Spain's
gay-friendly prime minister popular as ever

Spain's pro-gay socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is a solid 20 points ahead of his opposition rival, Mariano Rajoy, according to a recent opinion poll, Agence France-Presse reports. Some 55% of those questioned had a favorable opinion of the prime minister, while only 35% said the same of Rajoy, the head of the right-wing Popular Party, according to the survey carried out for the daily economics paper Expansion.

Zapatero, who came to power in April 2004 and helped push through the full legalization of same-sex marriage, was unpopular among 37% of those asked, while the performance of the opposition leader drew a negative response from 55%. The Ipsos Institute questioned 1,000 Spaniards September 2-4.