A protest song in the bank queue

Activists demonstrate against the handling of nationalised lender Bankia with a musical interlude.

Activists demonstrate against the handling of nationalised lender Bankia with a musical interlude.

Activists appeal to the government to approve a sweeping reform of Spain’s mortgage regulations, in an effort to bring to an end the country’s repossessions crisis.

Pere Navarro shocks many by announcing need for “a new era”.

The Beatles can always make a difference… Six million unemployed in Spain and a youth jobless rate of over 50 percent. So three cheers for these musicians, organised by Carne Cruda radio, who made the day that bit sunnier for people queuing in an employment office…

Fuelled by the economic meltdown, the wave of pro-independence fervour in Catalonia became Spain’s most prominent political issue in 2012. At its crest stands Artur Mas. In germinating the seeds that could one day blossom into a new Iberian state, Mas, for better or for worse, has been the most prominent Iberian of the Year.