A freelance journalist, Mark wrote for Spear's magazine and the New Statesman in London before relocating to Spain. In addition to his weekly finance column and features for SUR in English, he also writes on Spanish politics for The Spectator.
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Opinion
"Corruption is in the air, everywhere I look around," goes the famous song. This week, Berlin-based Transparency International released their 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), ranking Spain 32nd with a score of 62, 100 being squeaky clean. Duri
Opinion
"A government that includes [Podemos leader Pablo] Iglesias would not work, it would be paralysed." So said Socialist leader and soon-to-be prime minister Pedro Sánchez in a TV interview in July 2019, as his party cast around for a partner with which
Opinion
There was no clear winner in last Sunday's Catalan election, but there was a notable loser - centrist Ciudadanos. Formerly a dynamic alternative to right-of-centre voters done with a broken, unrepentant Popular Party, Ciudadanos has been slowly but s
Opinion
Bringing a welcome change from endless, repetitive Covid headlines, the Luis Bárcenas trial kicked off in Spain's High Court on Monday. As yet, there's no proof to support the former Popular Party (PP) treasurer's claim that its then-leader and prime
Opinion
Campaigning for the 14 February Catalan elections began on a predictable note last week, with secessionists reaffirming their intention to split from the rest of Spain. Laura Borràs, the candidate for the pro-independence party Junts per Catalunya (T
Opinion
So, former Health minister Salvador Illa is headed for a new challenge. This dour, bespectacled man, star of some of the most boring press conferences ever given, is to run as the Socialist candidate in the upcoming Catalan elections, due to be held
Opinion
The testimony given in a London courtroom this week by Corinna Larsen - emeritus king Juan Carlos's former lover - isn't new. It was in an expansive interview with the BBC last August, granted just after Juan Carlos fled Spain amid fraud allegations,
Opinion
Here's a typical sentence on Covid and Spain's economy, taken from a Reuter's report published last week: commenting on the year-on-year 22% rise in unemployment seen last December, the news outlet said that the "brutal economic contraction induced b
Opinion
It's become trendy to support Catalan independence, as was shown by a manifesto released this week by separatist civic group Omnium Cultural. Calling for renewed dialogue between Madrid and the region's pro-independence government, it carries the sig
Opinion
A feeding frenzy has begun for the EU's "Next Generation" recovery funds, with several top Spanish companies pitching for their share of the post-Covid bonanza. It's heady stuff, with CEOs breathlessly talking of Spain becoming the digital "Heathrow
Opinion
This week, Spain's King emeritus, Juan Carlos, paid almost EUR680,000 in back taxes - a hefty settlement that in no way implies that he's guilty of the more serious fraud charges pending against him. It does, however, make one wonder why the once-belov
Opinion
Living as we are with inconvenient and, in many cases, completely unjustified, travel restrictions, it was heartening to hear economy minister Nadia Calviño announcing on Wednesday that there's "good news" to celebrate. Calviño was referring to Spain
Opinion
The pro-independence Catalan Republican Left (ERC) has become steadily more confident over the last two years, using its small but pivotal presence in parliament to pin Pedro Sánchez to the wall. This week, the ERC made its most audacious demands of
Opinion
Brussels tentatively approved Spain's proposed budget for 2021 on Wednesday, but Pedro Sánchez's toughest test is yet to come - namely, pushing it through a lower house of MPs in which his Socialist party and their leftist partner Podemos lack a majo
Opinion
The bizarre "anti-disinformation" initiative unveiled by the Spanish government this week is ostensibly intended to protect the population from foreign interference in election campaigns. If that is indeed the actual justification of the "Procedure f
Opinion
It would appear that Spain's royal family has experienced hard times over recent years, with the emergence this week of yet another fraud investigation into emeritus king Juan Carlos. This one, which is now in the hands of a prosecutor at the Supreme
Opinion
Pedro Sánchez's attempt to push a 2021 budget through parliament next month will be a severe test of his government's legitimacy and efficacy. Worryingly, though, the Socialist leader appears to think that the damage caused by his management of Covid
Opinion
Predictably, the no-confidence motion brought by Vox against Spain's Socialist-led minority government this week degenerated into name-calling and finger-pointing, in which each side labelled the other as "totalitarian", amongst many other savage epi
Opinion
Spain's Supreme Court this week maintained the High Court's 2018 decision in the so-called Gürtel case, showing no leniency towards the masterminds of one of the biggest corruption scandals in Spanish history. In upholding the fraud convictions again
Opinion
In a speech to business and union leaders on Wednesday, Pedro Sánchez belatedly rolled out a spending blueprint for the next three years, in part designed to reassure the EU that the EUR140 billion of recovery funds that it's sending to Spain will be u
Opinion
This week saw former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato acquitted of one of his several alleged financial misdemeanours. The criminal division of Spain's High Court ruled that Rato - who served as Spain's Economy minister between 1996 and 2004, in the conservati
Opinion
The newly-updated statistics for Spain's GDP performance in the second quarter of this year reveal that things weren't quite as bad as some thought. According to the National Statistics Institute, the country's economy contracted by 17.8% between Apr
Opinion
In a gloomy press conference on Wednesday, the Bank of Spain lowered the already-low expectations about the pace of Spain's economic recovery from Covid, on the back of a disappointing third quarter. The predictions for post-Covid GDP contraction, un
Opinion
It's not just Covid-19 that's stalling progress in Spain: festering rivalries between the country's two main parties are also responsible for the ongoing political freeze. The mutual animosity between the governing Socialists and the conservative Pop
Opinion
Spain's Socialist government is right to stick to its decision, made after the state of alarm ended in June, to hand control of the new wave of Covid outbreaks to regional governments. The point now up for debate is whether Pedro Sanchez's coalition
Opinion
I come bearing good news: Spain's economy is already recovering from Covid! I know you're probably thinking that most of the available evidence points to the contrary, but it really is true, because Economy minister Nadia Calviño said so in a TV inte
Opinion
There were more negative developments for the Spanish tourism and catering industries this week, with the announcement of some of the most bizarre "safety measures" yet seen - namely, the smoking ban in public that has been adopted by regions such as
Opinion
Podemos, the coalition government's junior partner, is going through a rough patch. This week, a Madrid judge ordered several of its senior members to appear in court for questioning, in response to allegations of financial wrongdoings made by one of
Opinion
Did Pedro Sánchez make the right choice in locking down Spain to the extent that he did? It's likely to be some time before we can answer that question with any certitude, even after it emerged this week that between April and June, the country's eco
Opinion
The cancellation of Andalucía's fairs this summer reveals some glaring, caseta-sized inconsistencies in Covid-containment regulations, especially when it comes to public sanitation. Not one authority figure, you'll notice, justified cancelling a feri
Opinion
This week's congressional get-together drew attention, once again, to the chasm that separates Spain's main political parties. Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez repeated his call for unity to help the country recover from Covid-19, holding up recent EU
Opinion
Early this week, when it emerged that Spain will receive the second largest amount of Covid recovery funds in the EU (after Italy), there was cause only for a mini celebration. Firstly, in the role of grateful recipient, the country's Socialist gover
Opinion
The presidency of the Eurogroup - a body made up of EU members that use the single currency - has been given to a politician who most people have probably never heard of: Paschal Donohoe. Despite being the favourite for the position, Spain's Economy
Opinion
Where would Pedro Sánchez's minority government be without Royal Decrees? These allow Spain's administration to pass legislation without having to gain, at least initially, the support of other parties in Congress. One of the most recent of these Dec
Opinion
Socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez wants everyone to love his government, to see it as a modern, huggy coalition as unlike the austere, corrupt old Conservatives as possible. This is why he's trying so hard to avoid using the word "austerity", a
Opinion
Charges of lack of patriotism are suddenly flying around the Spanish parliament, as the country's leading politicians argue about the conditions on which Spain should receive EU grants to help it tackle Covid-19. Which member states receive how much
Opinion
This week saw some big numbers being thrown around by the Spanish government. Prime minister Pedro Sánchez announced that his leftist coalition plans public investment of EUR150 billion throughout 2021 and 2022, a level of spending that heavily depends
Opinion
The Bank of Spain has once again tweaked its prediction of the impact that Covid-19 will have on the Spanish economy, setting the projected range of GDP contraction for this year between 9% and 11.6% (a reduction from its previous projection of betwe
Opinion
This week saw the release of a statistic that dramatically reveals how the Covid-19 pandemic has already left an indelible mark on this year, as well as hinting at its possible medium-term economic effects. According to the National Statistics Instit
Opinion
Is protecting or augmenting workers' rights compatible with returning Spain's economy to health in the wake of the Covid-19 (C19) crisis? That's the key question posed by the Spanish government's most recent pledge - namely, to enact the "complete de
Opinion
The Spanish government's ambitious and expensive welfare plans will have to be put on hold, possibly abandoned, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. That was one of the underlying messages conveyed by Bank of Spain governor Pablo Hernández de Cos in
Opinion
The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed how deep Spain's political divides are, with aggressive mudslinging once again characterising the weekly congressional session on Wednesday. Vox, especially, sees the enemy it wants to see in Pedro Sánchez's minorit
Opinion
One of the biggest challenges faced by Pedro Sánchez's government over the coming weeks is restarting Spain's hospitality sector - the engine of the Spanish economy, accounting for 12% of the country's GDP - while also preventing another surge in cas
Opinion
This week, Spain's economy minister Nadia Calviño highlighted something that the EU has always struggled with when handing out aid packages, providing loans or setting fiscal targets for its member states. "It cannot be that some countries are able t
Opinion
The weekly congressional debate on Wednesday was an exasperating but all-too-familiar affair. As represented by the Popular Party (PP) and Vox, the Spanish right revelled in the kind of pointlessly antagonistic, tribal behaviour that has caused so ma
Opinion
I might be perceived as backtracking in this column. In my defence, though, everyone is working things out as they go when it comes to this pandemic, even (or "especially") governments. So you'll forgive me, I hope, when I slightly modify the line th
Opinion
With at least another week to go before lockdown is lifted in Spain, there's insufficient proof that the reduction of citizens' freedoms imposed by the government is slowing the spread of Covid-19 (CV-19). Despite severe restrictions on movement that
Opinion
In a speech on Monday, prime minister Pedro Sánchez implied that it would be irrational for Brussels to refuse his requests for aid in dealing with the economic impact of Covid-19. The Socialist leader has a point: what does the EU think it's for if
Opinion
On Tuesday, prime minister Pedro Sánchez announced that his government will provide an aid package of EUR200 billion to deal with the Covid-19 (C19) outbreak in Spain. The next day, during a subdued parliamentary session attended by just a few MPs, the
Opinion
Inés Arrimadas faces a choice. Does the newly-elected president of centrist Ciudadanos take the party further to the right, thus continuing a transition that began under her predecessor Albert Rivera? Or should she re-establish Ciudadanos' centrist,
Opinion
Pedro Sánchez's fledgling coalition made a step in the right direction last week, managing to secure parliamentary approval for key fiscal plans. In a vote on 27 February, 168 members of congress voted for and 150 voted against the measures, which pr
Opinion
Spain's new leftist government has made its first amendment to the controversial labour laws introduced by Mariano Rajoy in 2012. Announced by labour minister Yolanda Díaz this week, the reform will make it less easy for companies to fire workers for
Opinion
This week saw Spain's economy minister Nadia Calviño trying to reassure investors and executives, many of whom are concerned about her Socialist party's power-sharing arrangement with anti-establishment Podemos. In an interview with the Financial Tim
Opinion
Increasing, or at least maintaining, Spain's productivity and competitiveness is one challenge faced by the country's new leftist government. But even more important for the untested team comprised of Pedro Sánchez's Socialists and Pablo Iglesias' Po
LifeStyle
The 2008-2013 global economic crisis is the focal point of After The Fall, a gripping book released last year by Tobias Buck, the Financial Times' (FT) Madrid correspondent from 2012 to 2017. In elegant, compelling prose, Buck documents the causes
Opinion
Who is the current president of the Catalan government? Up until fairly recently, there was a perfectly clear answer to that question, namely - head of the centre-right 'Together for Catalonia' party (JxCat) Quim Torra. But this week, after the regio
Opinion
Spain's hybrid government has already started splashing the cash, with Socialist premier Pedro Sánchez announcing another hike in the country's minimum wage this week. This is in addition to a 22% increase in the minimum wage made last year, a new
Opinion
It was remarkable to see Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias taking up his seat at the cabinet table as one of Spain's deputy prime ministers this week. Iglesias, who formed the anti-establishment party in 2014 on the back of the "indignados" protests, has
Opinion
Spain finally has a "Frankenstein" government - a minority administration led by the Socialists, supported by leftist Unidas Podemos (UP) and reliant on the votes of smaller separatist parties to pass legislation. The country's political deadlock was
Opinion
This week, Spain's State Attorney recommended the release from prison of the prominent Catalan politician Oriol Junqueras. Junqueras leads the pro-independence ERC, and in October he was sentenced to 13 years behind bars for his role in organising an
Opinion
In this, the last column of 2019, I thought it would be appropriate to look back at the last twelve months as well as looking forward to 2020. What have we learned about Spanish politics this year and what should we expect to happen (or not to happen
Opinion
Finally some sort of progress is being made, with acting prime minister Pedro Sánchez looking anywhere and everywhere in an attempt to form Spain's next government before Christmas - which, assuming a political miracle hasn't occurred by the time you
Opinion
On Wednesday, the King of Spain yet again asked Socialist (PSOE) leader and acting prime minister Pedro Sánchez to try and form the country's next government. Sánchez, as leader of the party that took the most votes on November 10th, is now headed fo
Opinion
Nightmarish though it is for Pedro Sánchez, the ongoing battle with Catalan separatists is distracting public attention from the so-called ERE corruption case, in connection with which José Antonio Griñán, Socialist premier of Andalucía from 2009 to
Opinion
Speaking on Wednesday, European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis revealed what he wants for Christmas - namely, that Spain has a stable government for the start of 2020, specifically one able to pass new budgets. Latvia's former prime min
Opinion
Caretaking Socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez is right back where he didn't want to be - namely, relying on the support of Catalan separatists. It has emerged that the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) - whose leader Oriol Junqueras was sentenced to
Opinion
Is there anyone out there who isn't fed up with the photos of Pedro Sánchez and Pablo Iglesias, standing side-by-side and grinning robotically after signing their governing pact this week? Yes, they're making an effort to resolve the political deadlo
Travel
As a keen cyclist, I'd always been a little sneery about e-bikes, believing that battery-powered ascents are cheating. But on a recent trip to South Tyrol, gliding up and hurtling down hills in the gorgeous Gsies valley, I abandoned that attitude. E-
Opinion
Acting economy minister Nadia Calviño set the world alight last weekend when she told El País that the priority of the next Socialist administration - providing the PSOE can actually form one after the 10 November election - will be pensions' purchas
Opinion
Spain was among several European countries to receive a letter from the EU Commission this week, expressing concerns over how it will manage its public finances next year. The nudge was inevitable, as the acting Socialist government of Pedro Sánchez
Opinion
Now, I'm all for being optimistic. I much prefer optimism, as a guiding principle in life, to pessimism - the grumbling, joyless expectation that the worst will always materialise, that people will always disappoint you. But there's a limit, somewher
Opinion
In a TV interview on Wednesday, acting prime minister Pedro Sánchez promised to have a new budget approved by next March. It's a sensitive issue for the Socialist leader, as Spain's last general election was triggered by his inability to secure appro
Opinion
In Madrid on Monday, acting Socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez presented his party's new slogan ahead of the November 10th general election: "Government Now, Spain Now". Given that Spain's been without a fully-functioning administration since the
Opinion
Last week saw Óscar Arce, director of economics at the Bank of Spain, give a press conference in which he explained some minuscule reductions in his growth forecasts for next year and 2021. In doing so, Arce specified domestic and external threats to
Opinion
Spain is headed for its fourth election in four years, after King Felipe VI declared this week that none of the country's major parties have enough parliamentary sway to form a government. It's not in the least surprising: the last national vote, hel
Opinion
Freshly returned from his summer holiday, acting prime minister Pedro Sánchez is once again trying to woo potential ally Pablo Iglesias, leader of the leftist group Uindas Podemos (UP). As well as unveiling an ambitious 370-point policy plan this wee
Opinion
On Wednesday, Catalonia's annual Diada (national day) saw around 600,000 people take to the streets of Barcelona to show their support for the region's independence movement. That statistic - substantially smaller than in previous years - can be used
Opinion
In the second quarter of this year, Spain's GDP expanded by 0.5% rather than the 0.6% predicted by the Spanish government. Does that depress you? Is your life going to be affected, in any meaningful way, by the fact that the country's economy failed
Opinion
Europe's latest immigration crisis was resolved this week, with the Open Arms rescue boat docking on the Italian island of Lampedusa after twenty days at sea. Italy's public prosecutor, Luigi Patronaggio, finally overrode the country's interior minis
Opinion
I wrote here last week that acting prime minister Pedro Sánchez seemed to be the only Spanish politician willing to work through the summer to resolve Spain's political deadlock. I spoke too soon, because on Saturday the PSOE leader headed to Huelva'
Opinion
Given how quiet everything's gone in Spain over the last week or so, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the country's political deadlock had been broken and a new administration installed. But nothing of the sort has happened. On Monday, acting prim
Opinion
You've got Brexit, and we've got THIS." So said the owner of my local bar last week as he pointed to the TV, which was showing hypnotisingly dull footage of Pedro Sánchez's investiture vote. As each of the 350 deputies rose to say "Yes" or "No", I re
Opinion
We now know that Pablo Iglesias' Unidas Podemos (UP) didn't support Pedro Sánchez's Socialists (the PSOE) in Thursday's second investiture vote. The two party leaders have been trying to form a coalition government ever since April 29th's inconclusiv
Opinion
The esoteric game of musical chairs within EU and international organisations continued this week, with European finance ministers gathering in Brussels to discuss the next head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to the Washington-ba
Opinion
"Spain is back." So said Spain's acting prime minister Pedro Sánchez this week, regarding the prospect of Josep Borrell becoming the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Sánchez had been hoping that the caretaking foreign
Opinion
Political uncertainty continues to reign supreme in Spain, but the economic effects have so far been minimal to non-existent. In fact, so unconcerned is the Bank of Spain about the current - and very familiar - governmental vacuum that it's raised it
Opinion
When the EU removed Spain from its Excessive Debt Procedure (EDP) at the beginning of this month, it thereby deemed the country to be economically sound after a decade of hardship. But Brussels still has a wary eye on what's happening over here, and
Opinion
I recently walked a several hundred-kilometre Camino de Santiago, from Zamora in Castilla y León to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. It was obvious when I crossed over into Galicia, and not just because of the cows and the greenery: I passed throug
Opinion
The recent wealth-mapping of Spain carried out by the country's National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed few surprises: as is normally the case, the most affluent areas are all in or around Madrid and Barcelona, while the poorest are in the south
Opinion
Following his victory in the European elections last Sunday (his second electoral triumph in a month), Pedro Sánchez has set his sights on increasing Spain's influence in Brussels. This has always been one of the Socialist leader's driving aims, but
Opinion
Pedro Sánchez has strengthened his grip on power, upping the Socialist PSOE's number of seats in Congreso from 84 to 123 in last Sunday's general election. It was a deserved win for the PSOE leader, who had vowed to keep far-right newcomer Vox out of
Opinion
According to Popular Party (PP) leader Pablo Casado, Spain's prime minister Pedro Sánchez represents a "public danger" to his country. Ciudadanos' Albert Rivera is in agreement, saying this week that it has become a "national emergency" that Sánchez
Opinion
The Bank of Spain has been trying to predict the effect that the UK's withdrawal from the EU will have on the Spanish economy. Such a task is far from straightforward, not least because it remains uncertain what kind of Brexit, if any, will occur (Th
LifeStyle
The path starts opposite the Día supermarket, on the main drag - an unlikely place to begin walking a section of one of the world's greatest pilgrimages. A newish-looking sign directed me uphill to the edge of the village and within ten minutes I was
Opinion
Vox might be the new kid on the block in Spain, but there's something very familiar about its shameless double-standards. Because the far-right party gained twelve seats in the Andalusian parliament last December, it is now a beneficiary of just unde
Opinion
This week saw Luis Garicano, an economic advisor for Ciudadanos, announcing that the centrist party will impose tighter regulations on corporations if it gains a share of power on April 28th. "We have been very concerned that many sectors in Spain ha
Opinion
With an early general election due in two months' time, Spain's major political parties are reminding voters of what they stand for. Under the leadership of Pablo Casado, the Popular Party (PP) is being especially vocal. Driven by a fear of losing vo
Opinion
The date for Spain's second early general election in five years is now set for April 28th. Despite uncertainty surrounding the result, we can be sure of a couple of things: firstly, that the state of the Spanish economy won't be in the forefront of
Opinion
After the failure of Pedro Sánchez's proposed 2019 budget this week, Spain is heading for an early general election. It will be the third such vote in five years, a period that has been marked by political uncertainty and the increasingly toxic issue
Opinion
Once again, the stubbornness of the Catalan independence movement is on full display. This week, two of the region's separatist groups - the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) - announced that they w
Opinion
The statistics are in and, on the face of it, 2018 was a good year for Spain: the country's economy expanded at a rate of 2.5%, slower than the 3% posted over the last three years but still ahead of the eurozone average. It's a figure that leads us t
Opinion
For the last few years, leftist party Podemos has been a fairly dependable ally of Pedro Sánchez's Socialists. But there are signs that that is changing: it's as if, with regional elections due across Spain this spring, Pablo Iglesias' party wants to
Opinion
There is one glaring similarity between the governments of Spain and the UK at the moment, in that both are having a hard time getting anything done. Theresa May's defeat in the so-called Meaningful Vote on Tuesday was the most emphatic in British pa
Opinion
As the parliamentary vote on Pedro Sánchez's proposed 2019 budget nears (it's likely to happen this month or next), details are emerging about an ambitious project of the prime minister's. Called the "Agenda for Change", the initiative contains a raf
Opinion
Here in Andalucía, the political landscape is undergoing seismic changes. Following the region's elections on 2 December in which the incumbent Socialists (the PSOE) took a heavy hit, Ciudadanos and the Popular Party (PP) made a deal which saw them t
Opinion
As we prepare to enter the "Year of Brexit", it was heartening to hear this week that the Spanish government are being proactive in this respect. Anticipating the worst possible scenario come March 30th - namely, that the UK leaves the EU without an
LifeStyle
English writer and Hispanophile Gerald Brenan moved into the Andalusian village of Yegen in January 1920. Brenan, then 25, had been demobilised from the British Army and had come to Spain searching for a tranquil spot in which to read and write. This
Opinion
This week, Pedro Sánchez confirmed a bumper increase of 22 per cent in Spain's minimum wage from January, from 736 euros per month to 900 euros. It's a proposal made, in part, to please leftist Catalan separatist parties, who say that they won't supp
Opinion
The success of far-right Vox and centre-right Ciudadanos in the Andalusian elections on Sunday has given Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez an idea. Although his party, the Socialist PSOE, has lost control of a region it has dominated for decades,
Opinion
First came a long period of apparent immunity from justice, but now Rodrigo Rato is being held to account. On Monday, the former Spanish economy minister and IMF boss appeared in Spain's High Court in connection with allegations of fraud, falsifying
Opinion
As was inevitable, Spain's proposed 2019 budget has failed its first major test with EU officials. Despite the Socialist government's belief that the spending plan's more relaxed deficit-reduction targets didn't pose a problem, the EU Commission said
Opinion
According to a new survey commissioned by El País newspaper, most Spaniards are expecting another economic crisis within the next five years. The poll revealed that 81.7% of Spanish people believe that Spain will experience another downturn before 20
LifeStyle
We arrive in Malaga during a monsoon. As I hurry, crouched and swearing from the bus station to our meeting point, people take shelter anywhere they can, caught off-guard by the heavy rain. Soon, the central nerve of Alameda Principal is a miniature
Opinion
Spain's Supreme Court can't make up its mind about who should pay a mortgage stamp duty known as the Impuesto sobre Actos Jurídicos Documentados (AJD). In a mid-October ruling that reversed 20 years of jurisprudence, the Court ruled that banks should
Opinion
Spain's "glass-half-full" economy minister Nadia Calviño is convinced that her government's new budget will be passed, despite it needing support from hostile quarters in congress. Speaking to CNBC this week, Calviño breezily declared, "I don't think
Opinion
Pablo Casado, president of Spain's corruption-scarred Popular Party (PP), has made his first attack on the Socialists' proposed 2019 budget. In an interview with the UK's Financial Times this week, the Conservative leader said the spending plan outli
Opinion
Not even the Spanish government works during bank holidays. As we enjoy this "puente", it's likely that the only occupants of Madrid's Palacio de las Cortes are junior politicians desperate to show their dedication - and even then, probably only unti
Opinion
There was welcome and surprising news this week, in that Rodrigo Rato is definitely going to prison. Rato - former Spanish economy minister, deputy prime minister and ex IMF boss - has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years for using "black credit c
LifeStyle
I meet Cristina Expósito in Seville on a sunny September morning, outside the Triana market. It's 10.30am and gearing up to be another hot day; locals bustle in and out of the market, catching up on gossip as they peruse meat, fish and vegetable stor
Opinion
Does anyone care about growth forecasts pertaining to the Spanish economy? There was reason to ask that question once again this week, because the Bank of Spain has lowered its prediction for Spain's GDP expansion in 2018, from 2.7% to 2.6%. Although
Opinion
Spain is holding onto financial whistleblower Hervé Falciani for the time being. When he was arrested by Spanish police in April in Madrid, Falciani faced an extradition request from Swiss authorities on charges of "aggravated financial espionage". A
Opinion
Almost one year after a divisive referendum on Catalan independence, Catalans are once again calling for a split from Spain. On Tuesday, around a million people filled the streets of Barcelona to celebrate "La Diada", the region's commemorative day;
Opinion
Recent terrorist attacks aimed at tourists in Mediterranean destinations are not lingering in holidaymakers' memories, it seems. This July, Spain's foreign visitor levels fell for the first time since 2009, by 4.9%; though hardly enough to dent the c
Opinion
Last Friday, the Socialist government of Pedro Sánchez approved a decree to exhume the remains of Francisco Franco from the controversial mausoleum near Madrid where he is buried. Franco - fascist ruler of Spain from the end of the Civil War in 1939
Opinion
Judging by the reception he received on a visit to Barcelona last Friday, the Spanish king is now the most reviled public figure among Catalan separatists - a position previously occupied by Mariano Rajoy. Felipe VI was in the Catalonian capital to a
Opinion
On Tuesday, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez announced that Spain would take in 60 of the 141 migrants collected by a rescue ship off the Libyan coast last Friday; the remaining passengers will be split between Germany, France, Luxembourg and Por
Opinion
This week saw Pedro Sánchez, Spain's new Socialist prime minister, suffer his first legislative failure in congress - and it'll be the first of many if he doesn't adjust to the deal-based nature of modern Spanish politics. Parliament voted against Sá
Opinion
In his first speech after being elected as PP president last Saturday, Casado showed himself to be concerned with social issues but said hardly anything about economics. This is in marked contrast not just to Rajoy, but also to his opposite number Pe
Opinion
Pedro Sánchez declared in congress on Tuesday that he intends to up pensions, introduce a minimum income for those in low-paid jobs, expand unemployment benefits and employ more public-sector workers. The PSOE leader - basking in the warmth of popula
Opinion
According to Donald Trump, Spain is not spending enough money on defence. The US president wrote to the new Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez this week, informing him that the country needs to up its military budget to 2% of GDP, in accordance wit
Opinion
Spain is losing patience with Theresa May's endless dithering over Brexit, and quite rightly too. Newly-appointed Spanish foreign minister, Josep Borrell, a former president of the EU parliament, announced at the latest EU summit this week that his c
Opinion
Just three weeks into his premiership, Pedro Sánchez is already experiencing the fruitlessly "quid-pro-quo" nature of modern Spanish politics. And unsurprisingly, his first headache is being caused by the fraught issue of regional financing - somethi
Opinion
No one asked for him, but Pedro Sánchez is the new Spanish prime minister. And since he outsted Mariano Rajoy in last Friday's political coup, the 46-year-old has wasted no time in assembling his new cabinet, naming EU high-flyer Nadia Calvino as Spa
Opinion
People don't like their politicians to be comfortable. They don't like [them] to have expenses and they don't like [them] being paid. They'd rather [they] lived in a f***ig cave." These colourfully expressed truths come from the Alastair Campbell-b
Opinion
Over the last few months, the popularity of the Spanish government has been steadily declining, but the most recent test of voters' intentions puts it in third place for the first time. According to a survey conducted by Metroscopia for El País, cent
LifeStyle
I've never been much of a spa person. I get bored very quickly in baths and could always think of a million things I'd rather spend the money on (beer being one of them). But the prospect of visiting a Beer Spa was irresistible, especially one in my
Opinion
It was reputedly Einstein who defined insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results each time - a definition that seems appropriate when applied to the more radical separatists in Catalonia. For the second time since D
Opinion
Partly because of a slight slowdown in Q1 growth, the Spanish government announced this week that the pace of Spain's GDP expansion is going to decrease over the next three years. Year-on-year, the country's economy expanded by 2.9% in the first thre
Opinion
According to the Spanish Civil Guard, even more public money was unlawfully spent on last October's Catalonian independence referendum (1-O) than was at first estimated. Investigators now put the total amount at EUR1.9 million - an increase of EUR300,000
Opinion
Who exactly paid for the independence referendum held in Catalonia on October 1st last year? This was the question raised by Spain's budget minister Cristóbal Montoro in an interview with the Spanish daily El Mundo on Monday. The Popular Party politi
Opinion
Is there no end to the woes of Spain's ruling Popular Party (PP)? It has emerged that Cristina Cifuentes, leader of the conservative PP in Madrid, obtained a master's degree from Rey Juan Carlos University (URCJ) under questionable circumstances. All
Opinion
EU-mad Romano Escolano, Spain's incoming economy minister, is already showing where his priorities lie. Even though his predecessor, Luis de Guindos, does not officially take up his position as vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB) until
Opinion
Spain is throwing its toys out of the pram about Gibraltar again. This Monday, a deal between the EU and the UK concerning the terms of a 21-month transition period was almost agreed upon. But at the time of writing (Thursday morning) the deal has no
Opinion
The precarious status of Mariano Rajoy's minority government was highlighted once again this week. In yet another attempt to pass the 2018 budget, the Spanish prime minister promised his opponents in congress that this year's spending plan could incl
Opinion
This week saw Spain have another crack at regaining some power in Gibraltar, thus making the latest contribution to an argument it's been having with Britain since the early 18th century. Spanish foreign minister Alfonso Dastis told the UK's Financia
Opinion
The inevitable has finally occurred. On Monday, after months of machinations within the EU's most obscure institutions, Spain's economy minister Luis de Guindos was named as the next Vice President of the European Central Bank (ECB). The perpetually
Opinion
Mariano Rajoy's days as prime minister of Spain are, or should be, numbered. That is the conclusion to be drawn from the latest Metroscopia poll for the Spanish daily El País, which revealed that 85% of Spaniards want the Galician old-timer to give s
Opinion
Spain's economy minister is going to be preoccupied over the next few months - but not with the Spanish economy. Or at least not principally with the Spanish economy. After months of elliptical statements and hints, Luis de Guindos finally announced
Opinion
It's hardly been the most auspicious start to 2018. In what is surely a sign of things to come, Mariano Rajoy's minority government is once again having trouble securing approval for this year's budget. If this sounds all-too familiar, it's because l
Opinion
Don't break open the champagne just yet. This week, the credit ratings agency Fitch promoted Spain up one level to its A grade, praising what it called the country's "strong, relatively broad-based, economic recovery". The upward revision constitutes
Opinion
It has long been the Popular Party's (PP) mantra that it is the only competent steward of the Spanish economy, having overseen the country's steady recovery from recession over the last few years (or so it claims). But since last October, that messag
Opinion
Just how concerned is the Spanish government about the potential cost of the Catalonia crisis to the rest of the country? One week it seems to be very worried indeed, yet the next it appears to shrug off the dangers, and nowhere is this more evident
Opinion
Estimates for the potential cost to Spain of the Catalonia crisis are like those of Brexit for the UK: in both cases, the figures are constantly changing, depending on what side of the argument they're coming from. The latest forecast regarding the C
Opinion
With every year that passes, Spain's macroeconomic expansion appears increasingly indifferent to the activities of Spanish politicians. Evidence for this was again provided by the Bank of Spain this week, when it announced that Spain's Q4 2017 GDP ex
Opinion
I'm writing this column on Thursday, as Catalans vote for their next government in an election called for by Mariano Rajoy last month. In normal circumstances, it would be a tricky piece to write, because I know that these words will be published tom
Opinion
Exiled Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, it would seem, is not very commercially-minded. During October, the number of new businesses opening in Catalonia dropped by 14.3% compared to the same month last year. Existing companies are fleeing too: i
Opinion
This week saw the Basque Country's president Iñigo Urkullu defending the region's special financial deal with Madrid. Known as the Cupo Vasco and hardwired into Spain's 1978 Constitution, this pact enables the northern region to collect its own taxes
LifeStyle
Andalusian writer Elvira Navarro is under no illusions about the stylistic influence possessed by translators. "A translated book," she tells me by email in Spanish, "has a co-author: the translator. Their job is to find the best version of [the writ
LifeStyle
Even though I finished reading this novel very late at night, I couldn't sleep for hours afterwards. The final, perplexing chapter had led me to question everything that preceded it; I wanted to trust the protagonist Elisa, but could I? Who was reall
Opinion
Does the Spanish economy minister know something we don't? After a meeting with Accenture Strategy and El Economista newspaper this week, Luis de Guindos was asked who he reckons is likely to take up the soon-to-be-vacant position of Vice President o
Opinion
The potential economic cost of the Catalonia issue has been discussed exhaustively since the illegal independence referendum on October 1st. The more constructive task now is trying to work out whether there is a solution to the economic aspect of th
LifeStyle
Maria de Visitaçao is a newly-arrived prostitute in a Spanish brothel.By night, she deals with the "strenuous thrusts" of the smugglers who have taken over the contraband industry in nearby Fronteira, a town just over the border in Portugal; but by d
Opinion
The Bank of Spain has released its first official estimates on the economic impact of the Catalonia crisis, and they're just as vague as you'd expect. The bank predicts that the recent turmoil seen in the north-eastern region of Spain could shave off
LifeStyle
By his own admission, the narrator of this brilliant and dark novel is a "c***sucker". He is at the very bottom of a three-layered hierarchy that constitutes the world of work in Spain: at the top are the "Buddhas", who barely work but are unsackable
Opinion
After the turmoil of the last month, it was refreshing to hear some entirely predictable news this week. Spain's National Institute of Statistics (INE) confirmed that the country's third-quarter growth was at 0.8%, slightly down from the 0.9% posted
LifeStyle
On a bleak dawn in January 1939, three months before the end of Spain's devastating Civil War, a group of fifty Nationalist prisoners are lined up in the clearing of a forest near Collell monastery in northern Catalonia. Among them is Rafael Sanchez
Opinion
No one, absolutely no one, knows what's going to happen next in the Catalonia saga. That is the only real conclusion to be drawn from the last few weeks, during which the Spanish media has been entirely consumed with the possibility of the region's p
LifeStyle
The elegant and wealthy city of San Sebastián sits on Spain's wild Basque coastline, twenty miles south west of the French border. It is a hugely popular holiday destination - particularly among Andalusians, who love its temperate climate and its gre
Opinion
Partly because it fears an economic hit from the Catalonian independence issue, the Spanish government has lowered its GDP growth forecast for Spain in 2018 from 2.6% to 2.3%. But it has not yet altered its projection of 3% growth for this year, even
Opinion
The economic reaction to Catalonia's illegal independence referendum two weeks ago has been somewhat confused - a fact mainly owed to the general chaos and unpredictability unleashed on October 1st. On Tuesday evening - much to the dismay of some
Opinion
The markets are already registering the fallout from Sunday's shambolic and violent independence referendum in Catalonia. Shortly before 11am on Wednesday, Spain's benchmark index, the Ibex 35, dropped below 10,000 points for the first time since the
Opinion
It remains a mystery how Catalonia could split from Spain, even if a "yes" vote is returned in this Sunday's incendiary referendum. Even so, the region's business community is becoming nervous about possible effects of the protracted battle being fou
Opinion
The battle for Catalonian independence between Madrid and Barcelona is now being fought on two fronts. First there is the economic front, on which both sides are armed with figures apparently showing that secession would be a disaster for Catalonia,
Opinion
Annual predictions for Spain's GDP growth are changed several times a year by the Spanish government and various national and international economic bodies. That much we already know. But what we learnt this week was that the Spanish economy's perfor
Opinion
On Wednesday evening, following a tense 11-hour debate, the Catalonian parliament voted by 72 to 52 in favour of an independence referendum on 1 October. An explosion of secessionist fervour followed, with regional president Carles Puigdemont leading
Opinion
The markets aren't taking the prospect of Catalonian secession seriously. That is the conclusion we can draw from this week's announcement by credit ratings agency DBRS that it is "very unlikely" it will change its rating for Spain if Catalans vote f
Opinion
Last Thursday afternoon, Barcelona and the Catalonian coastal town of Cambrils were hit by terrorist vehicle attacks that killed 15 people and injured over 100, fifteen of them gravely. These tragic events leave us to speculate about the combined imp
Opinion
This week saw Mariano Rajoy issue his latest warning to the increasingly aggressive separatists in Catalonia. On Wednesday, he asked the regional government - headed by the fervent secessionist Carles Puigdemont - to act with "common sense" and to "i
Opinion
Spain appears to be on a roll. Second quarter economic growth, it was confirmed last Friday, was 0.9% of GDP, meaning that the Spanish economy has now returned to pre-crisis health. Unemployment is at its lowest level (17.1%) since 2009, with jobless
Opinion
Predictions for the growth rate of the Spanish economy this year have almost reached the magic number of 3.2% - the rate at which it expanded in 2016. On Tuesday, the IMF announced that the country's economic expansion will be 3.1% of GDP in 2017, th
Opinion
Regardless of the economic and social problems Spain has endured over recent years, it has not lost its status as one of the world's tourism heavyweights. Every year, huge numbers of visitors from around the world come here seeking limitless sun, che
Opinion
This week saw the latest development in Spain's ongoing campaign for greater integration within the EU - or so a cynic could say. On Wednesday, it was announced that the EU has been awarded Spain's Princess of Asturias 2017 Concord Prize for maintain
National
The Spanish economy minister has apparently turned into the EU's biggest fan. In an interview with the UK's Financial Times this week, Luis de Guindos said that the only way for the EU to survive in a post-Trump-Brexit world was to come closer togeth
LifeStyle
When the English writer and Hispanophile Laurie Lee stepped off the boat and onto the harbour of Algeciras in November 1951, pandemonium greeted him. It was 15 years since Lee had been in Spain, but the seafront of this chaotic, dirty fishing village
National
One of the Popular Party's key messages to the Spanish electorate is that it is the only party fit to run the economy. This week, further proof of the PP's economic competence was offered - so Mariano Rajoy would say, anyway - by Bank of Spain govern
Opinion
The state of Spain's GDP has been much on the mind of Luis de Guindos this week. On Wednesday, during a debate in which the country's absurdly delayed 2017 budget was finally approved, the Spanish economy minister told congress that GDP growth might
National
Pedro Sánchez is back. After eight months as a political outcast, the former Socialist leader once again took control of his party on Sunday, defeating establishment favourite Susana Diaz - head of the PSOE in Andalucía - in doing so. Some comment
National
Spain's recently unveiled proposals for deeper integration within the eurozone highlight one of the 19-member bloc's fundamental problems - namely, that its most wealthy countries resent subsidising the poorer ones. In a paper submitted to the EU in
Opinion
Though there must have been a sigh of relief in the Popular Party headquarters last Thursday, when Mariano Rajoy's 2017 budget narrowly survived defeat in a parliamentary vote, the Spanish prime minister would be wrong to think he thereby passed some
Opinion
For the Spanish economists I wrote about here last week, the phrase "official statistics" is little more than a synonym for "invented statistics" when it applies to Spain's economy. They will therefore be deeply sceptical of the latest "official" ind
Opinion
In its most recent tweak to global growth forecasts, the IMF has hiked Spain's projected GDP expansion for 2017 to 2.6%, up from 2.3% in January. Although very slight, the increase is an indication that the body's economists see no immediate threat t
Opinion
Economically speaking, it seems that Spain is firmly back on track. According to official statistics, the country's GDP will very soon rise above pre-crisis levels; in other words, Spain's economy is back to where it was in 2008, before the recession
Opinion
Mariano Rajoy has finally presented 2017's budget, over half a year late. The political deadlock of 2016 is largely responsible for this delay, as is the fact that Rajoy now only commands a minority government. As a reflection of the prime minister's
National
The mini-scandal generated by Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem's claim that southern European countries squander EU funds on drinking and chasing women will soon be forgotten. Ignition of Article 50 this week is, after all, a slightly more imp
Opinion
It doesn't happen often, but I recently agreed with something Mariano Rajoy said. Last Friday, the unflappable Spanish prime minister told reporters in Madrid that regarding the soon-to-commence process of the UK's withdrawal from the EU, "There is n
Opinion
At a conference organised by El País and Sabadell Bank on Monday, post-Brexit relations between Spain and the UK were discussed by a panel from Spanish media, business and politics. Spain, said some of these experts, can't afford to display hostility
Opinion
The outcome of one of Spain's highest-profile criminal trials is now known: Rodrigo Rato, former deputy prime minister and ex-head of the International Monetary Fund, is going to prison for four-and-a-half years after being found guilty of overseeing
Opinion
Banks that are planning to move their London operations to EU cities as a result of Brexit are expected to choose their new locations within the next few months. The competition for this post-Brexit business among other major European cities is there
Travel
Over recent years Budapest has gained a reputation as one of Europe's most exciting and cultural cities. It is fully deserving of this unofficial accolade, and not just because of its gargantuan parliament building (the third largest in the world aft
Opinion
In the first economic report it has released since Americans voted for Donald Trump last November, the EU Commission states that the soon-to-be-27 member bloc is "assailed by risks" and faces "large uncertainties". The threats posed to the EU's econo
Opinion
The soon-to-be-announced verdict in Rodrigo Rato's fraud trial is, for many Spaniards, imbued with a symbolic importance. Rato, former head of the International Monetary Fund and ex-deputy prime minister and economy minister in Mariano Rajoy's govern
Opinion
There were no surprises this Monday, when Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) released initial data on the country's economic performance in 2016. In the final quarter of last year, the Spanish economy posted growth of 0.7%; overall, it expan
Opinion
Within the Spanish government there is clearly no official 'line' on Brexit. This became evident on Tuesday, when Rajoy told a press conference organised by the newspaper ABC that Brexit was a "serious threat" to Spain. When asked to elaborate he res
Opinion
It was a pleasant surprise this week to hear Spain's economy minister displaying common sense and pragmatism when asked about the latest Brexit news. Interviewed at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday (one of the cushiest tickets on the di
Opinion
Ever the optimist, Spain's economy and industry minister has recently been hinting that the country's economic growth might exceed the predicted 3.2% for last year. That figure, it should be remembered, was already pretty positive: it's about twice t
LifeStyle
This series ends as it began, with the great poet and Hispanophile Laurie Lee. 'A Rose for Winter' is a love letter to Spain's most iconic region, written when Lee returned with his wife Kati, after a fifteen-year absence, for a three-month tour of "
LifeStyle
One bright June morning in 1934, aged 19, Laurie Lee left his quietly bereft mother standing alone in the garden of their Cotswolds home and started an epic, life-changing walk. This young English poet had no money and had never been abroad before; h
LifeStyle
Jason Webster has written what is surely the most arresting opening sentence in recent travel literature, a sentence that forces difficult, searching questions upon you: "Often we end up doing what we almost want to do because we lack the courage to
LifeStyle
A central vein of disappointment and sadness runs through A Moment of War, Laurie Lee's unrelentingly bleak account of his experiences during the Spanish civil war. As I Walked Out One Midsummer's Morning - the conclusion of which is this book's begi
Opinion
It's not just because the English and Spanish press has been unable to talk of much except Donald Trump for the last week and a half that you've heard very little about Mariano Rajoy's new government. Three weeks have elapsed since the veteran Galici
LifeStyle
George Orwell was lucky to make it out of Spain alive. By a mad irony only conceivable amidst the paranoia of war, the pro-revolutionary line of the organisation for which he had been fighting - the Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (POUM: 'The
LifeStyle
The greatest books make you envious of those who have not yet read them, those who you know have a great experience still to come. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway's Spanish civil war masterpiece and arguably his best novel, is one such book
LifeStyle
Spain's political landscape is about to undergo titanic shifts. Last Sunday, the coalition of separatist parties in Catalonia, Together for Yes, won a majority in the region's parliamentary elections, and the imminent general election will see the do
LifeStyle
One couldn't wish for a better travel companion than Gerald Brenan. His honesty, curiosity, humour and deep knowledge of Spanish history are all on display in The Face of Spain, written after he and his wife, the American poet Gamel Woolsey, revisite
LifeStyle
It changed my life and made me want to write and explore the world." So says American bull runner and author Bill Hillman of the novel that put a small Spanish town and its annual bull-running fiesta well and truly on the world stage. In the minds
National
Spain's two biggest banks, BBVA and Santander, are already registering the effects of Brexit and Donald Trump's victory in the US election. And ironically, it's the global expansion plans that both these banks have pursued - and which enabled them to