FACTBOX: Facts about Spain's Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
(Reuters) - Following are key facts about Spain's Socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who is seeking re-election on Sunday.
-- Apart from a stint as a law teacher, Zapatero has devoted his entire life to politics, and was the youngest member of parliament when first elected in 1986.
-- In 2004, he ousted the conservative, pro-U.S. Popular Party in an election held days after al Qaeda-linked train bombings killed 191 people in Madrid. Zapatero benefited from a voter backlash against the PP's handling of the attacks.
-- Within weeks of taking office, he followed through on a campaign pledge to withdraw troops serving in Iraq.
-- Zapatero controversially started peace talks with the Basque separatist guerrilla group ETA, which wants independence for Basque territories in Spain and France. He ended the negotiations after ETA bombed a Madrid airport car park, killing two people, in December 2006.
-- Zapatero's government has supported a number of social reforms, including the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2005. It has also reduced the importance of religion in the school curriculum, straining relations with the Catholic Church.
-- Zapatero was born in Valladolid on August 4, 1960, and studied law. He is married, with two daughters.
(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
