On the same weekend as Malta, Spain held its own general election. This may have distracted international observers from noting the Maltese result.
We should not, however, let our election prevent us from paying attention to Spain. The socialist victory there may have useful lessons for us here.
Maltese observers are accustomed to following the British and Italian political scenes to note possible harbingers of future developments in Malta. Maltese social democrats have paid particular attention to the UK. In recent years, France has been followed, too. For some reason, however, far less attention has been paid to Spain.
Perhaps we ought to make up for this deficiency. José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, and its Nueva Via, is today as emblematic of the European centre-left as Tony Blair's Labour Party and its Third Way.
The Spanish socialists have just begun a second term of office under the charismatic Mr Zapatero. The first term has been historic, if only in terms of the radical imprint of the changes initiated by the Zapatero government. They are changes comparable to those effected by his party during its long term in office under Felipe Gonzalez during the 1980s and 1990s.
In both periods, the party articulated a centre-left vision and a set of principles. At the same time, its leaders had a pragmatic approach.
To understand what is remarkable about Spanish socialism in both periods we must also consider the nature of Spain.
It is a country I have visited on innumerable occasions although I still cannot stomach corrida. The first time was when I was eight years old. Sailing into the city of Barcelona left such an indelible mark on me that I visited it for my honeymoon in 2004.
The Ramblas, the long promenade down to the sea, as well as the visionary architecture by Antonio Gaudí, are more than enchanting, however. They bear witness to a city that has a strong traditional as well as a modern identity. It brings to life one man's religious vision but which also sustains a very secular urban culture.
I could say something similar about other Spanish cities I have visited - Madrid, Toledo, Zaragoza, San Sebastian. Each one is unique but each one also exhales the air of modern Spain. The public life of these cities embraces individualism and public spiritedness.
Spain's socialist governments have played an important part in developing this character. Since 1976, the country has had to make a delicate transition from a personalised autocracy to a country that combines a strong state with considerable regional autonomy. The judicious use of EU funds has been an important factor: infrastructural investment, such as a wonderful road network linking Seville, Cordoba and Granada, was given top priority.
On its way to forming important, long-lasting governments, the Spanish socialist party has had to move from Marxism to the centre-left. The journey has not been without its infighting and casualties. But the debates have also served to make the party more lively.
Mr Zapatero himself owes his rise to leader, in 2000, to the factions that then existed among the socialists. He beat the leading representative of the reformists by wedging his way between him and the more leftist candidates. However, Mr Zapatero soon formulated a political vision that borrowed from Mr Blair's Third Way and Germany's Gerhard Schroeder's Middle Way, while adding elements of his own.
The principles Mr Zapatero formulated included: giving priority to education and creating jobs for youth; providing parents more time to spend with their children and to take care of the elderly in their family; promoting culture and its creators; converting Spain into a country admired for its social solidarity; promoting initiative and enterprise; fostering democracy, to give a good name to politics and to promote values over opportunistic interests.
These principles also came with a distinctive style of opposition. It was a "soft" style, based on dialogue, which Mr Zapatero contrasted with the arrogant style of the then Popular Party government. He coined the term "Calm Opposition", aimed at being constructive and in seeking what was best for Spaniards rather than in damaging the government.
While Mr Zapatero's first electoral victory, in 2004, was marred by the terrorist attacks that preceded the vote, it is not clear that the attacks themselves changed the winner of the election - the socialists might still have won, although with fewer votes. But the March 9 vote has shown that that victory was no fluke.
For my tastes, Mr Zapatero's government has sometimes been too ready to accept public confrontation. Its social liberalism - for example, the legalisation of gay marriage - drew millions out into the streets to protest. I am not sure that social equality should be pursued at the cost of strong cultural polarisation, which Spain appears to have currently.
Having said that, however, Spain represents a Mediterranean country that has seen a socialist party first oppose membership of the EEC (as the EU was then) and then not only accept membership but also persuade the electorate that it could reap its fruits. A party that modernised itself by looking towards northern Europe while retaining its own character. A party that has sponsored important changes within Spanish culture, while enriching its heritage.
I believe that the Malta Labour Party, as it embarks on its period of reflection and journey back to office, would do well to study its Spanish counterpart as carefully as any other European centre-left party.
Dr Attard Montalto is a Labour member of the European Parliament.