Sexist taunts, allegations of extremism and the hint of an economic plan – it must be an election campaign. That, at least, is the overwhelming suspicion in the wake of Spanish politics’ recent “cheekgate” affair, which saw the Popular Party mayor of Valladolid, Javier de la Riva, comment of newly instated Health Minister Leire Pajín that “every time I see that face and those cheeks [pun intended], I have the same thought.” De la Riva’s curious train of thought also led him to describe Pajín as “a very well prepared girl who is able and discreet, and will dish out condoms left and right wherever she goes.” Pajín, who at 34 is the youngest member of the Cabinet, has for some time been … [Read more...] about Bare-faced cheek gives Spain air of election fever
Archives for October 2010
Islamic feminism: the only road to modernising a faith?
With its own complex relationship with the Muslim world over the centuries, it was perhaps fitting that Spain should host the Fourth International Congress on Islamic Feminism, in Madrid, October 21-24. Spain’s Catholic monarchs forcibly converted Muslims to Christianity in the 16th century before then expelling many of those converts. This followed the Islamic occupation of Spain, when the religion fomented major cultural and scientific developments, especially in its major centres such as Córdoba. This year’s Madrid conference, however, looked ahead, analysing the future prospects of Islamic feminism, as well as its current state. More than 400 participants from across the world … [Read more...] about Islamic feminism: the only road to modernising a faith?
El Mundo Today keeps Spanish satire alive and kicking
Who said Spanish satire was dead? Well, I did, for one. Discouraged by the disappearance of TV latex puppets Los Guiñol and their real-life counterparts on Caiga quien caiga, and disheartened by the lack of laughs afforded by El Jueves magazine, it seemed to me the satirical landscape looked worryingly barren. But things suddenly looked a good deal rosier when I came across a string of news-related-but-not-quite-real headlines on website elmundotoday.com: “He shot at a wild boar, thinking it was his mother-in-law”, or “Argument over Dostoyevksy sparks Latin Kings gang fight”, or, more topically, “Congress approves law of the jungle”. El Mundo Today is run by Xavi Puig and Kike García, … [Read more...] about El Mundo Today keeps Spanish satire alive and kicking
Spain’s Socialist reshuffle reaches out to left
If Spain’s Socialists manage to engineer an incredible turnaround in the polls and win the 2012 general election, the chances are they will look back at October 21 of this year as the day when the comeback started. Such a result still looks a long way off, but José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s biggest Cabinet reshuffle of his six years in power was one of the boldest moves of his career and it looks certain to invigorate a party that was limping along under a leadership with shrinking capital. Zapatero’s seventh reshuffle sees six ministers depart, four new ones arrive, with two changing portfolios and two ministries scrapped altogether. While the scale of the move is noteworthy, the … [Read more...] about Spain’s Socialist reshuffle reaches out to left
A Basque pact to save Spain’s economy
In the spring of 2009, the Basque Socialists (PSE), led by Patxi López, closed a groundbreaking governing pact in the northern region with the Popular Party (PP). It was the first time in the democratic period that the Basque Country was to be governed by non-nationalists and the deal was also remarkable in that it united Socialists with the PP, two parties that on a national level seemed locked in a tribal relationship of mutual antagonism. At the time, many forecast a short life for the new Basque government. This was partly because of the political differences between the two parties in Madrid, but also because of the bitter reaction to the pact on the part of the PNV Basque … [Read more...] about A Basque pact to save Spain’s economy
No end in sight to Zapatero’s succession dilemma
As José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero stood listening to the barrage of booing and shouts for him to resign while he attended the October 12 national festivities in Madrid, the idea of enduring this kind of vitriol until 2016 can hardly have been appealing. And yet, although the prime minister is going through by far his toughest spell since taking office in 2004, he has still not announced whether he will run for a third term. Even King Juan Carlos expressed his annoyance at the abuse voiced at the military parade and the government attributed it to elements of the extreme right. However, while Zapatero has heard it before, the boos ringing in his ears this year represent widespread anger at … [Read more...] about No end in sight to Zapatero’s succession dilemma
The rise, fall and resurrection of Sevilla FC
On March 16, CSKA Moscow scored one of last season’s biggest Champions League upsets by knocking a half-hearted Sevilla side out of the competition at the last-16 stage with a 2-1 win at the Andalusians’ Sánchez Pizjuán stadium. “It’s a bad result and I ask our supporters to forgive us for that,” said coach Manolo Jiménez afterwards. It was the first time in several years that a Sevilla coach had needed to apologise to fans, after a run that saw the club leave its cross-city rival, Betis, standing and establish itself as a European force. Sevilla announced its arrival at that peak by winning the UEFA Cup in 2006, its first major European title and the fruit of several years’ work by … [Read more...] about The rise, fall and resurrection of Sevilla FC
Venezuela’s ETA haven tests limits of soft diplomacy
A characteristic of the current Spanish government’s foreign policy has been a softly-softly approach to potentially explosive issues. Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez’s old nickname, ‘Bambi’, may now be out of date on the domestic front, but on the international stage, he still treads with the caution of a deer through the woods. Since angering George W. Bush by withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq on taking office in 2004, Zapatero and his foreign minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, have often gone to great lengths not to upset their counterparts –in Morocco, Cuba and France, to mention just three examples– through their soft diplomacy. Lately, however, their tolerance has been … [Read more...] about Venezuela’s ETA haven tests limits of soft diplomacy
Improvisation, not plotting, behind Ecuador’s “coup”
Was it a coup attempt or wasn’t it? This has been the question on the lips of those who followed events in Ecuador on September 30, when a group of rebel police officers detained President Rafael Correa in a Quito hospital before he was freed by military special forces in a siege which, along with the day's violence, left at least eight dead. For Correa’s supporters, inside the country and outside it, this was classic proof of the dark hand of the country’s elite at play, and also the imperialist meddling of Washington. Mike Gonzalez in The Guardian saw “broader forces” at work, namely the United States, but also neighbours Colombia and Peru. “Their declarations of support for Correa … [Read more...] about Improvisation, not plotting, behind Ecuador’s “coup”
Spain and Morocco’s annual spat over for another year
It has become a summer classic; argy-bargy across the Strait of Gibraltar. With the arrival of September’s UN gathering in New York, the Spanish prime minister and Moroccan king have drawn an apparently effortless line under several weeks of apparently simmering tensions, blazing front-page headlines and much talk of a diplomatic crisis. “The photograph is the main thing,” José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero muttered toward Mohammed VI in New York as the pair smiled amid the camera flashes, the Spaniard later explaining that there had been little in the way of details included in their discussion. There was no need, he said; that was what the upcoming summits and ministerial meetings would deal … [Read more...] about Spain and Morocco’s annual spat over for another year