“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
spain economy
Turbo-charged exports won’t drive Spain out of the crisis
Spain’s exports share of GDP has jumped from just 23 percent at the outset of 2009 to close to 35 percent in 2013. In March, the country registered its first trade surplus since records began in 1971, becoming the only European Union member whose sales abroad increased during the first quarter. This has unleashed a wave of optimism among foreign media, analysts and the government. “Spain's Crisis Fades as Exports Transform Country”, was the headline of a recent Bloomberg news story. Daniele Antonucci, senior European economist at Morgan Stanley, told CNBC in April that Spanish economic growth will come from outbound sales, a point of view Luis de Guindos, Spain’s minister of economy and … [Read more...] about Turbo-charged exports won’t drive Spain out of the crisis
The private sector moves into Spain’s public hospitals
No sooner had the conservative Popular Party taken office at the very end of 2011 than it began drawing up plans to extend private sector involvement in Spain’s public health system, a process begun in 1997 with the support of the Socialist Party. Two years later, La Ribera hospital, built and run by a private consortium led by health insurers Adeslas, opened. Valencia has subsequently created Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in four other health districts. Other PP controlled regions, such as the Balearic Islands, Castilla y León, Castilla La Mancha, and Galicia, are also pushing ahead with the privatisation of healthcare. But Madrid is where the PP wants PPP to really come into its … [Read more...] about The private sector moves into Spain’s public hospitals
Spain still wrestles with immigration
Last month saw the release of the film Alacrán enamorado, the story of promising boxer Julián and his group of heavily-tattooed, neo-nazi friends, who spend their days in the ring and their nights beating up immigrants and members of ethnic minorities. Despite some strong performances, instead of tackling the complexity of the subject full on, this adaptation of Carlos Bardem's third novel is ultimately a superficial story of love and triumph against the odds. All of which is a shame, as Alacrán enamorado raises some potentially interesting questions regarding race relations in Spain. Figures published by the Spanish Institute for National Statistics reveal that immigration has risen … [Read more...] about Spain still wrestles with immigration
Catalonia is close to independence, despite Madrid
I represent the pro-independence Catalan Republican Left in Spain's Congress. Part of my job, therefore, is trying to explain and sustain our quest for social justice and for Catalan Freedom in the Spanish Parliament. It is not an easy job, not only because the two main Spanish parties are against such ideas, but also because they oppose the notion of self-determination itself. In contrast to the Scottish/British scenario, the Catalan/Spanish issue could seem in deadlock, since Madrid does not allow Catalans to vote on their future. There have been a number of proposals for holding a referendum among citizens living in Catalonia to ask the people about independence in a future Catalan … [Read more...] about Catalonia is close to independence, despite Madrid
A protest song in the bank queue
Activists perform inside the branch of the lender Bankia in Tirso de Molina, Madrid on May 9, 2013. The action was part of a nationwide protest in and near Bankia offices across Spain, as part of the second anniversary of the 15M, or indignados, movement. The protesters object to the massive state aid Bankia and other banks have received, its allegedly fraudulent management by former IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato and the continued eviction of many of its clients who are unable to keep up mortgage payments due to the economic crisis. … [Read more...] about A protest song in the bank queue
Spain’s Socialists are desperate for new blood
Close to 18 months after its catastrophic general election defeat, the Socialist Party remains further away from power than ever. Opinion polls have it trailing behind a Popular Party that has pushed through unprecedented austerity measures that only seem to deepen the recession, while Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has broken every electoral pledge he made, now admits that there will be no improvement in the economy until at least 2016. Unemployment continues to rise, and the health and education systems are being dismantled before our eyes. And that’s without going into the Bárcenas corruption allegations. The ideal conditions, surely, for the Socialist Party to launch a sustained … [Read more...] about Spain’s Socialists are desperate for new blood
Rajoy’s problems aren’t what they used to be
At the end of last year, I spoke to several political analysts about the year ahead, for Iberosphere’s preview of Spain in 2013. One of the questions I asked them was about how safe Mariano Rajoy’s political position was. The experts were fairly unanimous: the prime minister may be under pressure due to the economic crisis, but he has a congressional majority and he’s safe, at least until the next general election, expected in 2015. A few months on, things look slightly different. In January the Bárcenas corruption scandal exploded, the biggest of its kind in recent Spanish history. Its substantial allegations taint the governing Partido Popular (PP), several of its senior figures and … [Read more...] about Rajoy’s problems aren’t what they used to be
Valencia cooks up controversy with “bread war”
They call it the “bread war” and amid all the dramas of Spain’s economic crisis, it seems at first sight like little more than a novelty. But the decision taken by a Valencia bakery to slash the price of its loaves of bread is the cause of celebration for some and bitter recrimination for others. José Navarro is the local baker-cum-businessman who is behind the venture. He now has nine bakeries carrying his surname that offer a regular, fresh loaf of bread for just 20 euro cents each. With many of Navarro’s competitors selling at between 80 cents and one euro per loaf, his nine bakeries across the Valencia region draw long queues each morning that stretch out onto the street. In … [Read more...] about Valencia cooks up controversy with “bread war”
Beyond their ken?
"To a herd of rams, the ram the herdsman drives each evening into a special enclosure to feed and that becomes twice as fat as the others must seem to be a genius. And it must appear an astonishing conjunction of genius with a whole series of extraordinary chances that this ram, who instead of getting into the general fold every evening goes into a special enclosure where there are oats- that this very ram, swelling with fat, is killed for meat". - Tolstoy, ‘War & Peace’. After so many false dawns, the recent announcement by Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that the government was revising down its 2013 economic forecast hardly caused a blink among a citizenry that is now … [Read more...] about Beyond their ken?