José María Olazábal
Personal information
Full name	José María Olazábal Manterola
Nickname	Ollie
Born	(1966-02-05) 5 February 1966 (age 46) Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	160 lb (73 kg; 11 st)
Nationality	Spain
Residence	Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa
Career
Turned professional	1985
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour (joined 2001) European Tour (joined 1986)
Professional wins	31
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	6
European Tour	23 (8th all time)
Japan Golf Tour	2
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	Won: 1994, 1999
U.S. Open	T8: 1990, 1991
The Open Championship	3rd/T3: 1992, 2005
PGA Championship	T4: 2000
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2009 (member page)
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	1986

José María Olazábal Manterola (Spanish pronunciation: [olaˈθaβal], Basque: [olas̻abal]; born 5 February 1966) is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.

Career outline[link]

Olazábal was born in Hondarribia, a town in the Basque Autonomous Region of Spain. He burst onto the golf scene in 1985 as a junior, winning The (British) Amateur Championship aged eighteen. Then, in his rookie professional season of 1986, he finished second on the European Tour Order of Merit aged just twenty. In his first nine seasons, he finished in the top 10 every year except two, including another second place in 1989, and he was a regular member of the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings (over 300 weeks).^[1] Had Olazábal beaten Ian Woosnam at The Masters in 1991 (he finished second) he would have become the World number one. He was unable to play in 1996 due to a foot injury but he recovered and recorded further top ten placings in the Order of Merit in 1997, 1999 and 2000. He has more than twenty career titles on this tour.

Both of Olazábal's majors have come in the United States, namely The Masters in 1994 and 1999. These wins make him the only winner of The Amateur Championship since World War II to have gone on to win a professional major. He has been highly placed in The Masters on a number of other occasions. Olazábal shares the record for the lowest round in the PGA Championship (63), which he accomplished in the third round at Valhalla Golf Club in 2000.^[2]

In 2001 Olazábal began to play on the PGA Tour, while also retaining his membership of the European Tour. He had a solid year on the PGA Tour in 2002, when he won nearly two million dollars and came twenty-fourth on the money list, but has not duplicated the success he enjoyed in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s. He has six career PGA Tour titles, five of them won before he became a full member of the Tour. In 2006 he made a return to the top fifteen of the world rankings.

Olazábal was a member of the European Ryder Cup team in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2006. He formed a famous partnership with fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros that spanned many years,^[3] and formed a similarly successful partnership with Sergio García in 2006.

Olazábal will captain the European team at the 2012 Ryder Cup for the defence of the trophy at Medinah in Illinois.^[4]

Olazábal also holds the world record distance for a completed putt. During the 1999 European Ryder Cup team's Concorde flight to the United States, he holed a putt which travelled the full length of the cabin. The ball was in motion for 26.17s, during which time the Concorde, at 1,270 mph, travelled 9.232 miles, beating U.S. golfer Brad Faxon's previous record of 8.5 miles, set in 1997.^[5]

Olazábal was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 with 56% of the vote on the international ballot.^[6]

Amateur wins (7)[link]

• 1983 Italian Open Amateur Championship, Spanish Open Amateur Championship, Boys Amateur Championship
• 1984 The Amateur Championship, Belgian International Youths Championship, Spanish Open Amateur Championship
• 1985 British Youths Amateur Championship

Professional wins (31)[link]

European Tour wins (23)[link]

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner-up
1	7 Sep 1986	Ebel European Masters Swiss Open	-26 (64–66–66–66=262)	3 strokes	Anders Forsbrand
2	12 Oct 1986	Sanyo Open	-15 (69–68–69–67=273)	3 strokes	Howard Clark
3	19 Jun 1988	Volvo Belgian Open	-15 (67–69–64–68=269)	4 strokes	Mike Smith
4	25 Sep 1988	German Masters	-9 (69–72–70–68=279)	2 strokes	Anders Forsbrand, Des Smyth
5	26 Feb 1989	Tenerife Open	-13 (69–68–68–70=275)	3 strokes	José Maria Cañizares
6	30 Jul 1989	KLM Dutch Open	-11 (67–66–68–76=277)	Playoff	Roger Chapman, Ronan Rafferty
7	7 May 1990	Benson & Hedges International Open	-9 (69–68–69–73=279)	1 stroke	Ian Woosnam
8	24 Jun 1990	Carroll's Irish Open	-6 (67–72–71–72=282)	3 strokes	Mark Calcavecchia, Frank Nobilo
9	16 Sep 1990	Lancome Trophy	-11 (68–66–70–65=269)	1 stroke	Colin Montgomerie
10	17 Mar 1991	Open Catalonia	-17 (66–68–64–73=271)	6 strokes	David Feherty
11	22 Sep 1991	Epson Grand Prix of Europe	-19 (64–68–67–66=265)	9 strokes	Mark James
12	23 Feb 1992	Turespana Open de Tenerife	-20 (71–68–66–63=268)	5 strokes	Miguel Ángel Martín
13	1 Mar 1992	Open Mediterrania	-12 (68–71–69–68=276)	2 strokes	José Rivero
14	6 Mar 1994	Turespana Open Mediterrania	-12 (70–65–71–70=276)	Playoff	Paul McGinley
15	10 Apr 1994	Masters Tournament	-9 (74–67–69–69=279)	2 strokes	Tom Lehman
16	30 May 1994	Volvo PGA Championship	-17 (67–68–71–65=271)	1 stroke	Ernie Els
17	23 Mar 1997	Turespana Masters Open de Canarias	-20 (70–67–68–67=272)	2 strokes	Lee Westwood
18	1 Mar 1998	Dubai Desert Classic	-19 (69–67–65–68=269)	3 strokes	Stephen Allan
19	11 Apr 1999	Masters Tournament	-8 (70–66–73–71=280)	2 strokes	Davis Love III
20	14 May 2000	Benson & Hedges International Open	-13 (75–68–66–66=275)	3 strokes	Phillip Price
21	6 May 2001	Open de France	-12 (66–69–66–67=268)	2 strokes	Paul Eales, Costantino Rocca, Greg Turner
22	2 Dec 2001	Omega Hong Kong Open	-22 (65–69–64–64=262)	1 stroke	Henrik Bjørnstad
23	23 Oct 2005	Mallorca Classic	-10 (69–65–70–66=270)	5 strokes	Paul Broadhurst, Sergio García, José Manuel Lara

PGA Tour wins (6)[link]

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	26 Aug 1990	NEC World Series of Golf	-26 (61–67–67–67=262)	12 strokes	Lanny Wadkins
2	18 Aug 1991	The International	10 points (5–6–8–10)	3 points	Ian Baker-Finch, Scott Gump, Bob Lohr
3	10 Apr 1994	The Masters	-9 (74–67–69–69=279)	2 strokes	Tom Lehman
4	28 Aug 1994	NEC World Series of Golf	-19 (66–67–69–67=269)	1 stroke	Scott Hoch
5	11 Apr 1999	The Masters	-8 (70–66–73–71=280)	2 strokes	Davis Love III
6	10 Feb 2002	Buick Invitational	-13 (71–72–67–65=275)	1 stroke	J. L. Lewis, Mark O'Meara

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)[link]

• 1989 Visa Taiheiyo Masters
• 1990 Visa Taiheiyo Masters

Other wins (2)[link]

• 1985 European Tour Qualifying School
• 1995 Tournoi Perrier de Paris (with Seve Ballesteros)

Major championships[link]

Wins (2)[link]

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runner-up
1994	Masters Tournament	1 shot deficit	−9 (74–67–69–69=279)	2 strokes	Tom Lehman
1999	Masters Tournament (2)	1 shot lead	−8 (70–66–73–71=280)	2 strokes	Davis Love III

Results timeline[link]

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Team appearances[link]

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy (representing Spain): 1982, 1984
• St Andrews Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 1984
• Jacques Léglise Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 1982, 1984

Professional

• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1987 (winners), 1989 (tied; retained trophy), 1991, 1993, 1997 (winners), 1999, 2006 (winners)
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Spain): 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999 (winners), 2000 (winners)
• World Cup (representing Spain): 1989, 2000
• Four Tours World Championship: 1987, 1989
• Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2000 (winners), 2002, 2003, 2005 (playing captain)

See also[link]

• Golfers with most European Tour wins
• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

References[link]

External links[link]

• José María Olazábal at the European Tour official site
• José María Olazábal at the PGA Tour official site
• José María Olazábal at the Japan Golf Tour official site
• José María Olazábal at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
• Golden Heart Award 1999 granted by Spanish Heart Foundation

José María Olazábal in the Ryder Cup v t e European Ryder Cup team – 1987 Seve Ballesteros · Gordon Brand, Jnr · Ken Brown · Howard Clark · Eamonn Darcy · Nick Faldo · Bernhard Langer · Sandy Lyle · José María Olazábal · José Rivero · Sam Torrance · Ian Woosnam Tony Jacklin (non-playing captain) Won: 15 – 13 v t e European Ryder Cup team – 1989 Seve Ballesteros · Gordon Brand, Jnr · José Maria Cañizares · Howard Clark · Nick Faldo · Mark James · Bernhard Langer · Christy O'Connor Jnr · José María Olazábal · Ronan Rafferty · Sam Torrance · Ian Woosnam Tony Jacklin (non-playing captain) Tied: 14 – 14 v t e European Ryder Cup team – 1991 Seve Ballesteros · Paul Broadhurst · Nick Faldo · David Feherty · David Gilford · Mark James · Bernhard Langer · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Steven Richardson · Sam Torrance · Ian Woosnam Bernard Gallacher (non-playing captain) Lost: 13.5 – 14.5 v t e European Ryder Cup team – 1993 Peter Baker · Seve Ballesteros · Nick Faldo · Joakim Haeggman · Mark James · Barry Lane · Bernhard Langer · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Costantino Rocca · Sam Torrance · Ian Woosnam Bernard Gallacher (non-playing captain) Lost: 13 – 15 v t e European Ryder Cup team – 1997 Thomas Bjørn · Darren Clarke · Nick Faldo · Ignacio Garrido · Per-Ulrik Johansson · Bernhard Langer · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Jesper Parnevik · Costantino Rocca · Lee Westwood · Ian Woosnam Seve Ballesteros (non-playing captain) Won: 14.5 – 13.5 Miguel Ángel Martín qualified for the team, but was forced to withdraw though injury, with his place being taken by José María Olazábal. v t e European Ryder Cup team – 1999 Darren Clarke · Andrew Coltart · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · Miguel Ángel Jiménez · Paul Lawrie · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Jesper Parnevik · Jarmo Sandelin · Jean van de Velde · Lee Westwood Mark James (non-playing captain) Lost: 13.5 – 14.5 v t e European Ryder Cup team – 2006 Paul Casey · Darren Clarke · Luke Donald · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · David Howell · Robert Karlsson · Paul McGinley · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Henrik Stenson · Lee Westwood Ian Woosnam (non-playing captain) Won: 18.5 – 9.5

José María Aznar
Prime Minister of Spain
In office 4 May 1996 – 17 April 2004
Monarch	Juan Carlos I
Deputy	Francisco Álvarez Cascos Mariano Rajoy Rodrigo Rato
Preceded by	Felipe González
Succeeded by	José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Leader of the Opposition
In office 20 January 1989 – 4 May 1996
Prime Minister	Felipe González
Preceded by	Manuel Fraga Iribarne
Succeeded by	Felipe González
Personal details
Born	(1953-02-25) 25 February 1953 (age 59) Madrid, Spain
Political party	People's Alliance (1979–1989) People's Party (1989–present)
Spouse(s)	Ana Botella
Children	José María Ana Alonso
Alma mater	Complutense University of Madrid
Signature

José María Alfredo Aznar López (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse maˈɾia aθˈnar] ( listen); born 25 February 1953) served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004.^[1][2] He is on the board of directors of News Corporation and is also a member of the Club de Madrid.^[3]

Early life[link]

Aznar, born in Madrid^[4] in 1953, was the son of Manuel Aznar Acedo, army official, journalist and radio broadcaster, and grandson of Manuel Aznar Zubigaray, a prominent journalist during the Franco era. Both father and grandfather held governmental positions during the years of Spain under Franco. He studied law at the Complutense University of Madrid, graduating in 1975, becoming a Spanish Tax Authority inspector in 1976.

Politician[link]

As a teenager, Aznar was a member of the Frente de Estudiantes Sindicalistas (FES), a Student Union supporting the Falange, Franco's one-party fascist organization. After 1977 it would become Falange Española Independiente (FEI).^[5]

After the death of Francisco Franco and the restoration of democracy, Aznar joined Alianza Popular (AP) in January 1979, a few months after his wife. In March he became the Secretary General of the party in La Rioja, occupying the post until 1980. In February 1981 he joined the AP's National executive committee. He became Assistant Secretary General in February 1982.

On 26 October 1982 he was elected to the Parliament, representing Ávila. On 22 June 1985 he was elected to the presidency of the AP in Castile and León. On 2 December 1986 AP leader Manuel Fraga resigned following fierce internal party fighting in the aftermath of another failure to dislodge the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). Aznar was not considered senior enough to be a possible successor, and gave his support to the more conservative Miguel Herrero, who lost the leadership battle to Fraga's choice, Antonio Hernández Mancha. As a result, Aznar lost his post as Assistant Secretary General.

On 10 June 1987, having resigned his parliamentary seat, he was elected to the Cortes of Castile-León, where he was elected president of this Autonomous Region. Two years later, Aznar was voted by the National Executive Committee to be the new leader of his party, re-founded as the Partido Popular (People's Party, or PP). With Fraga focused on the presidency of Galicia, Aznar was confirmed as leader of the PP at their 10th National Congress at the end of March 1990. In November the PP moved from the Conservative group in the European Parliament to the more centrist and Christian Democratic European People's Party.

On 6 June 1993 the PP again lost the general election, but improved on their previous performance by obtaining 34.8% of the vote. The PSOE lost its absolute majority and needed to form a coalition government with other parties in order to continue governing. The result was a disappointment for the PP as the opinion polls had predicted a victory for them. They did well in the 1994 European and 1995 local elections.

On 19 April 1995, Aznar's armored car prevented him from being assassinated by an ETA bomb.

The PP won the 3 March 1996 general election with 37.6% of the vote, thus ending 13 years of PSOE rule. With 156 of the 350 seats (the PSOE won 141) Aznar had to reach agreements with two regional nationalist parties, Convergence and Unity (Catalan) and the Canary Islands Coalition, in order to govern with additional support from the Basque Nationalist Party. He was voted in as President with 181 votes in the Cortes Generales on 4 May and sworn in the next day by King Juan Carlos I.

Aznar's terms[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2011)

First term (1996–2000)[link]

The Aznar Government maintained the commitment of the previous government to join the European Union's single currency and showed itself willing to take political risks in order to meet the requirements for membership. In the summer of 1996 it announced a decision to freeze the wages of civil servants in the following year and stood by that decision throughout the fall, despite a series of union-led demonstrations that culminated in protest marches by tens of thousands of Spaniards throughout the nation on 11 December.

The Government, with the backing of regional nationalist parties, passed a strict 1997 budget on 27 December, four days before time would have run out for its approval. The opposition United Left coalition argued that the spending cuts and tax adjustments contained in the budget would hurt the disadvantaged and benefit the rich. The budget aimed to enable Spain to lower its deficit to below 3% of gross domestic product, a requirement for joining the EU's single currency. Some critics note that this wasn't the only way of doing so.

The Government was also forced to back down on a plan to reduce Spanish dependence on its own high-priced coal when hundreds of coal miners blocked highways and demonstrated in November. The miners persuaded the government to adjust a national electricity plan that would have phased out the subsidy of Spanish coal, making it more expensive than imported coal.

Aznar also announced the sale early in 1997 of the nation's remaining minority stake (golden shares) in the Telefónica telecommunications company and the petroleum group Repsol. These golden shares in Telefonica and Repsol YPF, as well as in Endesa, Argentaria and Tabacalera, all presided over by people close to Aznar, have since been declared illegal by the European Union. This marked the beginning of a period of privatizations after the previous PSOE government had nationalized parts of the economy.

After the PP's first year in office, the goodwill between it and the major nationalist parties in the legislature, Convergence and Unity (CiU) and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), appeared to have lost strength. Both parties had enjoyed leverage over the previous PSOE government, and the PNV in particular stepped back from colluding too closely with the government.

Ecological issues came to the fore in Spain during 1998. A vigorous public debate created a new awareness of topics such as environmental pollution and deforestation, and a host of organizations competed to spread the ecological message. The Government, conscious of the political implications of this new concern, was also party to the debate and promised active cooperation. As a reaction against attempts to liberalize the current abortion laws, Roman Catholic groups renewed their anti-abortion campaigns.

The economy suffered the effects of the global recession unleashed by the financial crisis in Asia, and the Economic Ministry reduced its 1999 economic growth estimate from 3.9% to 3.7%. The sharp decline in share prices on the Madrid and Barcelona stock exchanges (on average about 20%) created cause for concern among both business associations and trade unions. The latter voiced their concern about the risk of increased unemployment, which remained around 12.5%. Despite this slowdown, salaries increased by an average of 2.3% that year.

In 1999, the European Union introduced the euro, a major success for Aznar and his government. Steady economic growth and falling unemployment, though the rate exceeded all other EU member states, won the government public support. The Government's credibility was damaged when the PSOE revealed at the end of the year that the ranks of top Spanish civil servants had increased 15% over the previous year despite PP promises to cut the bureaucracy.

Second term (2000–2004)[link]

Barroso, Blair, Bush, and Aznar in the Azores

Spanish voters reelected Aznar in the 2000 general election with an outright majority. The PP obtained 44.5% of the vote and 183 seats.^[6] The Spanish electorate's participation was the lowest for a general election in Spain in the post-Franco era.^[7]

Spain was one of the fastest-growing economies in the European Union (EU) in 2001, despite inflation nearing 4% and signs of an economic slowdown.^{[citation needed]} However, the government's problems involved politics as much as policies. A number of issues were handled clumsily, including implementation of immigration legislation passed in January and a health scare over low-quality olive oil in July. In the autumn complaints that the government was steamrolling controversial university reforms through the parliament inflamed the opposition.

At the end of the year, students all over the country joined in strikes, demonstrations, and sit-ins, often alongside their rectors and professors. Though still outperforming most of its EU partners, Spain failed to escape the effects of the global economic downturn in 2002. Falling exports, declining domestic consumption, and a sharp drop in tourist revenue helped bring annual gross domestic product growth down to an estimated 2%, the lowest level since 1996.

In addition, rising crime rates and soaring house prices (up almost 50% since 1998) were the object of widespread public concern, providing opposition parties with powerful ammunition against Aznar's government.

The government ran into even deeper trouble in its attempt to reform the unemployment benefit system. A controversial decree-law issued on 27 May introduced new restrictions on entitlement to benefits, making it harder for those receiving welfare to turn down jobs offered by the public employment agency, and phasing out the special subsidy for agricultural workers in the south. The trade unions reacted by calling a 24-hour general strike on 20 June, embarrassing the government on the eve of an EU summit in Seville. The stoppage proved a largely unexpected success. On 7 October, just two days after a major national demonstration in Madrid to protest against the law, new Labor Minister Eduardo Zaplana announced an abrupt U-turn, accepting nearly all of the unions' demands and leaving only the reform of the subsidy for farm laborers on the statute book.

A major secondary-education bill also proved controversial. Intended to raise educational standards, the proposed Law of Quality lowered the age at which students were streamed into different educational tracks, allowed special schools in the state sector to select on merit, and introduced a new secondary-school-leaving exam. Opposition to the bill's potential socially divisive effects and inadequate funding for the public educational system brought student organizations, trade unions, and left-wing parties into the streets as the bill was being debated in the parliament in October.

Amid the relatively stagnant European economies, estimated GDP growth of 2.3% made Spain the second fastest-growing economy in the European Union in 2003. Continued expansion enabled the Spanish government to proclaim proudly that it would end the year with a budget surplus for the first time in recent history. However; inflation was running at 2.7% (compared with the EU's 1.7%) in November, unemployment stood at more than 10%, almost one-third of the workforce had temporary contracts, and housing prices were spiraling. The European Commission shared analysts' concerns that a hike in interest rates or increased unemployment could send housing prices tumbling, with disastrous consequences for families burdened with unprecedented levels of debt and for the financial institutions that had given them loans.

After six years of relative political calm, when political debate was dominated by a consensus within the ruling party on economics, regional nationalism, and terrorism, several issues arose which polarized Spanish public opinion. Like UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Aznar actively supported the United States' War on Terrorism, despite public opposition. Aznar met with Bush in a private meeting before 2003 invasion of Iraq to discuss the situation of in the UN Security Council. El País leaked a partial transcript of the meeting. The government handling of the wreckage of the Greek Prestige tanker near the Spanish coast, which resulted in a major ecological disaster, also became a divisive issue.

He actively encouraged and supported the Bush administration's foreign policy and the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, defending it on the basis of secret intelligence allegedly containing evidence of the Iraqi government's nuclear proliferation. The majority of the Spanish population, including some PP members, were against the war. Spain's major cities were the scene of the largest street demonstrations ever seen in the country as a result of the government's participation in the invasion. Aznar lost some support from those who had voted for the PP in 2000. On a live TV interview aired on the public station while demonstrations were taking place on the streets, he asked the Spanish people to take his word assuring there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, of which he had evidence. This is now regarded as incorrect.^[8][9][10]

In January 2004 Aznar called a general election and designated his successor as candidate, Mariano Rajoy, sticking to a pledge of not seeking office for a third term. Despite political tensions, polls suggested that the Popular Party was set to win a third consecutive election on the strength of the economy. An opinion poll carried out by the government-run CIS (which had estimated that 92% of the Spanish people did not support the War in Iraq) in February 2004 estimated that the PP would win an election with 42.2% of the vote while the PSOE would only get 35.5%.^{[citation needed]}

Madrid train bombings and end of term[link]

Three days before the 2004 general election, 10 bombs killed 191 people in the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings. Initially, the government and the opposition^[11][12] stated publicly that it was possible the bombings may have been the work of ETA. However, the PP government continued to blame ETA even after evidence that the attacks may have been the work of an Islamist group emerged, having the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ana Palacio instruct all Spanish diplomats to place the blame on ETA at every opportunity.^[13][14] The public perception that the government hid information from the general population gave rise to a public outcry. Two days after the Atocha bombings, demonstrations took place across Spain demanding news from the investigation, where chants such as "We want the truth before we vote" and "Who is responsible?" were heard.^[15]

Three days after the train bombings, the opposition PSOE won the elections. The subsequent investigations held by a Parliamentary Committee were characterized by bitter partisan exchanges between the different political parties, with dispute over who may have been responsible for the bombings. Aznar appeared before the Committee in November 2004 and declared his belief that the authors of the bombings were not to be found "in faraway deserts or remote mountains."^[16] Aznar said in 2006 that he thought that the attacks were not exclusively perpetrated by Islamists.

Aznar's government 1996–2004[link]

After 2004[link]

After leaving office on 17 April 2004 he presided over the FAES think tank, which is associated with the PP. After a 2005 reform, promoted by the current Prime Minister of Spain Rodríguez Zapatero, former prime ministers were admitted into the Spanish Council of State, a position from which he later resigned.

Aznar was appointed Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in April 2004. In this position, he teaches two seminars per semester on contemporary European politics and trans-Atlantic relationships in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Additionally, he teaches a course on political leadership, convened by Professor Carol Lancaster, with former Polish President Kwasniewski. Aznar leads public dialogues on pressing contemporary concerns in collaboration with other members of the faculty; he was awarded an honorary degree at Universidad Francisco Marroquin.

In 2007, Aznar was appointed to the advisory board of Centaurus Capital, a London based hedge fund,^[17] an appointment which proved to be short-lived. In 2006, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of News Corporation, the media conglomerate of Rupert Murdoch.^[18] He is also member of the European Advisory Panel of The European Business Awards and the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation.

Aznar is a member of the Club of Madrid.^[19] He is also a Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to promote good governance around the world.^[20]