“In Spain…what happens is that sometimes we have a certain tendency to talk about the things that aren’t the best and sometimes we should be talking about the things that are important.” This comment, delivered at an Opel car factory in Zaragoza, is vintage Rajoy. The abstract language, the circumventing of the subject at hand, the use of “sometimes” or “a certain tendency” in order to avoid concrete terms. And, of course, complete avoidance of the word “Bárcenas”: the elephant in the room. Rajoy’s point was that, instead of talking about the corruption scandal engulfing his conservative Partido Popular (PP) due to increasingly detailed allegations of an illegal slush fund from which … [Read more...] about Maybe Rajoy is right: deny everything and it’ll go away
El Mundo
Resign? You must be kidding
When is it appropriate for a public figure to resign? After displaying gross incompetence? In the wake of evident policy failure? Being caught up in criminal acts? It’s not always clear-cut. Sometimes resignation is an option, but not necessarily the only one. An apology might be just as fitting, or a temporary withdrawal from front-line exposure to the limelight. But in the last few weeks in Spain, there have been several cases that would seem to offer strong candidates for the sack. The most recent is that of Alberto Núñez Feijóo. On Sunday, El País newspaper published photographs showing that the Partido Popular’s premier of Galicia had been a good friend of Marcial Dorado Baúlde, … [Read more...] about Resign? You must be kidding
The Chávez trap
It is January 2003, I'm in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, and my arm is aching. I am holding a tape recorder up to Hugo Chávez’s mouth and he won’t stop talking. Chávez is in town to attend the swearing-in of Ecuador’s new president, Lucio Gutiérrez, a man many expect to pursue the same radical leftist path as the Venezuelan leader (although, as it turns out, he doesn’t). Other Latin American leaders have come to Quito, but Chávez is by far the biggest draw. I am part of a scrum of journalists who surround him as he strides into the lobby of a smart hotel, smiling and sure of his own magnetism. I’m standing behind him, slightly to one side and I’d like to rest my arm by placing the tape … [Read more...] about The Chávez trap
March 11, again
Another year goes by, and still the poisonous legacy of the March 11 bombings remains. I wrote this a year ago, but sadly, it still applies: Another anniversary of the Madrid terrorist attacks of March 11, 2004, comes and goes and with it, another storm of acrimony that highlights, in the ugliest way possible, Spain’s divisions. It’s now eight years since bombs planted by Islamic radicals were detonated on trains in or near Madrid during the morning rush hour, killing 191 people and injuring nearly 2,000 more. Enough time, you would think, for society to digest and come to terms with the attack, if not the grief it caused. But as dozens of relatives of those killed gathered … [Read more...] about March 11, again
Catalonia’s gambler Mas fails with his biggest bet yet
"Leaders are those who interpret the sense of every historic moment, those who find their path by listening attentively to the heartbeat of society.” Artur Mas’s words on taking power as Catalonia’s new regional premier in 2010 have clearly informed his last three months in office, a period during which Catalonia's relationship with Madrid has been the predominant political issue. His push for greater economic autonomy for Catalans, followed by the more ambitious goal of independence do, he believes, reflect the region’s “heartbeat”. But on Sunday, as results came in from the region’s election, which he called early in the biggest gamble of his career, it became clear that much of … [Read more...] about Catalonia’s gambler Mas fails with his biggest bet yet
Catalan election offers Mas hope of independence mandate
Sunday’s election in Catalonia is probably the most significant in the region since Spain’s transition to democracy in the late 1970s, due to the way the issue of independence has utterly dominated the campaign. Although the central government’s Partido Popular (PP) will not win, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will follow the election extremely closely. The upsurge in pro-independence sentiment in Catalonia has suddenly emerged as Rajoy’s most urgent political challenge and he has struggled to deal with it effectively. Guy Hedgecoe examines the Catalan independence drive (Audio): Catalan Independence (Audio) A resounding win for the incumbent, Artur Mas of the CiU mainstream … [Read more...] about Catalan election offers Mas hope of independence mandate
Juan Luis Cebrián: last man standing?
In November 2010, Juan Luis Cebrián, the founding editor of El País, and CEO of the Prisa Group, the media empire to which the newspaper belongs, announced the sale of 70 percent of Prisa for €900 million to a New York-based investment group The reason for the sale was a €4.7-billion debt he had created after an expensive foray into pay-TV was followed by the financial crisis and a downturn in advertising. At the time of the sale, Prisa’s debt was more than 12 times its withered stock market value. The sale spelled the end of Cebrián and the Polanco family’s control of Spain’s leading media group, which had been founded on the success of El País over more than three decades. "Better 30 … [Read more...] about Juan Luis Cebrián: last man standing?
“Our forgotten Spanish reality…”
It’s not often that I’d applaud the broad array of opinions published in El Mundo newspaper. During the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, its op-eds ranged, utterly predictably, from anti-Zapatero to rabidly anti-Zapatero. But with a Partido Popular government, things seem to be getting more interesting, especially given that while El Mundo has supported the cause of Spain’s conservatives, it has not been a consistent cheerleader for Mariano Rajoy himself. So it was fascinating to see just a couple of the opinions published by the paper in the wake of the announcement of Spain’s financial bailout. The general consensus in Spain is that Rajoy committed a major error by not … [Read more...] about “Our forgotten Spanish reality…”
Read my lips: Why did Rajoy break one of his few campaign promises?
“My intention is not to raise taxes.” It’s a line that Mariano Rajoy’s critics will repeat back at him for years to come. Much like George H. W. Bush’s infamous “Read my lips: no new taxes”, Rajoy’s pledge, made on December 19, during the debate ahead of his investiture as Spain’s new prime minister, has proved to be empty. Unlike Bush, Rajoy has not resisted or dragged his feet in performing a spectacular U-turn on this issue. Eleven days after saying he wouldn’t raise taxes, his deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, announced tax increases that will bring in an extra €6 billion this year. As Spaniards digest the implications of the new Popular Party government’s … [Read more...] about Read my lips: Why did Rajoy break one of his few campaign promises?
The solution to the Catalan problem?
Catalan separatism has two anchor points, the traditional one is of a cultural nature (with the Catalan language at its core), the other one, of more recent creation and which has built up a new group of pragmatic followers making inroads even among Spanish speakers, is based on money: the fiscal deficit of Catalonia with the central state has over the past year or so evolved into the main argument for secession. This makes one feel that to get rid of the problem of Catalan separatism, Madrid only has to throw money at the region. And that it had better do, because this new group has the potential to grow into a serious problem, unlike the ethnocentrists, whose numbers remain basically … [Read more...] about The solution to the Catalan problem?