A RECENT TV shot of the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr Jose Maria Aznar, showed him watching a Basque traditional dancer going through his paces. Mr Aznar, not exactly a dancing man himself at the best of times, looked glum and thoughtful; these days he has to spend much of his time listening - and sometimes dancing - to other people's tunes.
In last March's elections, Mr Aznar's conservative Partido Popular (PP) finally dislodged Mr Felipe Gonzalez's Socialist Party (PSOE), which had ruled for the previous 13 years.
In opposition, the PP had modernised, dumping Francoist baggage, but retaining the traditional certitudes of the Spanish right. In the election campaign, PP leaders had argued forcefully, even demagogically, that the growing influence of Basque and Catalan nationalism threatened the sacred unity of the Spanish nation. They contended that both public spending and taxation had to be slashed back drastically.
They wanted no stone left unturned in the investigation of the "dirty war" against the Basque terrorist group ETA, unleashed under the PSOE in the 1980s. They demanded the release of state papers which allegedly link Mr Gonzalez to illegal death squads.
Last March, however, Mr Aznar found himself 20 seats short of an absolute majority. He had to spend two months negotiating pacts, with the Basque and Catalan parties he had previously dismissed as pariahs, before he could form a government.
Since then, the Basques and Catalans have held him to the letter of their hard won promises, gaining significant advances in the control of the internal finances of their autonomous communities. The knock on effect of this process has been that other regional governments have demanded similar deals. It is arguable, and historically highly ironic, that Spain has moved closer to a federal system in six months of conservative rule than under 13 years of the PSOE.
The cost of the deals with the autonomous governments remains to be calculated, but they will not make it easier for Spain to meet the Maastricht convergence criteria. Since the Basque and Catalan nationalists do not share Mr Aznar's erstwhile enthusiasm for stripping down the welfare state, public spending on the health services is not being reduced.
Sensing weakness, the unions have got tough and pushed him to sign a series of agreements, which copperfasten other threatened areas of social welfare, especially pensions. The PP has even underwritten an extension of the controversial rural dole system, which it used to denounce mercilessly as a vote buying scam by the PSOE. Promises to slim down the administration have proved equally hard to honour.
Regarding the "dirty war" scandal, the PP has had a sudden conversion to the over riding principle of state security, and is firmly refusing to hand over the papers it once demanded should be released to the courts. Bud its approach to this issue is decidedly erratic.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court decided, by the smallest possible margin, not to call Mr Gonzalez to answer questions in one "dirty war" hearing. Almost immediately, legal spokesmen for the PP made pointed statements indicating, correctly, but gratuitously, that he could still be implicated in similar cases. Mr Aznar's senior deputy prime minister still openly accuses Mr Gonzalez of "organising terrorism from the bar in the presidential palace". This open sore is likely to continue running for the duration of this government, and beyond.
But it would be wrong to paint Mr Aznar's first six months as undiluted woe. He can point to a steadily healthier economy, with inflation well under control, though unemployment is rising again after a seasonal decline. If he can control the public deficit, he may well lead Spain into the fast track of European Monetary Union.
While a brief truce offered by ETA in early summer proved to be a false dawn, that organisation has either been unable or unwilling to launch the kind of spectacular terrorist offensive which had been feared. In foreign policy, Mr Aznar has secured increased anti terrorist collaboration from EU partners. This week, he won an overwhelming parliamentary majority for full Spanish integration into NAO.
His greatest achievement to date, however, is simply to have run the country normally for six months, laying the ghost of the PP's quasi fascist past. He himself seems to be proudest of his accommodation with the Basques and Catalans.
