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
spanish politics
A short honeymoon for Spain’s Rajoy
When Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría announced the new Spanish government’s battery of cuts worth €8.9 million plus tax increases, there were plenty of questions in the air. Why such heavy cuts? How will the new tax increases work? Will there be more cuts? The deputy prime minister’s answer to the first query was that the cuts are extreme because the 2011 deficit is 8 percent of GDP, rather than the 6 percent the outgoing Socialists had estimated. Public Administrations Minister Cristóbal Montoro offered detail about the tax rises. And the fact that the 2012 budget has yet to be presented means yes, there will be more austerity measures later in the year, although … [Read more...] about A short honeymoon for Spain’s Rajoy
The Basque radical left
ETA probably hasn’t been as prominent this year as it might have hoped. The political mainstream and many Spaniards received the armed Basque seperatist group's January announcement of a “permanent and general” ceasefire with suspicion and a shrug. What people wanted to hear from the Basque terrorist organisation was a clear decision to end its four-decade campaign of violence. Eventually that also came, in October, to a mostly warm welcome. But ETA itself has been a weak, clumsy figure in recent months and much of the credit for its shift away from violence must go to its traditional political support, the izquierda abertzale. These Basque radical nationalists understood that terror was a … [Read more...] about The Basque radical left
Spain’s ‘indignados’
[sharethis] Last May, as the campaign for Spain’s local elections got underway, it looked like business as usual. Neither of the two main political parties was managing to inspire voters with hope or ideas as the country’s jobless line grew and the economic crisis deepened. But on May 15, the Sunday before the elections, a group of well-organised, mainly young, activists gathered in Madrid and marched to the central square of Puerta del Sol. They set up a makeshift campsite, declared the Spanish political system unrepresentative and obsolete, and within days their support had snowballed across the country and the eyes of the world were on them. Six months on, los indignados, or the … [Read more...] about Spain’s ‘indignados’
Spain wrestles with Franco’s resting place
When friends or family come to Spain to visit and ask me to name the sites they should see in and around Madrid, they’re always surprised when I put a monument to fascism near the top of the list. But there’s no denying it, El Valle de los Caídos, or the Valley of the Fallen, the resting place of dictator Francisco Franco, is an awe-inspiring place. You can see it from miles away, a 150-meter-high stone cross – one of the world’s largest – rising up out of a rocky hillside north of the capital. Beneath the cross a huge esplanade gives a view over a strangely peaceful, wooded valley. Go on a clear day and the blue sky is a breathtaking backdrop to the scene. Go there in rain or sleet and … [Read more...] about Spain wrestles with Franco’s resting place
Rajoy must take reins swiftly to avoid economic chaos
Mariano Rajoy’s resounding election win has redrawn Spain’s political map and put his Popular Party (PP) firmly in control of the country after seven-and-a-half years of Socialist government. He could hardly face a more difficult task on being voted prime minister. In the days leading up to the election, Spain’s economy was being battered by the markets, with its bond prices close to those of beleaguered Italy. Italy hopes it has just overcome its own political upheaval; Spain’s situation is less clear-cut. Spanish law dictates a lengthy hiatus between a prime minister’s election win and his instatement. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s successor as prime minister was not due to be sworn … [Read more...] about Rajoy must take reins swiftly to avoid economic chaos
The solution to the Catalan problem?
Catalan separatism has two anchor points, the traditional one is of a cultural nature (with the Catalan language at its core), the other one, of more recent creation and which has built up a new group of pragmatic followers making inroads even among Spanish speakers, is based on money: the fiscal deficit of Catalonia with the central state has over the past year or so evolved into the main argument for secession. This makes one feel that to get rid of the problem of Catalan separatism, Madrid only has to throw money at the region. And that it had better do, because this new group has the potential to grow into a serious problem, unlike the ethnocentrists, whose numbers remain basically … [Read more...] about The solution to the Catalan problem?
Rajoy vs The Washington Post
Maybe it’s because of the condensed format, maybe because he was talking to a non-Spanish newspaper, or perhaps he was just in a particularly open mood, but Mariano Rajoy’s interview with the The Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth seemed unusually revealing. The Popular Party leader, now three weeks away from an apparently certain general election victory, was hardly expansive, but some of his answers were relatively bold for a politician who has made hiding his hand something of an art form. When asked whether he would go beyond Zapatero’s spending cuts, Rajoy is quite forthright: Yes, there is no other way out. I am in favor of reducing all budget items. But the item I don’t want to … [Read more...] about Rajoy vs The Washington Post
How history will judge Zapatero
Jordi Sevilla, a former minister in the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, recalls how his then boss once told him about a massage he had enjoyed a few days after becoming prime minister. “The masseur was amazed at how little tension he had,” Sevilla said. “This guy had spent a week in La Moncloa (the prime minister’s residence) and that’s enough to leave anyone completely spent!” The anecdote, recounted to writer José García Abad, reflects a couple of popular, not entirely accurate, perceptions about Zapatero: that he is a detached, even cold politician, whose meteoric career has been driven purely by calculation; also that he is a featherweight who doesn’t understand the … [Read more...] about How history will judge Zapatero
Flamenco, Aznar and good behaviour: Gaddafi’s Spanish visit
When Moammar Gaddafi made a visit to Spain at the end of 2007, the Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero faced fierce criticism from various groups for not taking a tough stance against the Libyan leader’s human rights record. Following Gaddafi’s controversial visit that year from December 15-18, the US Embassy gave Washington a full report of the Libyan strongman’s activities in Spain, including details of his eccentricities. Gaddafi arrived with a huge entourage, including a motorcade of over 50 vehicles and his own butchers, and staked his tents on the grounds of his accommodations – all in preparation to sign a string of lucrative economic deals with the Socialist … [Read more...] about Flamenco, Aznar and good behaviour: Gaddafi’s Spanish visit