.
In the summer, he immediately honored an election pledge to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq.
He then backed Senator Kerry in the presidential election and cancelled a standing invitation for American forces to participate in Spain’s annual military parade.
Anti-war policies may be popular with the public, but even supportive sections of the press have said that the prime minister’s anti-American stance had gone too far.
Most sectors of the Spanish press concluded that the telephone spat was “infantile” but that Mr. Zapatero needed to act fast to recover Spain’s loss of face abroad.
White House officials denied there had been a snub and said that Mr. Bush had not yet had time to contact Mr. Zapatero because he was working his way through a list of calls.
However Mr. Bush has already spoken to the French president, Jacques Chirac, and to the German chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, the main critics of the Iraq war.
And to rub Mr. Zapatero’s nose in the trans-Atlantic mess further, Mr. Bush has invited King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia to a supper during their visit to America later this month.
American diplomatic sources quoted in the newspaper La Vanguardia said the king will serve as a bridge toward restoring dialogue between the two governments.