The former king of Spain, Juan Carlos de Bourbon, is facing growing allegations of corruption from Spanish public prosecutors. The current scandal will have an unprecedented impact on the future of the Spanish monarchy, an opaque institution that has been for many years shielded from public...
The arrival of Podemos and VOX on the Spanish political scene not only meant that voters had new electoral options. It also led to a new, groundbreaking style that was a change from the stereotypical, uncreative and overused rhetoric displayed by other parties for years. With Podemos, a...
Only time will tell if Vox’s rise is borne of disappointment with the country’s political process, or whether there is a real solidarity with the movement’s ideological principles. In recent years, Spain’s political system has gone through a number of convulsions. The traditional...
In this guest edition of The Interview, Silvia Alvarez talks to former Catalan President Artur Mas. With the controversial investiture debate — in which a new pro-independence government headed by Carles Puigdemont will be elected in the Catalan parliament — set to take place, former...
Spain sees Catalonia as a property. The use of direct rule to recover disputed art proves it. The Spanish government has been exercising direct rule over Catalonia since October. This week, Spanish Culture Minister Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, acting as Catalan culture minister, has used his...
The upcoming election marks the next turning point in a constitutional crisis triggered by Madrid’s decision to dissolve the Catalan government. The run-up to the regional election on December 21 is widely seen as a second referendum on Catalan independence, which has fueled continued protests...
When it comes to demagogues and divisiveness, Trump has plenty of competition — in Europe, the Middle East and all over our splintering planet. When the historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., published his bestseller The Disuniting of America in 1991, he didn’t seriously entertain the...
The Catalan president has declared independence from Spain, but the government in Madrid has ruled the move illegal. On October 1, Catalonia held a referendum over whether the region should secede from Spain. According to regional authorities, around 90% opted in favor of independence, but only...
Spain's Catalonia region votes for independence this fall. For some, it’s a referendum on austerity policies that have crippled economies all over Europe. When voters in Spain’s Catalan region go to the polls on October 1, much more than independence for the restive province will be at...
The history of Barcelona is permeated with its struggle against fascism. Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but even today it carries the scars of Spanish Civil War — a war that ended more than 70 years ago but still has relevance to our times. The Gothic Quarter is...
