When Spain's Congress was a serious place

The viral tweet claims that Spain was sovereign before Zapatero and that he peine the door to the "murderers". It is a political opinion presented as fact, with no data to back it up.

The post circulating these days on social media claims that there was a time when Spain "had sovereignty" and would not let itself be "intimidated by any Basque leftist terrorist", and that all of that "went down the drain with Zapatero". The message, brief and loaded with hashtags, blames former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for the loss of that supposed institutional dignity and even asserts that now "we are governed by murderers". It offers no evidence: it is a political opinion wrapped in rally-style rhetoric.

## What the message says and what it does not

The text mixes two different things. On one hand, a generic nostalgia for a past in which institutions were serious. On the other, a specific accusation against Zapatero for his handling of terrorism. The tweet cites no law, no court ruling and no data. It simply strings together adjectives and takes for granted that before 2004 Spain was untouchable and afterwards it surrendered.

## The real context of terrorism and counterterrorism policy

The fight against ETA was a state policy that spanned several governments, both PP and PSOE. During Zapatero's term (2004-2011) came the permanent ceasefire of 2006, broken by ETA with the T-4 bombing in December of that year, and the later declaration of a definitive end to violence in October 2011. It is a complex period, with successes and mistakes, that cannot be summed up in a bar-room one-liner. Blaming a single prime minister for the loss of sovereignty is a simplification that does not fit the facts.

## Why this kind of message works

The message appeals to a very profitable emotion: outrage. It needs no data because its strength lies in its tone. It presents a clear culprit and an idealized past. It is the same mechanism used by many other viral messages, from both sides of the political spectrum. And it works because real politics is slow and boring, while the insult is quick and shareable.

If anyone wants to understand the counterterrorism policy of those years, there are books, newspaper archives and court rulings. A 280-character tweet is not the best place to look for that.