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When I came back to work here in Spain (well, to Barcelona) in early June 2007, to run another magazine company, a friend of a friend (I won’t give his/her name) invited me for dinner and said: ‘If you ever want to meet Prince Felipe, I can organise it.’ Back then, Felipe VI was still…

I might have imagined it, but I thought the week started on a little bit of a ‘charm offensive’ by Spain’s ruling PP government. Every Monday morning, first thing, they have a comité de dirección ‘steering committee’ meeting – and they posted a photo of them all smiling with their coffee and water. Perhaps they…

Speaking at an economic forum in Madrid this week, Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, said that the Catalan Parliament must appoint a ‘normal’ president. It echoes the comments of a man called Xavier García Albiol, who, at the end of November last year, said that he’d like to close the Catalan broadcaster, TV3, and re-open…

At last, a top Human Rights lawyer, Ben Emmerson QC, has said what needs to be said this week [his words are below]. There’s not much more that one can add, apart from this: Spain, I believe, is ‘in denial’. Complete denial. I’ve written here before about my own views on Catalan independence, and I…

Forget dialogue. Forget real politics. This is just some of what’s happened in the past week – all whilst there are still four political prisoners in jail, still without trial: Spain’s Interior Minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido, tried to justify the €87m (plus) spent on failing to stop the referendum in Catalonia on 1st October. He…

I don’t know who’s in charge of the appalling PR & communications for Rajoy’s government, but it looks like Spain’s Royal Household could also do with some help. On Wednesday, I was watching events unfold at the opening session of the Catalan Parliament, zapping between TVE and TV3 – the day that the Republican Catalan…

Writing about Spain’s minister of Interior, Juan Ignacio Zoido, last August, I said that he had the appearance of being irritated when required to do a press conference, as if he’d just been interrupted from the start of a long lunch. Everything looked like it was an inconvenience. It happened again last week, after 3,000…

First, to clarify: I love Spain. I love Catalonia. For over 20 years, on and off, I’ve lived and worked here – 10 years in Madrid, and 10 years in Barcelona, two of the greatest cities in the world. So I feel I can comment … Not so long ago, Spain used to be cool….

The worst moments have been from the king of Spain, the EU, and the Spanish foreign minister. The moments are all linked – and they all stink, if you ask me. The king’s speech on 3rd October was shocking, to say the least. I don’t need to relate all the details here – we all…