Meet England’s octogenarian matador
It’s a sunny October morning at a bull-breeding ranch north of Seville, and 82-year-old Frank Evans is preparing to step…
Can David Lammy solve the Gibraltar dispute?
The British government is preparing to lodge a formal complaint with Spain over Gibraltar. Spanish military aircraft have twice flown…
There’s nothing wrong with a Japanese flamenco dancer
Japanese dancer Junko Hagiwara has become the first non-Spaniard to win one of Spain’s most prestigious flamenco competitions. Yet when…
Catalonia can’t escape the curse of independence
In a low-key ceremony in the Catalan parliament on Saturday, Spain’s former health minister Salvador Illa was sworn in as the…
The thrill of the Pamplona bull run
The first time my friend Rob and I experienced Pamplona’s San Fermin festival was in 2017. Held every year from…
The future looks bright for Spanish bullfighting
In one of my local bars, in the Andalucian town of Antequera, there’s a poster on the door advertising bullfighting…
Luis Rubiales deserves his day in court
Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish football federation, is going to court for ‘The Kiss’. It was confirmed this week…
The establishment triumphed in Spain’s elections
Spain’s Conservative Popular party (PP) came first in Sunday’s EU elections, upping its share of seats in the European parliament…
Can Begona Gomez get a fair trial in Spain?
Begona Gomez, the wife of Spain’s Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez, has received a court summons for 5 July, in connection with…
Catalans appear to be growing tired of independence
Spain’s Socialist party (PSOE) won crucial elections in Catalonia over the weekend, beating a pro-independence bloc whose support has been…
Why hasn’t Pedro Sanchez resigned as Spain’s prime minister?
Pedro Sanchez has decided to stay on as Spain’s Socialist prime minister, despite announcing last week that he was considering resigning.…
What’s going on with Spain’s Golden Visas?
Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s Socialist prime minister, wants to abolish the country’s ‘Golden Visa’ scheme, according to which non-EU citizens automatically receive…
Why Spaniards celebrate April Fool’s Day in December
On 28 December 1993, after getting off a flight from Barcelona at Madrid’s Barajas airport, 23 year-old actress Maribel Verdu…
Could corruption bring down Spain’s government again?
Just four months into its second term, Spain’s Socialist-led government is already mired in corruption allegations. The latest scandal emerged…
Spanish soldiers have exposed the flaw in gender self-ID
Dozens of male Spanish soldiers have legally changed their gender, allegedly to claim benefits intended for women. In doing so, the soldiers have exposed the vacuity of Spain’s…
What Pedro Sanchez should really be apologising for
Spain has approved a pointless amendment to its constitution, replacing the word ‘handicapped’ with the phrase ‘persons with a disability’. Not only…
The unlikely new kingmakers in Spanish politics
Depending on how you look at the result of yesterday’s general election in Spain, either everyone won or no one…
Real Madrid and Barcelona go to war over their links to Franco
A match-fixing scandal centred on Barcelona FC has spilled over into politics, showing that decades-old divisions die hard in Spain.…
The misleading politicisation of Spanish bullfighting
Bullfighting is once again in the spotlight in Spain. This time, it’s the focus of a clash between the country’s…
Has the Indyref ruling complicated Catalonian separatism?
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling on Scottish independence will offer scant encouragement to separatists in Catalonia. The crux of the…
Will Catalonia ever achieve independence from Spain?
Catalonia’s pro-independence government almost imploded last week. A major disagreement between its two governing parties occurred after one half of…
Europe still hasn’t learned from its lockdown debacles
In his fascinating interview in the current issue of The Spectator, Rishi Sunak revealed the black hole at the centre…
Spain's bizarre mask policies
Spain has a reputation for having some of the strictest policies on masks in Europe, with the public even encouraged…
