By Katya Adler BBC correspondent in Madrid

Zapatero (centre) will work hand in hand with Germany and France

It looked rather like a parody of the three musketeers.

Again and again the French, German and Spanish leaders grasped hands for the cameras.

Their pose had a definite purpose, showing Europe's two traditional leaders - France and Germany - united around Spain.

It was an intentional contrast to the picture presented to the world 18 months ago, when former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar smiled for the cameras alongside US President George W Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Those three then were pushing for the invasion of Iraq, while Spanish Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac were amongst the war's outspoken opponents.

At the Madrid summit President Chirac said the continuing violence in Iraq proved they had been right:

"The situation is very serious and is not getting better," he said. "I think that one way or another we have opened a Pandora's box in Iraq that we are unable to close."

Back into the fold

Mr Zapatero caused controversy after winning the March general election, when he withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq.

I would say that 'the old Europe' is as good as new Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero

Critics accused him of courting "Old Europe" - the anti-war European powers - and alienating "New Europe", the new members of the enlarged European Union, such as Poland and Hungary, which supported the Iraq war.

But at the Madrid meeting on Monday, Mr Zapatero said such terminology was outdated.

"I would say that 'the old Europe' is as good as new," he joked.

In the lead-up to the informal summit, Mr Zapatero repeatedly described it as way to bring Spain back to the heart of Europe and repair bridges burned by his predecessor's focus on the transatlantic alliance.

He said he had chosen to invite France and Germany since they were, in his opinion, the European Union's most powerful members.

No axes to grind

Prime Minister Zapatero said the three leaders discussed plans for common social, economic and foreign policies and the ratification of the European Constitution.

The war in Iraq was hugely unpopular in Spain

Despite rumours in the Spanish press, though, officials here have denied they are trying to force a Berlin-Paris-Madrid axis to challenge already existing alliances within the European Union.

"We don't like the term axis. I think it is a term that we Europeans should do away with," Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said last week.

"What we do like is being alongside those who want to build Europe."

It is a position sneered at by the opposition conservatives, the Popular Party.

"It makes no sense speaking of a 'return to Europe'," says Popular Party Foreign Affairs spokesman Gustavo de Aristegui.

"Spaniards have always been enthusiastic Europeans. When we were in office we just didn't see the need to choose between Europe and the US."

Focus?

Mr Aristegui said his party had "a clear policy", while the Socialist government "is all over the place".

In the end, we are realists Diego Lopez Garedo, socialist politician

"It just tells everybody what they want to hear. It tells one thing to eastern Europe and another to western European countries," he added.

Wanting to be all things to all people is perhaps the slogan that best describes the new Socialist government's first months in power.

A number of Spain's respected economists have wrung their hands in despair as cabinet ministers promise higher pensions, more government-sponsored housing for low income families, better wages for industrial workers and so on.

The Socialist's problem, say analysts, is that they never expected to win the general election.

"They felt safe playing Father Christmas while on the campaign trail," commentator Miguel Corral says.

"They were unprepared to take office and after their surprise victory, felt obliged to be true to their word, to keep the voters happy, even though long term, it will dent the Spanish economy."

Honeymoon

However, if there is trouble brewing, the Spanish public seems blissfully unaware.

Opinion polls show Prime Minister Zapatero's government is still enjoying a honeymoon period. The majority of Spaniards say they approve of their actions so far.

Especially popular are the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq, the fight against domestic violence and the re-alignment of Spain with its traditional European allies.

So maybe the Socialists are not as unfocussed as they seem.

From the moment he took office, and with a dig at his conservative predecessors, Prime Minister Zapatero promised a government that put people, not the economy, first.

And that is what he appears to be doing.

"Some people think us naive," says Diego Lopez Garedo, a member of the Socialist Party's executive committee.