José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain’s usually cheery Socialist prime minister, is encountering intense political difficulties as his party loses control of the national parliament and the ability to make the laws it wants.

Still smiling, in spite of the difficulties of his Socialist party: José Luís Zapatero in parliament in Madrid

The culprit, ironically, is not the deepening economic crisis but a historic triumph for Mr Zapatero’s Socialists in the Basque country this month.