Speaking at a PSOE rally in Ibiza at the weekend, president Zapatero said that he hoped that "the lesson" learned in the Middle East would help prevent more military interventions like the second invasion of Iraq, called on the Israeli government to cease hostilities in the area, and underlined that the war on terror cannot involve the death of innocent people.

Referring to the recent air, land and sea attacks on the Lebanon, Mr Zapatero also called on the international community to impose the authority of the United Nations to make every effort to put an end to the "madness of hostilities and war. I hope that the lesson learned and the disastrous results of military intervention in Iraq that has only provoked radicalisation, fanaticism, conflict and instability, serve to ensure that there will never again be an unjustified and illegal military intervention:"

Mr Zapatero went on to say that it is now more necessary than ever to promote his Alliance of Civilisations initiative, which calls for understanding between culturally diverse countries instead of the unilateral imposition of any one determined order.