Seventy-four-year-old Colonel Amadeo Martínez Inglés certainly looks every bit the retired military officer as he marches in his uniform towards the little crowd outside the court. But he doesn’t sound like a typical army colonel. “The Third Republic will soon be born in Spain!” he declaims to the applause of his gathered supporters before entering the Audiencia Nacional, the high court that deals with terrorists, international gangsters and drugs traffickers, to face a 15-month prison sentence for his insults against the king. It’s April 2012 and he is accused of “Calumnies and Injuries Against the Crown” under Penal Code Article 490.3, a law which has already been quashed by the … [Read more...] about Life and trials of the rebel colonel
spain
2013: Another rough ride for Spain
Last year presented probably the toughest baptism of fire for any Spanish prime minister since the transition to democracy, but Mariano Rajoy knows that this year will be just as challenging. The big problems facing his government in the coming months are, for the most part, those that dominated 2012: the markets and a pending bailout; rising unemployment; lack of growth; social unrest; and Catalonia’s push for independence. The bailout presents perhaps the most vexing problem for Rajoy, because it demands decisiveness from a notoriously equivocal politician. Although Spain’s borrowing costs have dropped from their alarming levels last summer following Mario Draghi’s assurances … [Read more...] about 2013: Another rough ride for Spain
The argument for Spanish in Catalan schools
Last week offered a highlight in the debate over the law proposed by Education Minister José Ignacio Wert. Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, one of the leaders of the Catalan nationalist CiU bloc, revealed in a speech to the Spanish parliament that in Catalonia, “often the majority language in the schoolyards is not Catalan, it regrettably continues to be Spanish”. How much Spanish would not be cause for regret? Or should no Spanish-speaking children use their native language? In the schoolyard, i.e. during recess. During lessons they already cannot use it, except in Spanish language class. Certainly, there are shades of grey, but this is the overall policy that is being implemented in … [Read more...] about The argument for Spanish in Catalan schools
La Liga: Fallen hero Llorente eyes Bilbao exit
When Athletic Bilbao took to the pitch at the Iberostar Stadium at the weekend, Fernando Llorente was on the bench. It is a place the once-talismanic striker has become accustomed to, as he has been occupying that spot pretty much all season. He wasn’t needed as Aritz Aduriz's 11th-minute header condemned Real Mallorca to defeat – for the ninth time in 11 league games. The visitors went ahead early on at the Iberostar Stadium with their first serious attack as Andoni Iraola – who has returned after missing several weeks through injury – launched a high ball up to the far post, where Aduriz rose to head into the far corner of the goal. However, the visitors had goalkeeper Gorka … [Read more...] about La Liga: Fallen hero Llorente eyes Bilbao exit
The ‘Spanishization’ crusade of José Ignacio Wert
If we take a quick look around Spain today we see a number of issues that are clearly in need of urgent action: the judicial system is facing the rebellion of judges who are sick of the political manipulation of justice; thousands of tax-dodgers enjoy the protection of the state while tax-haven whistleblower Hervé Falciani languishes in a Spanish prison; the police are exposed as criminally complicit in a number of cases of financial scandal and political dirty tricks, as well as grossly incompetent in investigating serious crimes; the wave of suicides caused by mortgage repossession continues unabated; and leading figures from all political parties and even the royal family are on trial as … [Read more...] about The ‘Spanishization’ crusade of José Ignacio Wert
Businessman’s arrest highlights Spanish corporate failings
The arrest of the former head of Spain’s employers’ association should come as a shock. Sadly, it is more likely to be interpreted by the international community as yet another indication of the many deep-rooted and extensive problems that afflict this country, the most important of which is a lack of transparency in politics and business, along with a failure to implement corporate governance practices. Anybody with a passing interest in the business dealings of Gerardo Díaz Ferrán will not be surprised to learn that on top of all the other charges he faces, he has now been accused of fraudulent conveyance and money laundering relating to the sale of the Viajes Marsans travel group in … [Read more...] about Businessman’s arrest highlights Spanish corporate failings
Choosing the Iberians of 2012
Picking a person of the year is difficult enough in times of economic calm and social stability, but in times of crisis it’s arguably harder. When the economy is struggling and leaders are held in low esteem, it’s hard to find individuals whose achievements make them stand out, for better or worse. So inevitably, the shortlist of Iberians of 2012 that managing editor Andrew Eatwell and I have drawn up has been dominated by the crisis that the peninsula – in particular the Spanish side of it – is suffering. There’s always a risk that calling those nominated the “people of the year” glorifies them, or at least suggests they are being cast in a positive light. But our nominees are not … [Read more...] about Choosing the Iberians of 2012
Iberian of the Year 2012: Artur Mas
For most of 2012, Catalonia was just one of many political concerns in the wing mirror of the Spanish government. The region’s premier, Artur Mas i Gavarró, had been pressing for increased economic powers for some time, arguing that Catalonia did not receive enough investment from the Spanish state in exchange for the taxes it paid. For the government in Madrid, this was nothing new or particularly worrying. But on September 11, as Catalonia celebrated its national day, the Diada, hundreds of thousands of people marched through the streets of Barcelona, behind a banner calling for independence for the region. This outpouring of separatist feeling surprised the world – and the rest of … [Read more...] about Iberian of the Year 2012: Artur Mas
King Juan Carlos
2012 was the year that some of Spain’s most revered and powerful institutions lost their aura. Crisis hit the country’s banking sector, once seen as among the strongest in the world and the already unpopular judiciary was further discredited by a scandal affecting the president of the Supreme Court, Carlos Dívar. Even the royal family could not escape the wave of opprobrium. A scandal linking King Juan Carlos’s son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, to an embezzlement scam dragged on without resolution, at times threatening to sully the name of Princess Cristina. And in April, as Spain’s borrowing costs soared and the economic crisis reached a new peak, it was revealed that Juan Carlos himself had … [Read more...] about King Juan Carlos
Mariano Rajoy
To his supporters he’s calm, considered, strategic and resilient. But to his critics – whose ranks have swelled this year – Spain’s prime minister is hesitant, rigid, poorly advised and uncharismatic. Whatever your view, few will argue that even his previous experience as a government minister and eight years in opposition can have prepared Mariano Rajoy adequately for the torrid 12 months he has just had. Having made few electoral promises other than to fix the economy, his fortunes were always going to mirror those of the country’s credit risk premium and its jobless queue. Both hit dangerously high levels in 2012, belying Rajoy’s apparent belief on taking office that a change of … [Read more...] about Mariano Rajoy