Here’s a question: is the Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caídos) a religious shrine: a Benedictine monastery and Roman Catholic basilica that includes a memorial to the dead in the Spanish Civil War, along with the tomb of General Francisco Franco? Or is it a grotesque monument to hate, an enduring reminder, built by its victims, of a military dictatorship that murdered and imprisoned hundreds of thousands of people whose only crime was to have defended democracy? Coming up with an answer will be the task of a newly appointed 13-member commission. It’s been given five months to decide, once and for all, what to do with the Valley of the Fallen. (What do you think should be … [Read more...] about Mission: Impossible, the Valley of the Fallen
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Valley of the Fallen: “A symbol of the Franco dictatorship or a religious site?”
Rajoy approaches the big job with his head down
As rumours that next year’s general election will be brought forward to the autumn intensify, so does the realisation that by the end of the year, Mariano Rajoy could be prime minister. The strange thing is, judging by his party’s recent behaviour, this doesn’t seem to have dawned on him. If he had fully grasped the reality of his situation, you would think he would tone down the talk of Spain being an economic basket case. But his opposition Popular Party (PP) is determined to hint, suggest, or just plain decry, that the country is in real trouble. Since last year, the PP has been openly wondering whether Spain deserves to be in the same bracket as Greece, Portugal and Ireland. In … [Read more...] about Rajoy approaches the big job with his head down
Real Madrid’s ‘señor’ status at play as Mourinho takes control
Spanish football is a peculiar beast when placed under a microscope, rather like a petri dish teeming with all the bacteria Fifa is currently trying to scrape from its gilded Zurich halls. There is no fit-and-proper-persons test in La Liga, as Racing Santander is currently being left to rue. Match-fixing was made a criminal offence just six months ago. Clubs are traditionally controlled by wildly unreliable clans like the Gil family at Atlético Madrid and the Ruiz-Mateos' at Rayo Vallecano – currently busily covering their own backsides as their Nueva Rumasa congolmerate goes under for the second time, leaving thousands of investors, and Rayo's players, on the bread line. If your club … [Read more...] about Real Madrid’s ‘señor’ status at play as Mourinho takes control
Franco and the red pen
One of the upshots of the recent furore surrounding the recently published Diccionario Biográfico Español has been how it has highlighted the decrepit and ideologically questionable nature of the Spanish Royal Academy of History (RAH). Of its 36 members, 15 are over 80 years old, only three are women and among its many right-leaning experts, several are seemingly pro-Franco. The most obvious example is Luis Suárez, the historian who wrote the now-notorious dictionary entry on Francisco Franco, painting the dictator in a flattering light. Clearly, the RAH has a problem in terms of its personnel, which makes providing objective and serious accounts of Spanish history difficult, if not … [Read more...] about Franco and the red pen
Spain’s conflicting memories refuse to fade
The now infamous entry in Spain’s recently published biographical dictionary describes General Francisco Franco as a courageous figure who set up an “authoritarian, but not totalitarian” regime. Written by 86-year-old historian Luis Suárez, the entry paints Western Europe’s longest-serving dictator in a favourable light, extolling his military prowess. This account of Franco’s reign differs sharply from that outlined by British historian Paul Preston in his latest book, The Spanish Holocaust: Inquisition and Extermination during the Civil War and After. In fact, Professor Suárez makes no mention of Francoist atrocities at all. The furore sparked by Suárez’s dictionary entry is … [Read more...] about Spain’s conflicting memories refuse to fade
How police brutality helped Spain’s 15-M protests
In recent days, music fans and political activists in Spain have been remembering Gil Scott-Heron, the singer-songwriter who died last Friday. The ongoing sit-ins and protests that started across Spain in the lead-up to May’s local elections have seen inevitable links being drawn between Scott-Heron’s anthem The Revolution Will Not Be Televised and the 15-M/Democracia Real Ya movement. But the day after Scott-Heron’s death, when the TV showed images of Catalonia’s mossos d’esquadra local police force brutally charging into a crowd of unarmed, peaceful demonstrators in Barcelona, it seemed more fitting to think of another seventies cultural touchstone: Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork … [Read more...] about How police brutality helped Spain’s 15-M protests
The Spanish holocaust
Even to this day, when asked about the slaughter and repression carried about by General Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War and in the years that followed, the standard reply from many Spaniards is that atrocities were committed on both sides. But in this relentlessly harrowing read, British historian Paul Preston provides, page after page, factual, documentary accounts of the systematic policy introduced by Franco early on in the war to rid the country of the red menace and to install a reign of terror among the few that might still contemplate resistance. This was accomplished through disappearances, and in many cases, the murders of entire families, along with theft of young … [Read more...] about The Spanish holocaust
Roll up, roll up, for the Socialist horror show
“In the last few days, the party’s unity, the authority of the prime minister and party leader, our collective image as a party, and even the stability of the government have all been put at risk.” This was the verdict of Defence Minister Carme Chacón on Thursday, as she made the surprise announcement that she will not be standing as a candidate in Socialist Party primaries to choose a new candidate for the general election. It’s shocking to hear a senior Socialist politician speak in such starkly honest terms, but her words reflect how bad things have got for the party. It’s been a truly torrid week for the Socialists. First, they are one of the main targets of nationwide protests by … [Read more...] about Roll up, roll up, for the Socialist horror show
Depor’s glory a distant memory as team slides out of Liga
The only real drama during Saturday’s conclusion of the Liga season was at the bottom of the table, where Deportivo la Coruña were relegated after losing 2-0 at home to Valencia. After a see-sawing 90 minutes which could possibly have seen Mallorca, Real Sociedad, Osasuna, Getafe or Zaragoza drop instead, once-proud Depor followed Almería and Hércules down to next year’s La Segunda. Although they became the first side to be relegated with more than 42 points in a 20 team league, you could not really say Deportivo were unlucky. Their failure to score on Saturday was telling, and familiar. Under the restrained tactics of coach Miguel Ángel Lotina, the Galicians have been poor in front of … [Read more...] about Depor’s glory a distant memory as team slides out of Liga