15-M, or los indignados, are two years old this month and in the last few days I’ve been to two very different events marking that anniversary which give an idea as to where the movement is going. The first was a demonstration on May 12 in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. I’ve given up trying to work out how many people are at such protests, as has the media in many cases, because the versions given by the authorities and those taking part are so utterly contradictory. But while there was an impressive turnout, there were fewer people than on the corresponding date last year – and nothing like the number that turned out in May 2011. The second was a comic opera. Solfónica, an orchestra made up … [Read more...] about ‘Twilight…’
Iberoblog
Spain has melted Mourinho’s aura of invincibility
On a recent visit to Setúbal, near Lisbon, I noticed some massive billboards at the side of the road for an exhibition marking half a century on earth of the town’s most famous son. José Mourinho – 50 anos, documents the meteoric career of The Special One, through photographs of his many professional triumphs, with a few personal moments thrown in. It was a reminder of how revered he remains in Portugal - perhaps the country’s most famed living son, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. But on arriving back in Madrid, I realised how differently the Portuguese and Spanish regard him. In his adopted country, his reputation has been on a steady slide for much of the three seasons he has spent here, … [Read more...] about Spain has melted Mourinho’s aura of invincibility
Tales for Tapas: Irrational exuberance
Spanish government borrowing costs continued to moderate this week, the latest consumer price index figures showed a downward trend without being full-on deflationary, and the country posted a trade surplus of around €600 million, prompting a practically giddy reaction from Economy Minister Luis de Guindos. Mr De Guindos cited the trade figures as evidence of “the economy’s transformation”. There are three ways to look at this. The first is that the economy minister is a sentimental sort of fellow whose exuberance errs a tad on the side of irrationality. The second is that there has been a transformation but – ask any of the six million unemployed – not a positive one. And the … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Irrational exuberance
Catalonia is close to independence, despite Madrid
I represent the pro-independence Catalan Republican Left in Spain's Congress. Part of my job, therefore, is trying to explain and sustain our quest for social justice and for Catalan Freedom in the Spanish Parliament. It is not an easy job, not only because the two main Spanish parties are against such ideas, but also because they oppose the notion of self-determination itself. In contrast to the Scottish/British scenario, the Catalan/Spanish issue could seem in deadlock, since Madrid does not allow Catalans to vote on their future. There have been a number of proposals for holding a referendum among citizens living in Catalonia to ask the people about independence in a future Catalan … [Read more...] about Catalonia is close to independence, despite Madrid
Tales for Tapas: Compelling drama
Apart from that Sinatra-esque farewell announcement in 2001, Sir Alex Ferguson’s just-confirmed departure from Manchester United has been a model of timeliness accompanied by a minimum of fuss – in rather stark contrast to the goings-on at Real Madrid, where the José Mourinho soap opera, now ostensibly focused on the benching of the goalkeeper and captain, in reality hinges on the fine print of the manager’s employment contract. Despite his age (quite advanced in football years) Iker Casillas remains at the peak of his prodigious powers. His dissatisfaction about being dropped from the first team, the coach suggested this week, is fuelled by the covert desire for a more “manageable” … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Compelling drama
Tales for Tapas: Food for thought
It’s a tonic not just for the hospitality sector but for the country as a whole that El Celler de Can Roca in Girona has been named the world’s best restaurant. Nice too that Can Roca, which specialises in culinary experimentation (desserts that smell of recognisable perfumes, for example) is run by three brothers. When Joan Roca, head chef and oldest of the three, was asked at the award ceremony in London on Monday to identify the restaurant’s winning ingredients he cited hard work and the help of two extraordinary siblings. The latest generation in a family of restaurateurs, the Roca brothers inherited skills and enthusiasm rather than boundless start-up capital from their parents … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Food for thought
Rajoy’s problems aren’t what they used to be
At the end of last year, I spoke to several political analysts about the year ahead, for Iberosphere’s preview of Spain in 2013. One of the questions I asked them was about how safe Mariano Rajoy’s political position was. The experts were fairly unanimous: the prime minister may be under pressure due to the economic crisis, but he has a congressional majority and he’s safe, at least until the next general election, expected in 2015. A few months on, things look slightly different. In January the Bárcenas corruption scandal exploded, the biggest of its kind in recent Spanish history. Its substantial allegations taint the governing Partido Popular (PP), several of its senior figures and … [Read more...] about Rajoy’s problems aren’t what they used to be
Tales for Tapas: Reform and recovery
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned last week that Spain shouldn’t pour its energies exclusively into cutting expenditure but should also focus on economic restructuring. This must have been galling for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has, even his harshest critics would grudgingly acknowledge, maintained a commitment not only to reducing the deficit but to introducing accompanying reforms designed to generate growth and boost employment. The figures show that the deficit isn’t going down and employment isn’t going up, so while Mr Rajoy’s commitment may not be in question, his delivery certainly is. He, of course, argues that these things take time – something with … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Reform and recovery
Nazis?
But Fascism is also a political and economic system. Why, then, cannot we have a clear and generally accepted definition of it? Alas! we shall not get one – not yet, anyway … All one can do for the moment is to use the word with a certain amount of circumspection and not, as is usually done, degrade it to the level of a swearword. (George Orwell ‘What is Fascism?’) Godwin’s Law, a kind of internet update of Orwell’s own theory, states: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches.” I was reminded of this recently as the increasingly hysterical debate over anti-eviction protests, or escraches, has raged. In particular, the … [Read more...] about Nazis?
Beyond their ken?
"To a herd of rams, the ram the herdsman drives each evening into a special enclosure to feed and that becomes twice as fat as the others must seem to be a genius. And it must appear an astonishing conjunction of genius with a whole series of extraordinary chances that this ram, who instead of getting into the general fold every evening goes into a special enclosure where there are oats- that this very ram, swelling with fat, is killed for meat". - Tolstoy, ‘War & Peace’. After so many false dawns, the recent announcement by Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that the government was revising down its 2013 economic forecast hardly caused a blink among a citizenry that is now … [Read more...] about Beyond their ken?