Fernando González Urbaneja | The partiality of the so-called “mainstream media” when it comes to reporting (not giving opinions or editorialising) on the twists and turns and the ups and downs of political parties is disturbing. They have even lost the appearance of neutrality in their reporting in favour of a tiresome, one-sided view that goes so far as to distort the facts and even invent tensions. Thus, they are…
J.P. Marín-Arrese | The ruling coalition in Spain faces a dim prospect in the coming elections next year. According to the polls, the main Opposition party, bolstered by its new leadership, is poised to snatch a comfortable victory. It seems even close to securing an overall majority, counting on a helping hand from the extreme right and some minor partners. To ward off the danger of a crushing defeat, the…
Fernando Gonzalez Urbaneja | I don’t want to assign the role of Richard III in the Spanish political drama, but the main contenders, Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, although with different intensity, are doomed to opt for whatever it takes to succeed and fail, like Richard III. The recent debate (combat) in the Senate between the two politicians with pretensions to rent La Moncloa showed desperation, obsession, determination to…
“Sánchez is capable of competing with Johnson in his race of compulsive liars” says the former editor of El País. Hours before the debate on the State of the Nation begins in the Spanish Parliament, Juan Luis Cebrián, the former first editor of the well-known “government newspaper” – El País – has published a very harsh article (“Las cenizas de la Nación”). In it he points out, for example, that…
The capacity of some political leaders to “ride contradictions” (Pablo Iglesias dixit) knows no limits: Yolanda Díaz, second vice-president of the Government, Minister of Labour, the designated successor of Pablo Iglesias at the head of the Spanish extreme left, presents tomorrow Sumar, her new political platform. And for the presentation she asks the leaders of the political left – including her colleagues in Unidas Podemos – not to attend the…
Fernando González Urbaneja | There is an abundance of modern, current literature on how democracies die; it is a subject that interests academics who theorise on the subject and retired politicians who use their heads to think and review what they have experienced and suffered. In almost all these works there are two indicators that do not fail. Firstly the practice of destroying adversaries turned enemies, and secondly the discrediting…
Fernando González Urbaneja | Odón Elorza, socialist deputy and professional politician (councillor at the age of 24 and later mayor and deputy) gave his opinion on the unsuitability of one of the candidates for the Constitutional Court before the congressional appointments committee. An opinion that is quite widespread in public opinion; for example, in almost all national newspapers. What Mr Elorza maintains is well-founded, he says what he thinks and,…
Joan Tapia (Barcelona) | The crisis caused by the coronavirus, which has been going on for more than a year now, is far from being overcome. But perhaps the worst thing is that a latent pessimism – unjustified but real – all too often obscures data and realities that lean towards a cautious and reasoned optimism. If we add to this the political turmoil, we find ourselves – more so in Spain, but not only here – faced with an extreme confusion that alters reality.
The King Emeritus of Spain—Juan Carlos I— is leaving the country to live in another, unspecified, country amid a financial scandal. Juan Carlos has communicated his decision to his son Felipe VI through a letter that was made official by the Royal House. In spite of Juan Carlos I ‘s alleged financial irregularities, all the Spanish media have acknowledge the historic importance of the 82-year-old former king.
A.J.A. | President Sánchez has no achievements to show, and by embracing Iglesias and his Bolivarians he has moved to the European extreme left. To try to forge consensus and pacts from there, from political positions that have shown time and time again where they lead (Cuba, Venezuela, the USSR… with economies razed to the ground and people in extreme poverty while their leaders live in dachas), does not seem reasonable. Here, Iglesias and his wife, the Minister for Equality, have already got their dacha. And Spain, without a doubt, is going to be devastated… But, on top of that, do we now have to get behind the Government and push? Better try to sleep. It’s not easy to dream a worse nightmare.