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"
SPANISH POLITICAL LEADERS CRUCIAL TO EU DIPLOMACY, TWO-PART SERIES: (2) Josep Borrell »
As the crisis advances, the risk is clear: encouraged by the Russian propaganda apparatus, many could be tempted to blame Europeans and the West for the catastrophic situation rather than the war of aggression led by Vladimir Putin. This is wrong. . . We should avoid false solutions, help stimulate local production in emerging and developing countries, instead, rather than dumping in-kind donations of food with adverse developmental effects.
LABOR REFORM IN SPAIN: TO ERR IS DIVINE? »
Before the landmark Labor Reform was put to vote, the minority PSOE-Podemos coalition government reckoned it could count on the slimmest of cross-party support. Among the parties that promised to back the Decree was the Unión del Pueblo Navarro. However, on the fateful day two of its deputies broke party discipline and voted to shoot down the Reform. Bitter defeat stared the shellshocked Government in the face. That is until PP’s Alberto Casero sent in his telematics vote supporting the Reform – by mistake!
ELECTION RESULTS IN MADRID: VICTORY TO THE RIGHT, DEBACLE TO THE LEFT, ABSOLUTE DISASTER AT THE CENTER »
Resounding victory for the conservative party, Partido Popular, with the now indisputable leadership of Isabel Diaz Ayuso in the region. Unmitigated debacle for the socialist PSOE and the far-left Unidas Podemos. The pitiable disappearance of the center-right Ciudadanos from the regional Assembly
THE KING WHO’S STUCK IN THE ORIENT »
King Juan Carlos, the father of the reigning King of Spain, Felipe VI, isn’t coming – can´t come – home for Christmas much as he wants to. Hard on the heels of headline-grabbing scandals, he has self-exiled in the United Arab Emirates since last summer. And now neither King Felipe nor Pedro Sanchez, President of Spain, feels comfortable having the octogenarian "King Emeritus" back. He used to be hero-worshipped, having engineered the way to a parliamentary monarchy after nearly four decades of the stultifying Franco dictatorship.
SPAIN TAKES A CLOSE LOOK AT THE EU’s “MARSHALL PLAN” AND FINDS IT BRILLIANT! »
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez: The Agreement in Brussels of the Coronavirus Recovery Plan marks “one of the most brilliant pages ever written in EU history.” It is “a historic agreement for the economic recovery of our country [i.e., Spain], not only in offering a response to the COVID-19 crisis, but also to the transformations needed.” The Agreement is 95% satisfactory for Spain and 100% for the whole of the EU.
SURPRISE SURPRISE! THE EMPLOYERS’ CONFEDERATION IS HAPPY ABOUT PAY HIKE! »
Antonio Garamendi, President of the powerful profit-driven Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations, didn’t seem to be even remotely put out by the 5.5% rise in the national minimum wage that the left-leaning Spanish Government has approved on 22 January 2020. But the Government wants another pay hike in 2021 and it looks like beyond a certain red line the business organizations will no longer play along. The era of a progressive government in Spain has started, after years of conservative rule that consigned 13% of the labor force to working poverty. How long will the new era last?
