Really delighted to jointly win The Special Award at the European Press Prize with an incredible group of journalists!!
It was an amazing project to work on.
Gabriel Boric has named Maya Fernández Allende as Chile’s new defence minister, putting Salvador Allende’s granddaughter in charge of the military that overthrew him in a coup in 1973.
Never let them tell you that we can’t overcome history’s injustices.
Lamine Yamal celebrated his goal tonight by making the post code number of his working class Catalan neighbourhood Rocafonda - which far-right Vox has described as a "multicultural shithole".
His father was fined €600 for throwing eggs at a Vox electoral table, not before...
El padre de Lamine Yamal atacó una carpa de los ultraderechistas de VOX a huevazos al grito de "racistas". Fue multado con 600€ y declaró en el juicio:"Tenía motivos. Soy un ser humano". Hoy su hijo se convierte en el futbolista más joven de la historia en marcar en una Eurocopa
Fascism pays in Spain is the message
@elmundoes
has gone for this weekend, with a full 2-page spread on the 50th birthday of Franco's great-grandson. With the headline
"The work of my great-grandfather Franco is still alive and well. His achievements continue to benefit us."
The final survivor of La Nueve, the company of Spanish Republican soldiers who were the first to enter Paris in 1944, has died aftering having contracted the coronavirus. Rafael Gómez Nieto was aged 99.
Que la tierra te sea leve.
Some amazing photos from the indefinite taxi strike in Spain. Began 6 days ago in Barcelona after BCN en Comu's regulations aimed at Uber and Cabify were blocked by courts. Now has spread nationwide, with taxis now occupying main thoroughfares in Madrid, Valencia and other cities
Josep Borrell in El País today:
"Von der Leyen's trip, with such an absolutely pro-Israeli stance, without representing anyone beyond herself in a matter of international politics, has had a high geopolitical cost for Europe".
Vox's huge far-right rally is beginning in Madrid this morning with chants of "Viva España! Viva Israel!"
Guests include Le Pen 🇫🇷, Ventura 🇵🇹, Orbán 🇭🇺, but the star of the show will be Javier Milei 🇦🇷. Also Israel's minister to combat anti-semitism is due to speak to a room
New left-wing Spanish TV channel
@CanalRed_TV
launches this morning, a project headed by ex-Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias.
Such alternative media organizations are badly needed both in Spain n throughout Europe and can only wish them success.
Having been worked up by the apocalyptic rhetoric of right-wing politicians, the country's top judges and reactionary press, tonight the Spanish street is heating up after five nights of protests outside
#Ferraz
with the most radical elements of Spanish society feeling emboldened
Largest protest march in years in Madrid as hundreds of thousands pack the city centre in defence of the region's public health system and against Trumpian premier Isabel Ayuso
...telling the judge: "I had my motives. I am a human being. On that day my son was travelling with the Spanish national team to represent this country and these racists came [to our barrio] and stood next to a school where there are people of all kinds of races."
#AntiFascista
Iglesias' characterisation of Vox here is interesting: as a party representing a reaction from sectors within the state.
"It is a party full of judges, civil servant and lots of police, military officers. It is a party born of the state and from state civil servants"
Nico Williams' brother and club mate Iñaki has talked eloquently about what his parents had to endure to reach Spain as refugees - crossing the Sahara, forced to bury companions along the way and scaling the 3 massive fences at the Melilla border.
The image of Pablo Iglesias' 1st day on the campaign trail in Madrid - confronting a group of neonazis who were seeking to disrupt a Podemos event.
He resigned as Spain's Deputy PM this morning.
(photo
@DaniGagoPhoto
)
All my support to Spanish journalist
@AntonioMaestre
who is being sued by the far-right Vox party for asserting that their hate-filled discourse towards feminism makes them complicit in gender violence. His response: 'I don't apologise when confronted by the extreme-right' ✊
Why is the
@eu_eeas
defending the Francoist Minister Martín Villa from crimes against humanity in an Argentinian court? Is that the official diplomatic position of the European Union - defending Spanish fascists from prosecutions? Commissioner Phil Hogan was forced to resign...
At the heart of Spain's new memory law there is a massive contradiction:
The law seeks to at last force the spotlight onto Franco's victims but while also ensuring the crimes of Francoism remain hidden from view.
@tomvvardle
and I for
@tribunemagazine
...containing numerous Holocaust deniers.
Event kicks off with video denouncing the UN Agenda 2030 development goals, a favourite target for party ideologue Jorge Buxade.
"We must put an end to these Communists who want to take away our families and freedoms", Mercedes Schlapp
Spanish police attacking protesters defending LGBTQ rights in Madrid tonight.
They are thugs but the inability or unwillingness of the country's progressive coalition to reign such violence is not acceptable. How often have we seen such scenes in the last 6 months?
Spain's budget agreement will see health spending rise by 151.4%, spending on public housing by 367%, and 12 billion of EU funds for a green transition. Increases in income tax on high earners, capital gains tax n taxes on assets as well as rent controls
Tal día como hoy hace 50 años los paracaidistas británicos dispararon a veintiocho civiles, matando a catorce, en una marcha por los derechos civiles en Derry, Irlanda. Ninguno de los responsables de la masacre del Domingo Sangriento ha sido juzgado.
Globally the Spanish Civil War is told as a narrative of heroic defeat but for Spain the consequences still live on in the power relations n structural inequalities that plague the country. My review of
@AntonioMaestre
's book Franquismo SA for
@jacobinmag
Podemos founder Pablo Iglesias is opening a bar in Lavapies, Madrid next week called the Garibaldi Taberna.
Not clear how much he is charging for a margarita Marcos, mojito Fidel, daiquiri Ché or a negroni Gramsci. But hopefully they will reflect spirit of its Kautsky slogan
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria where more than 5,000 Spanish Republicans were exterminated. When the US troops arrived, they were met with a banner that read "Spanish Anti-Fascists Welcome the Forces of Liberation."
En Irlanda, el ministro de agricultura, un comisario europeo y el vicepresidente del Senado se vieron obligados a dimitir por asistir a un evento parecido.
Los botellones no, pero las galas en las que se reune el IBEX, medios y político sin problema.
Tendrían que dimitir todos y cada de los asistentes. De Ayuso a Illa.
“Dublin is dead and everybody knows it. Everyone’s mates are in Berlin, or Glasgow, or Canada, or maybe even Belfast. They killed it. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail and landlords and Spoons and international capital and vulture funds and REITs and everything in between”
Dublin is sold as a modern city that is home to the world's most dynamic industries – but for its residents, daily life is scarred by one of Europe's worst housing crises and rampant workplace precarity.
Today between 12.00-19.00 electricity in Spain is being produced at zero cost while across the 10 hours of sunlight, each MWh consumed will cost between 1-2 cents. The Spanish wager on renewables is really paying off.
So petty and undiplomatic, Spain's King Felipe VI is the only guest not to stand up as Bolívar's sword is brought to the stage during Gustavo Petro's inauguration.
A basic degree of respect for your hosts is not that much to ask...
Y el Rey de España, el único que se quedó sentado cuando llegó la espada de Bolívar a la posesión presidencial. La misma con la que el libertador combatió al ejercito español hace más de 200 años.
In one of the largest excavations of a mass grave in Western Europe in recent decades, Seville city hall has discovered nearly twice the number of bodies than had been expected, with the remains of 1,700 victims of Francoist terror so far discovered.
30 percent of Spanish citizens are bilingual n today for the 1st time MPs have the right to intervene in Catalan, Gallego and Euskerra in parliament.
But as a PSOE MP begins to speak in Gallego, far-right Vox MPs walked out leaving their translators by Pedro Sanchez's empty seat
🔴 #ÚLTIMAHORA | Los diputados de Vox protestan por el uso de las lenguas cooficiales y abandonan el Congreso dejando sus dispositivos de traducción simultánea en el escaño de Pedro Sánchez
Spain becomes first country in the world to introduce equality in paid parental leave - with both parents now receiving a non-transferrable 16 weeks each.
Barcelona's left-wing mayor Ada Colau is in a tight race for re-election tomorrow.
A historic 3rd term for the former anti-eviction activist would prove the left can reject the market-led development of our cities – and win. My latest for
@tribunemagazine
After more than 4 years of worker organising, Spain is the first EU country to legally recognise delivery riders as the employees of digital platforms.
My latest for
@tribunemagazine
looks at the struggle over the country's new Rider Law.
Pedro Sánchez is a brilliant tactician, capable of audacious political manoeuvres over short distances. His shock decision to call an early election in May looks to have paid off. Even if he can't govern, he has reasserted PSOE's domination over left n maybe got a hung parliament
Madrid rental prices have increased 14.2% over the last year (far above the national rate of 4%).
But in Catalunya, the only autonomous community to implement the rent control provisions in new housing law, they grew by only 0.8%. In May prices even fell
The architect of Vox's election campaign is MEP Jorge Buxadé. A state’s attorney with links to Opus Dei, he twice stood as a candidate for the fascist Falange in his 20s, before joining PP in 2004. His trajectory reflects that of the wider Spanish right🧵
5 days out from Spain's election and on the 87th anniversary of the military uprising which provoked the Spanish Civil War, we have the Falange being allowed to put this openly fascist poster on side of Madrid city bus:
Ofc, that was the former party of the architect of Vox's
Spain's social affairs minister Ione Belarra calls on the country's government to denounce Netanyahu to the International Criminal Court for war crimes "in the face of the attempted genocide that the Israeli state is pursuing."
Ante el intento de genocidio que está llevando a cabo el Estado de Israel en Gaza, proponemos que el Gobierno de España lleve a Netanyahu ante la Corte Penal Internacional por crímenes de guerra.
Pedro Sánchez has pulled off a masterstroke in Spain – and shown one of the keys to successfully mobilising against the far right is... working with the left.
Me in
@guardianopinion
In her speech at the rally marking the 100th anniversary of the Spanish Communist Party, Deputy PM Yolanda Díaz announces a new political project for the Spanish left that "starts from now and in dialogue with everyone".
For her 1st major speech in her role as leader of the left
"The Communist Manifesto speaks to us of utopias encrypted in our present and in which beats, today as yesterday, a vital and passionate defence of democracy and freedom."
Gracias a
@Yolanda_Diaz_
y
@joseovejero2017
por dejarnos traducir este maravilloso texto a inglés.
Spanish Deputy Prime Minister
@Yolanda_Diaz_
writes about the enduring relevance of 'The Communist Manifesto' – a critique from which capitalism, for all its longevity, has not managed to escape.
Ministers in Spain's new progressive gov. were announced today n among them is the Communist Sira Rego whose father is Palestinian. She spent part of her childhood in the occupied West Bank. On Oct 7, she wrote:
"Palestine has the right to resist after decades of occupation...
Pasé parte de mi infancia en
#Palestina
.
Lo que se ve al fondo de esta foto es mi ciudad rodeada por el muro israelí que prevé eliminar parte de una escuela.
Today Spain's Democratic Memory Law finally comes into force and with it the Francisco Franco Foundation becomes an illegal org.
Yet more importantly the political convictions of tens of thousands of republicans are finally expunged, with the Francoist courts deemed illegal.
There is no political crisis in Spain; quite the opposite - the amnesty law published today, as well as the agreement for further devolution of state powers represent democratic advances.
This time next week Pedro Sanchez will have formed a new government with a diverse majority
Since becoming leader of Unidas Podemos last April, deputy PM Yolanda Díaz has not only sought to reposition the Spanish left as a credible governing force but also to contest PSOE’s self-representation as the party of labor.
My latest on
@Yolanda_Diaz_
Today 93 year old Agustina Recio will finally bury the remains of her father, Florentino, 86 years after his murder by Francoists in the early months of the Spanish Civil War in Recas, Toledo.
"The worst moment of my life was when they took my father from my home.I was only 6."
Yesterday it was revealed the sheer extent of the illegal spying operation against Podemos in 2015-16 - with more than 50 left-wing MPs subject to police monitoring, wiretaps and investigations under Rajoy's admin. For the PP interior minister this was "all part of God's plan"...
A massive feminist demonstration in Madrid tonight against the extreme right VOX party's polemic on gender violence and the spread of anti-feminist rhetoric on Spanish Right.
Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez may resign after a judge launched a bogus corruption probe targeting his wife, Begoña Gómez. The case is a farce pushed by far-right lobbyists that shows the need to rein in Spain’s politicized judiciary.
My latest for
@jacobin
Impressive turnout at the Western Sahara protest outside the foreign ministry in Madrid today against Pedro Sanchez's decision to break with the United Nation's position and back the Moroccan occupation of the former Spanish colony.
Chileno Jose Antonio Cast is emphasizing Vox's pivotal role in the far-right's international organization:
"Thanks to Vox, thanks to the (anti-communist) Foro de Madrid, thanks to the Fundación Vincenzo for the hope and strength they have given to many...in Latin America."
Not going to summarize 2 years of factional warfare on the Spanish left in a tweet but let's just say her position on Palestine has basically nothing to do with the decision.
No one comes out of this looking good but it's a Q of a contested leadership transition on radical left
"Sumar is about widening the Left’s [electoral] limits to form a majoritarian project capable of changing the political balance of forces in this country."
My interview with Spanish Communist Party leader
@EnriqueSantiago
on new left unity project Sumar
The fascist monks at the Valley of the Fallen defying Spain's historical memory law today with a mass celebrating the 88th anniversary of Franco's coup. Hopefully by this time next year they will be evicted as planned n the site's resignification proceeds
Madness. Police roadblocks out of Barcelona causing long delays as they mount what is effectively a counter terrorism operation in "the hunt" for Puigdemont - a Catalan MP who should not even be facing arrest given the amnesty law.
The legislation is crystal clear on this.
Once again, no one does political theatre better than the Catalan independence movement.
But it is only made possible by the clumsy, hardline tactics of the Spanish authorities (in this case, an activist Supreme Court intent on undermining the country's governing alliance).
Spain is not living out an Almodóvar drama as some Anglo commentors have suggested but rather we are witnessing the desperate shamelessness of reactionary elements of its ruling class on the defensive.
To summarise this week: Luis Rubiales will not leave, his mother is willing to starve herself so that he does not leave and the Spanish FA are open to entirely self-destructing Spanish football to prevent him from leaving. Its 11am on Monday morning.
The United States becomes the first major power in the world to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the illegally annexed Western Sahara but the US/EU complicity with the occupation regime stretches back decades. My latest for
@jacobinmag
80 years ago today a unit of Spanish Civil War veterans led the liberation of Paris on armoured cars bearing the names Brunete, Ebro and Teruel.
I wrote for
@tribunemagazine
about La Nueve on the death of its last surviving member in 2020.
Eighty-five years ago, Francisco Franco declared victory in the Spanish Civil War. In an interview, historian Paul Preston tells Jacobin about the decisive role that Franco’s sympathizers in the British government played in crushing Spanish democracy.
Chikli is now saying the rigged eurovision vote that saw Spain give 12 points to Israel is proof of a silent majority who, unlike the current government, supports Israel. The Israeli govhas admitted it invested in ensuring their act would win support
Valencia's new Vox deputy premier and ex-bullfighter, Vicente Barrera:
"It was Francoism that brought democracy to Spain...the political class under Franco was outstanding. No one should feel ashamed at having been a Francoist minister or that their father or grandfather was."
If you want a preview of what a PP-Vox gov. will look like after July's election, you only have to look to the coalition agreement they've just reached at a regional level in Valencia:
1. Vox has secured the interior, culture and agriculture portfolios, naming an ex-bullfighter
Spain has staked out the most pro-Palestinian position in the EU on Gaza, with ministers from left-wing Sumar going so far as to characterize Israel’s campaign as one of "genocide against the Palestinian people"
I examine the (relative) Spanish exception:
Beyond the spectacle of last Sunday's Vox convention in Madrid is a serious project to organise the far-right internationally.
And the Spanish extremist party is taking on a coordinating role within this 'Reactionary International'. Me in
@tribunemagazine
Spanish government has recalled its ambassador for consultations in response to Milei's attack against Sánchez wife - which its foreign minister characterised as unprecedented in international relations.
Milei attacking Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez on stage in Madrid:
"The global elites don't realise how destructive it is to implement socialist ideas and what level of corruption it can lead to. For example when you a corrupt wife and you take 5 days to think about it."
Beyond football, Florentino Pérez's lasting legacy is having played a vanguard role in the remaking of Spain’s state and economy through three decades of savage neoliberalisation.
My latest for
@tribunemagazine
After more 20 days on strike, 20,000 metal workers in Cantabria, Spain have secured a 14 percent pay rise over the next two years.
The message from the union movement is a dignified salary or conflict. Now the country's left-wing coalition must act to protect living standards
Ratificado el preacuerdo del convenio del metal de Cantabria.
Tras 20 días de huelga un gran acuerdo que subirá los salarios un 14% hasta 2024.
Con organización y compromiso, es posible.
Enhorabuena!!
#SalarioOConflicto
André Ventura, Chega's leader is up next.
"We want strong borders because Europe is ours. Europe is ours!"
"We have to protect those who are suffering but we cannot continue to have this mass arrival of Islamic and Muslim migrants in Europe."
Pedro Sanchez must now be the favourite to form a government at 80 percent of votes counted. PSOE, Sumar and regional allies are much closer to reaching a majority of seats
Currently chants for PP's Madrid regional chief Isabel Diaz Ayuso outside of PP's HQ. Is Feijoo a dead man?
I had the opportunity to sit down with
@PabloIglesias
this week to discuss Spain's left in government, the current historical moment and Podemos' trajectory over the last six years. Out soon over at
@jacobinmag
@jacobinlat
(photo
@DaniGagoPhoto
)
#CatalanGate
is the largest confirmed political spyware campaign in the EU, which once again lays bare the democratic deficiencies of Spain's post-Franco constitutional regime.
My latest for
@novaramedia
"Jacobin witnessed a number of police beatings inflicted on protesters who posed no obvious threat to authorities. In some cases, they were simply passersby who were caught among the stragglers,as police and riot squads ramped up their violent retaliation"
Only one individual’s name appears in Spain’s 1978 constitution –that of the man who fled the country on Sunday night, ex-king Juan Carlos.The scope of the allegations against him and his sudden escape raise wider questions about Spain's democractic regime
Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez tells Netanyahu "the suffering of 100s of thousands of people in Palestine is appalling" and "the number of civilians killed [in Gaza] is truly unbearable"; "Israel must abide by int. law." He calls it to take "urgent steps" towards a lasting ceasefire
Pablo Iglesias resigns as Podemos leader. The most talented left-wing leader of his generation in Europe who has endured years of media attacks. But in the last 16 months he has not been able to deliver in government
The violent and aggressive tactics being used by the Spanish police against striking metal workers in Cadíz are disgraceful.
There is no justification for deploying armoured cars and using of rubber bullets and tear gas against pickets.
"This week, Spain took a further step towards a 100% renewable model: on Tuesday, between 10 am and 7pm, renewable sources (sun, wind, water) generated more energy than was needed to cover national demand."
One of the most talented left-wing leaders of his generation, Pablo Iglesias retired from politics last night.
@Tommy___Greene
n I look at how Podemos' wager to enter coalition with PSOE last year has not paid off in terms of halting its declining numbers
The EU's commitment to human rights and dignity can have no exceptions.
Given the critical situation in Rafah, Ireland and Spain have just requested the
@EU_Commission
to urgently review whether Israel is complying with its obligations to respect human rights in Gaza.
We also
Massive protest supporting self-determination for the Sahrawi people arriving in Puerta del Sol right now.
"Morocco guilty, Spain responsible" for the occupation of Western Sahara is the chant on the anniversary of the Madrid Accords.
Spanish gig workers (and their unions) gain the right to access information on the algorithms digital platforms use so as to ensure a clear sense of how they affect working conditions.
The legislation passed at cabinet today also recognizes them as employees of these platforms.
Spain has taken a big step to regulate the way algorithms affect labour. All people must be able to know the way in which technology affects their work. This is the first legislation at an international level that sets this type of transparency, towards fair labour relations.
"Thank you Santiago Abascal for standing with the state of Israel rather than Hamas and Iran (ie like Sanchez). Thank you for standing with the truth, with goodness...This is an existential battle for the future of civilization against radical Islam." Amichai Chikli, Israeli min.
Vox's head of its European list Jorge Buxade now speaking, laying out the priorities for "the patriotic and conservative parties of Europe": repealing the EU green deal, protect farmers, exploit all possible energy resources, free Brussels from "the diabolical Agenda 2030
MADRID TONIGHT. On the day Spain sees record number of Covid cases, the capital's nightlife remains open for business -with this well-known bougie club seemingly not enforcing any restrictions. In terms of current restrictions Spain is now a complete outlier in Europe
#COVIDIOTS
Two weeks before Spain's delivery rider law comes into effect, Deliveroo has announced it's pulling out of the Spanish market.
Turns out its business model is not sustainable without the exploitation of fake freelancers
The architect of Vox's current campaign and probably its chief ideologue, Jorge Buxade, was previously a candidate for Falange.
There is always room for greater nuance but as with Meloni in Italy, it seems completely reasonable that international media would use such context...
48 years have passed since Franco's death and
@nytimes
still thinks this is the right framework when writing about Spanish politics. Lazy, silly and wrong
It seems fitting that Spain's new far-right darling and newly elected MEP, Alvise, started his political career as an intern working for the Lib Dems in the UK.
What is so serious about prominant journalists like
#Ferreras
intentionally spreading false information about Podemos isnt simply the personal harm suffered by
@PabloIglesias
but that they sought to frustrate the hopes n demands of a whole generation of Spaniards demanding change
A significant photo: Spain's left-wing deputy prime minister Yolanda Diaz meeting with the exiled Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont in the European Parliament
Puigdemont is in from the cold and any new PSOE-Sumar government will depend on his support n an amnesty law for Catalonia
Spain is one of the few European countries were anti-semitism has not been weaponised politically against the left with any success. And so Yolanda Diaz's use of the phrase 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' two days ago, was not even an issue.
In response to Spain's recognition of a Palestinian state and the antisemitic call by Spain's Deputy Prime Minister to not just recognize a Palestinian state but to 'liberate Palestine from the river to the sea,' I have decided to sever the connection between Spain's
"Vox is a post-fascist party with no qualms about demonstrating its character in the most aggressive and brutal forms." I interviewed
@AntonioMaestre
for
@jacobinmag
about Spain's elections, the rise of the extreme-right and historical memory.