POLITICAL SCIENCE 101: THE GHOSTLY WINNER OF SPAIN’S GENERAL ELECTION »
For weeks now, many in and out of Spain are touting the misconception that the candidate at the top of the list of the party that garnered the largest number of votes “won” the general election. The implication being that, by rights, the top-listed candidate of the “winning” party should be invested President of the Government of Spain. True or false?
MADO ’23, THE BIGGEST OF STREET PARTIES WITH A MISSION »
The fiestas of Madrid Orgullo (Madrid Pride, aka MADO) is – would you believe? -- the biggest Gay Pride festival in Europe. When it comes to partying there are no people quite like the Spanish people and their friends, LGBTIQ+ and all else. Come on over and join the most colorful (Rainnbow colors!) event of the year!
SUNDAY, GRIM SUNDAY »
The leftist parties suffered a debacle in the recent local elections thay they were not prepared for. The elections were a dress rehearsal for the upcoming parliamentary elections which were advanced by President Pedro Sanchez to 23 July of this year and from which a new President of the Government will emerge. As such, it's not quite likely that the "pregressives" could rise from their ashes even when that second defeat could mean the dismatling of Spain's welfars state.
HOW NOT TO BE A DUCHESS FOR LONG: Perpetual Nobles Wiped Out in One Fell Swoop »
"The perpetuity of the Spanish nobility is no empty phrase but it could become meaningless when the title that has been created and granted by a fascist is on a collision course with a legitimate government bent on righting a historic wrong"
HISTORIC DROP IN UNEMPLOYMENT: FAKE NEWS? »
The Government of Spain's good news: Unemployment, which stood at 14.1 % in November 2021, with youth unemployment at a staggering 29.5%, dropped from its 15-year perch of plus-three million jobless to 2.92 million in May 2022. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Labor Minister Yolanda Diaz are elated about the startling phenomenon. Opposition leader Alberto Nuñez Feijóo has accused the Government of massaging the figures.
WHERE TO, SPAIN? Is the Country Headed for New Elections? »
Uncertainty assails Spain these days. It is possible that a new parliamentary election will be held before the year is out because of the deadlock in investing the President of the Government. I asked a dozen young Spaniards in Puerta del Sol about it and ALL of them said there's going to be an election indeed. Surprisingly, most of them also think it's a good thing.
THE BATTLE OF THE BAD AIR IN MADRID »
One of the very first things Madrid's new rightwing government has done was to impose a moratorium on the fines on unauthorized vehicles that enter Madrid Central, thereby allowing that low-emissions area to revert to the free-for-all area it used to be. Fortunately, last week the court stepped in and suspended the moratorium as a precautionary measure. The court ruling will remain in force until a new decision is made. What will the fate of Madrid Central be?
HOW THE GOOD OLD SPANISH TWO-PARTY SYSTEM GOT CLOBBERED »
In just a decade, the predictable two-party environment in Spain fractured into a wide breadth of parties and ideologies and may never revert to the what-had-once-been. This will certainly make for a more chaotic system, but a more interesting one as well.
SPAIN IS HEADED FOR AN ACRIMONIOUS SNAP ELECTION. CLASHES! »
Following the rejection by the Parliament of the national budget for 2019 proposed by the socialiat government of Pedro Sanchez, the President called snap election on 28 April. Hot on the campaign trail already, the leftist parties inisist on "dialogue" with separatist Catalonia as the only "commonsensical" solution to the escalating Catalan secessionism while the conservatives vow to "defend Spain from its enemies" by implementing indefinitely the harsh Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. On another plane, the left vows to recover the debilitated welfare state system while the right seeks to implement a liberal economic model.
