While sport lovers have admired the Spanish football team’s advance towards the World Cup final in South Africa, political and social observers have just as much reason to be impressed. This football team has managed to unite representatives of every corner of the country more effectively than any politician has ever done. Andalusians, Asturians, Madrileños, Basques, and -most notably- Catalans, all contribute to a squad that plays like a seamless whole. All of which makes it all the more ironic, therefore, that while the Catalan-led Roja has worked together to such devastating effect, back in Spain, political relations between Catalonia and Madrid have hit a low. On June 28, while the … [Read more...] about Catalan statute furore makes nearly everyone a loser
Politics
Overcrowding leaves Spain’s prisons on the brink
Madrid’s Valdemoro prison, known as “Madrid III”, sits amid the arid badlands south of the capital, a few miles off the main road to Andalusia. Like all of Spain’s 87 prisons, Valdemoro is overcrowded. It was built to accommodate 980 prisoners, but now holds more than 1,500. A further 20 jails in the country are at more than twice their original capacity. Valdemoro is a holding centre for suspects in cases led by the investigating judges of the High Court. That principally means those accused of terrorism, along with suspected drug and arms traffickers. It is where the men responsible for the March 11, 2004 Madrid train bombings were held while awaiting trial. Among the foreigners … [Read more...] about Overcrowding leaves Spain’s prisons on the brink
Zapatero’s summer of discontent
It’s not easy for any politician to be told he is a “political corpse.” But when the person saying this has just saved your skin it’s particularly hard to digest. So when Spain’s prime minister now looks at Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, spokesman for the centre-right Catalan CiU grouping, it is with mixed feelings. CiU ensured José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s €15-billion austerity package went through Congress on May 27 by abstaining during the vote. The abstention meant the governing Socialists’ 169 deputies scraped the measures through, with 168 voting against. The Catalan conservatives justified their abstention by insisting that while they did not agree with all the measures, the … [Read more...] about Zapatero’s summer of discontent
Dark horse Díez races into the limelight
It’s a good time to be an outsider in politics. With the world economy still recovering from recession and politicians struggling to assert their moral credentials, the conditions are ripe for the self-proclaimed rebels to hog the spotlight. In the United States the right-wing Tea Party movement is gathering steam on the back of anger at traditional politicians’ lack of dynamism. In Britain, where an expenses scandal has undermined MPs, neither Labour nor the Conservatives were able to win a majority in the general election. In Spain, Rosa Díez, leader of Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD), must be rubbing her hands with glee as she looks at a similarly disgruntled electorate. She … [Read more...] about Dark horse Díez races into the limelight
Baltasar Garzón: a judge too far?
On Monday May 24, judge Baltasar Garzón began a seven-month stint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague. The move came 10 days after an emotional farewell from the Spanish High Court, where for the last 22 years he has presided over some of the country’s most infamous cases. He was suspended from his duties in Madrid after his nemesis, Luciano Varela, the presiding Supreme Court judge whose enmity toward Garzón is no secret, hastily brought forward trial proceedings into allegations that the magistrate had overstepped his authority by investigating the crimes of the Franco era. Varela’s decision was widely seen as a deliberate move to humiliate Garzón by preventing … [Read more...] about Baltasar Garzón: a judge too far?
The market tears up Zapatero’s social contract
“My government’s ambition is to make this an innovative, creative, entrepreneurial country while upholding the social welfare state… I think we should learn the lesson of the Great Depression: when an economy enters a deep recession, the only way we can come out of it is from a big push from the public sector.” José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero uttered these words less than a year ago. At the time, with Spain mired in recession, critics could argue with his ideological stance, but nobody could doubt his convictions. However, the prime minister’s announcement on May 12 of a broad and radical raft of austerity measures has seen him perform the biggest U-turn of his six years in government … [Read more...] about The market tears up Zapatero’s social contract
Awareness grows, but domestic abuse goes on
In 1994, Spanish television used to broadcast a reality show called Lo que necesitas es amor, which translates as What you need is love. On one occasion the presenter sought to reunite a couple who had fallen out and was discussing their problems with them in front of the studio audience. At one point she asked the young woman what she didn’t like about her boyfriend. “For example,” she said smiling: “he doesn’t beat you does he?” This prompted nervous titters from the audience, and the young woman squirmed slightly. “Well…” she began. The presenter turned to the hapless boyfriend, and with mock severity asked him: “you don’t beat her do you?” The boyfriend smiled a little shamefacedly and … [Read more...] about Awareness grows, but domestic abuse goes on
Waiting for Washington
The announcement that US Vice President Joe Biden would be visiting Madrid on May 7-8 as part of a short European tour was a welcome piece of news for the Spanish government and further proof of the positive relationship it enjoys with the current administration in Washington. The visit was scheduled to follow the meeting between Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington the previous week. Just three months earlier, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was in the US capital himself, attending the National Prayer Breakfast as President Barack Obama’s guest, an event that followed a meeting between the two men at the White … [Read more...] about Waiting for Washington
The victim-turned-activist: a new kind of hero
When the father of a missing girl in Huelva captured the media spotlight in late 2007 as he led the search for his missing daughter, he capitalised on the nation’s attention to launch a national public awareness campaign about the flaws in the Spanish justice system. Five-year-old Mari Luz Cortés disappeared after she ran off to buy a bag of crisps at a neighbourhood kiosk. Following a massive two-month nationwide search her body was found in January 2008 in a river in Huelva province’s Torrearenilla marshland. A convicted paedophile, Santiago del Valle, who had been granted an early release from prison, was arrested after he confessed to the murder. Thus began Juan José Cortés’ crusade … [Read more...] about The victim-turned-activist: a new kind of hero
Spain gets secular… with its Muslims
A Madrid state-run secondary school’s decision to ban a 16-year-old female pupil from wearing a hijab, or Islamic headscarf, to classes has hit the headlines, bringing to the surface the uncomfortable issue of the place in public life of Spain’s more than one million Muslims. The Camilo José Cela school in the prosperous Madrid suburb of Pozuelo has decided that Najwa Malha, who was born in Spain to Moroccan immigrants, has violated its dress code by wearing the hijab. The school’s board has ratified the decision by an overwhelming majority, and Malha has been receiving individual tuition in the school’s waiting room. Her options are simple: accept the ban and remove her headscarf, or … [Read more...] about Spain gets secular… with its Muslims