Here is a somewhat unusual story to report from Spain. An individual has registered in his own name four Spanish territorial code “.es” domain names coinciding with the acronyms of the four new Ministries that the recently elected President of the Spanish Government Mr José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has founded.

It is established practice in Spanish politics that every newly elected Government redesign the existing Ministries as to better serve the policies they have been defending during the election campaign.

All four domain names were registered on April 14, 2008. Not a surprise, this was the exact date when Mr Rodríguez Zapatero announced the incorporation of the brand new four Ministries.
The domain names at stake are http://www.mcei.es/ (Spanish acronym from “Ministry for Science and Innovation), http://www.mepsd.es/ (Spanish acronym from “Ministry of Education, Social Policy and Sports), http://www.mict.es/ (Spanish acronym from “Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade”) and http://www.mtei.es/ (Spanish acronym from “Ministry of Employment and Immigration).

Although this seems to be the typical cybersquatting story, it is not so. The individual has hosted a website under each of the four domain names (all four have the same content) where he has posted his personal political views that consist, basically, of a strong criticism of the newly elected Government.

Under the title “ZAPATERO, ¡AGUA PARA TODOS!” (translated: “ZAPATERO” –second and most popular family name of the Spanish President- “WATER FOR ALL!”), the domain name owner actively campaigns against a recent Government decision to pump drinkable water from the Ebro river to Barcelona (there is a worrying drought in the country). The individual also reproaches the Government for "being inconsistent" with prior decisions not to pump water from the same river to other Spanish Eastern territories (where this individual resides).
The Ebro is the Spanish most voluminous river, with a total length of 910 km and a watershed of 80,093 km2. It flows into the Mediterranean in the Catalan city of Amposta (150 km. from Barcelona). Its modern name derives from its Roman denomination "Iber". The river deserved so much attention for the Ancient Romans that it gave the entire peninsula its Latin name (and there comes "Iberia").

The Ebro discharges into a delta that is one of the richest wet areas in Spain in terms of eco-diversity. The Goverment states that bringing water to Barcelona will not have a negative environmental impact on the Ebro delta. Although not very much related to the topic under debate, there are also pictures of US democrat candidate Mr. Barack Obama in the reported websites.

The Governmental decision to pump drinkable water from the Ebro to Barcelona is currently under public scrutiny and there is intense political debate on the issue. The reported websites have originated hundreds of passionated (and not always supportive) posts on their content, and some heated discussions in the media.