The Spanish Catholic Church’s immediate challenges are substantial and clear for all to see: reversing the steady exodus of regular churchgoers; appealing to immigrants, an enormous potential congregation; and shedding an anachronistic image that alienates young Spaniards. So while the Spanish Episcopal Conference’s decision to give Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela a record-breaking fourth term as its president came as little surprise to Church watchers, it is perplexing for those who are aware of the above challenges. Rouco, the archbishop of Madrid, has earned a reputation as a conservative hardliner, taking on the Socialist government on issues such as abortion and gay … [Read more...] about Spanish Church banks on “youth” with hardline cardinal’s re-election
madrid
Madrid
When it comes to sights, the capital can’t compete with Barcelona. The Almudena Cathedral is pretty ugly, there’s no waterway to speak of, and the skyline is basically four massive, incongruous towers plonked at one end of town. But the point about Madrid is that you don’t see it, you live it. Go for a few drinks in Lavapiés, flea-market shopping in La Latina’s Rastro, or an autumnal walk through the Retiro, and tell me you’d rather be in Barcelona, queuing three hours to get into a cathedral that hasn’t even been finished… … [Read more...] about Madrid
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
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
Politics is ETA’s problem as it seeks global stage
When Nobel Peace Prize laureates F.W. de Klerk, Desmond Tutu and John Hume all back an initiative together with the support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, it is bound to carry some weight. It is also likely to be a project with major international repercussions. But when South African human rights lawyer Brian Currin presented to the European Parliament a resolution backed by the above and another 17 figures from the world of politics and conflict mediation on March 29, the issue at hand was the relationship between the Basque Country, the small region in northern Spain, and Madrid. The statement sought to contribute to resolving what it called “the last remaining conflict in … [Read more...] about Politics is ETA’s problem as it seeks global stage
The curse of the EU presidency
In retrospect, Spain might be seen as one of the unluckiest ever holders of the EU rotating presidency. A host of unfortunate developments – most not of his own making – have conspired to make the first half of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s six-month term, which began on January 1, difficult and at times hapless. With Spain among the bloc’s most economically troubled members, it was always going to be hard for Zapatero to lead the EU out of recession from the front. Moreover, major institutional changes were implemented just as the term presidency was starting, with a degree of mystery surrounding the new system and its roles, including that of European Council president. As if that were … [Read more...] about The curse of the EU presidency
Madrid, capital of the special advertising section
The other evening, while enjoying a quiet drink in a Madrid hotel bar, I struck up a conversation with an attractive, if over-groomed, young woman and her improbably handsome and well-dressed companion. The former was French, the latter American. Still in their mid-twenties, they seemed wealthy, and were well traveled, having made a number of references to returning from, or going to, exotic, far-away locations. Eventually I asked what they did for a living. “We work for an international company that sends us around the world,” the woman answered mysteriously. “Oh,” I said, asking on a hunch, “do you work in advertising?” “Well, kind of,” answered the woman, with the air of somebody … [Read more...] about Madrid, capital of the special advertising section
Bullfighting’s Catalan accent
It was meant to be a reasoned, informed debate about the pros and cons of bullfighting. Politicians, philosophers, writers, scientists and even a bullfighter were all due to give their views on the fiesta nacional and whether or not it should be banned in Catalonia. And yet, in one session alone, crucifixion, Colombian kidnappings and female circumcision were all invoked, insults such as “intellectual pigmy” and “hypocrite” were used and at one point, the scientist Jorge Wagensberg pulled out a sword to illustrate how much spearing the weapon into a bull’s back would hurt the animal. This passionate and often fractious debate was the result of a petition by anti-bullfighting … [Read more...] about Bullfighting’s Catalan accent
March 11’s divisive legacy
In the middle of February, the Spanish government announced that it was going to “repair” the memory of the poet Miguel Hernández, a Republican former goatherd who was jailed by the dictator Francisco Franco and died in prison in 1942, at the age of 31. The Socialist government pledged to offer Hernández, whose centenary is being celebrated this year, “the tribute, the memory and the admiration that his work merits,” said Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega. “We all share that same rejection of any form of oppression, that same rebellion in the face of injustice and that determination to dream and create a decent country and a better world.” The news of this homage … [Read more...] about March 11’s divisive legacy
If language be the food of understanding, talk on
"Why are you interested in learning Arabic?” the teacher probed. It was a question intended to get us talking, to introduce ourselves and explain why we had chosen to give up two hours of our lives twice a week to sit in a drab high school classroom in Palma de Mallorca. For travel, said some of my classmates; an interest in Arabic culture and music, answered others. A few wanted to learn the mother tongue of a husband or wife. The first two of those reasons were also in part my own. But I also had other motives: “Because of the world we live in,” I said. As a journalist writing about Spanish and European politics and social issues for the last decade, I have borne witness to the … [Read more...] about If language be the food of understanding, talk on