Astute readers may have noticed the lack of updates on the site in recent weeks. This was not only due to the summer lull, but also to the fact that we have been considering Iberosphere’s future. And as a result, we have decided to close the project down; the website will still exist and articles will still be available to read, but no new material will be posted on it. There are several reasons for this decision, but the main one is the time and energy the site requires, in order for it to keep growing. With other journalism-related commitments, it is increasingly difficult for us to keep Iberosphere going at the rate we would like. So for now, at least, it’s farewell. We would like … [Read more...] about The End
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Spain ahead of the US in bankers’ prosecution
Spain has prosecuted more bankers, imposed more restrictions on their “golden parachutes” and seems to have hit failing institutions with higher fines for misleading investors than the United States since the outset of the financial crisis. Although Miguel Blesa, the former president of Caja Madrid, which was later merged into Bankia, was released from prison without charge last week, 89 of his colleagues were awaiting sentence for alleged wrongdoing during their tenures at the helms of nine savings banks. Meanwhile, in the United States the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has filed fewer than 50 lawsuits against officers and directors of failed institutions since 2010 and none … [Read more...] about Spain ahead of the US in bankers’ prosecution
Schrödinger’s Catalonia
“The rushing Pequod, freighted with savages, laden with fire, […] seemed the material counterpart of her monomaniac commander's soul.” (Herman Melville, 'Moby Dick', 1851) ”We want the great majority of the people of Catalonia to embark with us on this voyage to Ithaca.” (Artur Mas, March 24, 2012) What does Catalan premier Artur Mas really want? Is it a fiscal pact with Madrid that leaves this region in control of its own taxation system? Or is it independence, the threat of which he is using to try to wrestle the fiscal pact from the central government? It is as if his real intentions were inside a closed box. The uncertainty he fosters allows for all kinds of … [Read more...] about Schrödinger’s Catalonia
“Our forgotten Spanish reality…”
It’s not often that I’d applaud the broad array of opinions published in El Mundo newspaper. During the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, its op-eds ranged, utterly predictably, from anti-Zapatero to rabidly anti-Zapatero. But with a Partido Popular government, things seem to be getting more interesting, especially given that while El Mundo has supported the cause of Spain’s conservatives, it has not been a consistent cheerleader for Mariano Rajoy himself. So it was fascinating to see just a couple of the opinions published by the paper in the wake of the announcement of Spain’s financial bailout. The general consensus in Spain is that Rajoy committed a major error by not … [Read more...] about “Our forgotten Spanish reality…”
Rosales paints a masterpiece of family grief
Fresh from its premier in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar at this year’s rain-soaked Cannes, Sueño y silencio was originally going to be a very different film. Or rather, a very traditional one. Catalan filmmaker Jaime Rosales planned to shoot in colour, with professional actors and a conventional script. But as he prepared the film, all that fell away, leaving us with grungy, grainy black and white, non-actors, no script and a series of fragmentary scenes that sketch out, with aching and rare authenticity, a family in terrible crisis. Oriol, an architect, and his wife Yolanda, a Spanish teacher, live in Paris with their two daughters. Their lives are comfortable and unremarkable. In … [Read more...] about Rosales paints a masterpiece of family grief
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
Iranian odd couple claimed nuclear program insider knowledge
In early May 2009, an Iranian couple telephoned the US Consulate in Barcelona requesting to go to the United States as refugees because they feared for their lives. The husband and wife told diplomats that because they both worked as doctors, they had extensive knowledge of Iran’s nuclear program but the US officials informed Washington that they doubted their story. This episode is detailed in a May 19, 2009 classified cable written by Todd D. Robinson, the principal officer at the US Consulate, and released by Wikileaks. "The couple, who claim to have information on Iran's terrorist activities, say they've been in Spain since March and believe their lives are threatened by Iran," … [Read more...] about Iranian odd couple claimed nuclear program insider knowledge
Spanish air base layoff plan a PR nightmare for Washington
In 2009, US diplomats in Madrid warned Washington that planned civilian defence job cutbacks at US military bases in Morón de la Frontera and Rota could put Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero “in an extremely difficult position” and would become a public relations fiasco for the United States because some politicians would “insist that Zapatero retaliate for the ‘insult.’” The summation made by William H. Duncan, who at the time was the US Embassy’s political counsellor, was part of an effort to get his State Department superiors to convince Pentagon officials not to go ahead with the planned layoffs at these two Spanish air and naval bases. “The principal … [Read more...] about Spanish air base layoff plan a PR nightmare for Washington
Friendship with Chávez “a necessary evil” for Portugal’s Sócrates
Former Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates found himself in a diplomatic quandary when Washington started pressuring him to take a tougher line on Hugo Chávez when the Venezuelan leader visited Lisbon. A series of US embassy cables from 2006 released recently by Wikileaks show how the US government had pushed the Sócrates government on numerous occasions to be more vocal over Chávez’s human rights record. But US diplomats in Lisbon expressed their frustration over Portugal’s hesitancy to take a lead in diplomatic initiatives against the Chávez government because the Sócrates government feared repercussions against the large Portuguese community in Venezuela. Sócrates saw Chávez’s … [Read more...] about Friendship with Chávez “a necessary evil” for Portugal’s Sócrates
How Sarkozy “turned Andorran politics upside down”
In 2009, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was responsible, according to the United States, for forcing the head of the Andorran government to give up a reelection bid, having issued a bitter public warning to the tiny Pyrenean principality’s leader about banking reform. The French leader's anger essentially helped the opposition take control of the government, the US believed. Explanations of what Sarkozy said and why he claimed he was “enraged” by the Andorrans are contained in a confidential cable from the US Consulate in Barcelona released earlier this month by the Wikileaks whistleblower site. Sarkozy had accused Andorra of slowing down a modification to the principality’s bank … [Read more...] about How Sarkozy “turned Andorran politics upside down”