People have been leaving Spain – the prime minister to attend the European Summit, large numbers of Spanish and foreign citizens to seek their fortunes elsewhere, and at least one police patrol-boat (reportedly) to explore the waters off Gibraltar. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy set off for this week’s European Council meeting in Brussels with an unusually strong mandate to “fight for Spain” (the striking expression sprinkled liberally into media statements by government spokespeople) having secured cross-party support for a ten-point negotiating platform. The platform is not substantially different from what Madrid and other capitals on the EU’s troubled periphery have been demanding … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Leaving Spain
Mr Rajoy
Tales for Tapas: The right lines
Perhaps the most notable aspect of Monday’s opening of the high-speed train link between Madrid and Valencia was not the protest against Prince Felipe (reflecting the ebbing popularity of the Royal Family) or against Alicante Mayor Sonia Castedo (currently experiencing corruption-related issues) or against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (for whom no new reason is apparently needed in order to prompt a demonstration). The notable thing was that the protests – and, coincidentally, the celebrations – were so modest. Prince Felipe pointed out that Spain’s high-speed rail network (which every report on the event conscientiously pointed out is the world’s second largest after China’s) is “an … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: The right lines
Tales for Tapas: Money and mystique
The 19th-century British political economist Walter Bagehot noted that letting “daylight in upon the magic” of monarchy risks diminishing its mystique. A court summons, no doubt, represents a mystique-diminishing dose of daylight, and Princess Cristina’s scheduled April 27 appearance before a judge in Majorca may be dignified but is unlikely to be very edifying. Still, the royal families of Europe are not – and never have been – paragons of public virtue (as anyone who has spent time in Las Vegas recently may be able to testify). What makes the Nóos Affair so problematic is not simply that it is a royal scandal but that it is a royal financial scandal in the middle of a national financial … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Money and mystique