Don José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (audio speaker iconlisten (help·info); born 4 August 1960 in Valladolid) is a Spanish politician. He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain. This was in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he said he would not stand for re-election. His party is the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).

He left the office on 21 December 2011. He was succeeded by Mariano Rajoy. He left the PSOE's Secretary General chair on 4th February 2012 to Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. On 9th February he entered the Spanish Council of State.

Important actions of his government have included withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq, legalizing same-sex marriages and negotiating with Basque terrorist group ETA.

He studied law at the University of León, graduating in 1982. Rodríguez Zapatero met Sonsoles Espinosa in León in 1981. They married on 27 January 1990 and have two daughters named Laura (born 1993) and Alba (born 1995).

Zapatero is a supporter of FC Barcelona.