The latest ETA ceasefire has the look of a Trojan horse. All previous truces have ended in a return to bloody violence by the Basque terrorist organisation. But in Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s mind, a little spark of optimism has surely been reignited at a time when he and his governing Socialist Party are in desperate need of a positive development. Yes, that very “optimism” which Zapatero expressed just hours before ETA ruptured its previous ceasefire, detonating a car bomb at Barajas airport and leaving two dead in late 2006. The prime minister has since spoken of his upbeat attitude towards the peace talks in Switzerland of that autumn as his biggest mistake. But … [Read more...] about Basque ceasefire offers Zapatero illusion of a lifeline
popular party
Melilla spat with Morocco reveals uncomfortable truths
Blockades stopping fresh food from entering Melilla by a Moroccan group in mid-August were highly inconvenient for the inhabitants of this North African enclave belonging to Spain. However, the protest itself –against allegedly abusive and racist behaviour by Spanish police on the border between the city and Morocco– paled in comparison to the political repercussions of the episode and hinted at the complex and sensitive nature of the relationship between these two countries. The two short blockades, which stopped trucks carrying perishable foodstuffs from entering the city, each lasted little more than a day and the issue appears to have been closed following a meeting between Spanish … [Read more...] about Melilla spat with Morocco reveals uncomfortable truths
Opposing Spain’s abortion law: don’t blame the Church
On July 5, Spain introduced legislation bringing the country’s abortion laws into line with those across northern Europe. In essence, the new law allows the procedure without restrictions up to 14 weeks and gives 16-year-olds the right to have abortions without parental consent. Until now abortion had been illegal unless the woman could prove that she was raped, that the foetus was malformed, or that the pregnancy endangered her physical or mental health. In practice, the latter reason was used across a network of private clinics, which perform around 100,000 abortions a year. The issue has been reported in the international media as a battle between the secular Socialist Party … [Read more...] about Opposing Spain’s abortion law: don’t blame the Church
Catalan statute furore makes nearly everyone a loser
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
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
Garzón, the PP, and a Byzantine justice system
As growing numbers of people around the world will know by now, investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzón is in hot water. The man best-known for having ordered the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in 1998 is being investigated by his colleagues in the Supreme Court on three counts. If found guilty, his career will be over. There is something of a whiff of conspiracy about this sudden fall from grace. The first investigation is into accusations that he dropped tax fraud charges against executives of Banco Santander in return for $302,000-worth of sponsorship by the bank for a series of lectures on human rights he gave at New York University in 2003. This hearing is currently underway. The … [Read more...] about Garzón, the PP, and a Byzantine justice system
The rebirth of corruption
A flick through a Spanish daily newspaper one particular day in early April made for instructive, if depressing, reading. The national news pages were dominated by the latest on a series of corruption scandals, all involving politicians. In Catalonia, the ‘Pretoria’ case saw members of the Socialist Party and the nationalist CiU embroiled in a scam involving construction contracts; in Estepona, Andalusia, the town’s former Popular Party mayor Rosa Díaz faced charges of illegally selling off land; in the Balearic Islands, Jaume Matas, a former Popular Party regional premier and national environment minister, had been told he needed to post €3 million bail in order to avoid being jailed … [Read more...] about The rebirth of corruption
Jailed for telling the truth
As you read this, the General Council of the Judiciary, the body that oversees the activities of Spain’s judges and courts, will be frantically searching for a way to limit the damage Judge Ricardo Rodríguez Fernández has caused after sentencing two journalists to 21 months in jail for publishing the names of 78 political party members on the internet. Baffling would be the politest way to describe the judge’s decision, which has dismayed defenders of freedom of speech and dealt a blow to the credibility of Spain's judicial system. The story dates back to 2003, when Daniel Anido and Rodolfo Irago, respectively the director and news chief of the SER radio network, were following up a … [Read more...] about Jailed for telling the truth