One of my clearest memories from the years I spent working at the English edition of El País newspaper was a 6pm editorial meeting in 2007, the day of the launch of rival publication Público. These evening meetings are when the paper’s section heads tell editor-in-chief Javier Moreno what they are going to publish. I remember them as dull but rather tense affairs, where each head would deliver his (it was almost always a man) spiel, and hope not to have it verbally machine-gunned by the boss. But on this particular occasion, Moreno began the meeting with an appraisal of new arrival Público. “Whatever else one might think, they have a very clear idea of Spain and who their readers are,” he … [Read more...] about The importance of being ‘El País’
spain politics
Getting to the bottom of Spain’s daunting unemployment rate
Of the many bits of bad economic news Spain has received this past year, including finding deficits were higher than expected and growth rates much lower, perhaps no other figure has proven as weighty and daunting as the country’s unemployment rate. Reports released at the end of January saw that number rise to 22.9 percent, adding another dismal headline to the Rajoy government’s first full month in office: nearly 5.3 million people out of work with declines in available positions across the board, from services to the country’s still collapsing construction sector. Capturing the dour outlook of the country’s current situation, The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson summarized the statistics … [Read more...] about Getting to the bottom of Spain’s daunting unemployment rate
Back to the future with Rubalcaba
Unity, strength and change were the basis of Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba’s rallying cry on winning the Spanish Socialist Party primary by the slimmest of margins on Saturday. But unity currently looks a tall order for the party, given that its 900 or so delegates were divided almost exactly down the middle in choosing Rubalcaba over Carme Chacón. And it can hardly daw on much strength, either, following its record losses in local and general elections in 2011. Rubalcaba himself was the candidate who suffered the general election loss, the Socialists’ worst in the democratic era, and it is now he who has been chosen to pick up the pieces and redefine the party. So change it is. What that … [Read more...] about Back to the future with Rubalcaba
Even Spanish TV feels the pain
As part of swingeing spending cuts being implemented at the behest of the European Central Bank, the Spanish government is to slash state broadcaster RTVE’s budget this year by €200 million to €1.2 billion. RTVE’s board says the cuts will have a “devastating impact” on its programming, predicting that its audience figures for its two channels La 1 and La 2, will drop by 8 percent. La 1 frequently tops audience ratings thanks to hugely popular programs such as Cuéntame como pasó — a long-running drama telling the story of a family from the Franco era up to the present day— or fantasy saga Águila roja, and post-Civil War soap opera Amar en tiempos revueltos. But the channel says that the … [Read more...] about Even Spanish TV feels the pain
Valencia’s Camps is off the hook, but something still smells rotten
Francisco Camps has reason to celebrate. The Popular Party’s former president of the Valencia region has been absolved of charges of taking bribes in the form of designer suits and other garments from a businessman at the heart of the Gürtel corruption scandal. After a two-week trial, the jury voted, five votes to four, that the accusations could not be proved. But while Camps has expressed his joy at defeating the conspiracy he says was behind this case, his own party has been less jubilant. Virtually all the senior party figures who have responded to the verdict have advised Camps to take a break from politics, from Valencia mayor Rita Barberá to Alberto Fabra, his successor as regional … [Read more...] about Valencia’s Camps is off the hook, but something still smells rotten
Spain’s Syrian efforts received US backing
In 2006, the United States was optimistic about the Spanish government’s initiative to act as a mediator between the Syrian government of Bashar Assad and Hizballah over the latter’s disarmament. Then-Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos made a series of trips to Damascus, which the United States saw as a positive sign to try to defuse the volatile situation in the Middle East. In a series of cables sent by the US Embassy in Madrid and released by the Wikileaks website, American diplomats advised Washington that Spain could play a constructive role in the region. On August 3, 2006, the US Ambassador in Madrid at the time, Eduardo Aguirre, reported Moratinos as saying that Syria had … [Read more...] about Spain’s Syrian efforts received US backing
Fraga: a unique figure during an extraordinary time
The last time the conservative Partido Popular (PP) was governing Spain, the satirical television show Los Guiñoles was still being broadcast, with its latex puppets lampooning the country’s public figures. One of its most memorable targets was Manuel Fraga, even then a decidedly long-in-the-tooth politician, who on at least one occasion was portrayed as a dinosaur, complete with scaly tail and brontosaurus-style limbs. This image was fuelled by the fact that Fraga was still, in his eighties, the premier of Galicia, a position he held between 1990 and 2005. Also, perhaps most famously, he had been a minister under Franco. But it’s clear that there was more to Fraga, who died on Sunday … [Read more...] about Fraga: a unique figure during an extraordinary time
Read my lips: Why did Rajoy break one of his few campaign promises?
“My intention is not to raise taxes.” It’s a line that Mariano Rajoy’s critics will repeat back at him for years to come. Much like George H. W. Bush’s infamous “Read my lips: no new taxes”, Rajoy’s pledge, made on December 19, during the debate ahead of his investiture as Spain’s new prime minister, has proved to be empty. Unlike Bush, Rajoy has not resisted or dragged his feet in performing a spectacular U-turn on this issue. Eleven days after saying he wouldn’t raise taxes, his deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, announced tax increases that will bring in an extra €6 billion this year. As Spaniards digest the implications of the new Popular Party government’s … [Read more...] about Read my lips: Why did Rajoy break one of his few campaign promises?
Spain’s Socialists don’t know where to turn
A new Spanish government takes office and the year comes to a close, but the end is still not in sight for the existential crisis that the country's Socialist Party (PSOE) is suffering. It's a crisis that one way or another, the PSOE has been going through for about 12 months, ever since José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero let slip, around Christmas of last year, that he might not be the party's candidate in the next general elections. The frenzy of expectation was only partially dampened when Zapatero confirmed he wouldn't be running, and the debate over who would succeed him gathered steam. The “debate” turned into a swift rubber-stamping of the veteran Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba as the … [Read more...] about Spain’s Socialists don’t know where to turn
María Dolores de Cospedal
Spain may have voted in a new prime minister in 2011, but it’s fair to say that Mariano Rajoy has not been a towering figure on the country’s political landscape. Instead, he let his Socialist rivals’ desperate struggle with the economic crisis do his talking for him. The Popular Party (PP) leader revealed little of his own plans for the Spanish economy, but others in the party were more forthright. Among them was party number two María Dolores de Cospedal. This year saw her step further into the limelight as she overthrew a longstanding Socialist government in Castilla-La Mancha to become the region’s new premier. On taking power there, she swiftly announced heavy, controversial cuts to … [Read more...] about María Dolores de Cospedal