Spain: The Trials and Triumphs of a Modern European State
by michael reed
Yale University Press, 2023
Michael Reid’s book begins with this statement from 1999:Day Century British travel writer Richard Ford: “Nothing is more painful to a Spaniard than to see foreigners writing volume after volume about him and his country… Consider half of your topics, half of your most embarrassing topics, and half of your topics least worthy of attention.”
Spain’s international image has not benefited from many subtleties throughout its history. Stanley Payne roughly summarizes the typical stigma attached to Spain by foreigners: cruel, bloodthirsty, sadistic and destructive in the 16th century.Day 17th century and first half of the 17th centuryDay century; In the late 17th century, it was militarily weak, ignorant, lazy, and unproductive.Day century and 18Day century; Although culturally beautiful and romantic, it had little political relevance in the 19th century.Day century; A combination of all of the above in 20Day century (Spain: a unique history2011, p.5).
Aside from the sun, the beach and the cold beer on the terrace, stereotypes about the Spaniards’ arrogance and tendency to fight with Goya-style clubs still abound in the international media. As a fun exercise, I ask readers to find NYT articles about Spain that do not connect current news to the Civil War (1936-39) and the Franco dictatorship (1939-75). Thankfully, international reporting on Spain has become more sophisticated in recent years, and some of the country’s leading vivisectionists in politics are writing some very good books. Reed’s book is one of them. Reed observes Spain from the unique perspective of an inside outsider. He lives in Madrid and knows the country perfectly well. He worked as Spanish correspondent for The Economist from 2016 to 2021.
The book covers a wide range of key topics that will help you understand Spanish politics over the past 40 years. Historical memories of the constitutional arrangements of the 1970s, tensions between center and periphery, mainly in the Basque Country and Catalonia, the ups and downs of the monarchy, Franco’s rule, gender equality, ETA’s terrorism, the ordeal of the 2008 financial crisis and the resulting austerity measures. indignant movements of the past decade, and the rise of the far right in its final lust. Reed describes the period from 1975 to 2000 as a ‘golden age’ in Spanish history. In contrast, over the past 20 years, “the shadow has largely eclipsed the sun” (p. 12).
In my view, Reed idealizes the turn of the 1970s and the following decade. To be honest, that trend isn’t at all uncommon among boomers, coinciding with middle age. This was a period when ETA committed most of its crimes, as well as when the Spanish state sponsored terrorism against suspected ETA members on both sides of the Franco-Spanish border (1983-87). It is also a missed opportunity to develop a strong welfare state and well-resourced public housing stock. This is a topic I devote half a chapter to in my book. Moreover, in the last quarter of 2020Day The 20th century saw rampant corruption and political incompetence in national governments and regions, a central theme for Paul Preston. a betrayed people (2020). Although Spain’s economy has been relatively strong, its growth has been based on two pillars: tourism and housing development. Both have proven to be economically and environmentally unsustainable.
The Spaniards overcame enormous challenges in the 1970s. The transition to democracy was neither fair nor just, but it worked. The 1978 Constitution and the transition to democracy, despite all their limitations, were two of the best things that happened to Spain in 2020.Day century. But we’re 21 years oldcastle Count now. The obstacles to democracy in the 1970s were political and man-made. Those who built the wall, those who led the dictatorship and legitimized it in its aftermath were never held accountable. It may have been functional, but there was nothing exemplary about Spain’s transition, and people would do well to avoid complacency.
Reid criticizes Catalan and Basque nationalism and pro-independence sentiments. He applies Hobsbawm’s (1983) concept of the “invention of tradition” to Catalonia (2023, p.61). But Spain seems to be taken as a given, as if it were an immutable reality. in fact, every Nations are invented or socially constructed, if you like. They are “imagined communities” (Anderson, 1983), and this includes thinking of Spain as a nation, as well as the Basque Country and Catalonia. As Hobsbawm himself observed: Nation and nationalism after 1780, “Nationalism comes before the nation. States do not create states and nationalism, but rather the opposite” (1992, p. 10).
Last April, the two Basque nationalist parties (PNV-EAJ and EH Bildu) achieved their best results in history (they won two-thirds of the total votes), despite the fact that self-determination and independence were barely mentioned in their campaigns. In the following months, both the Spanish center-left (PSC-PSOE) and the right and far-right (PP and Vox) achieved their best results in years, at the expense of nationalist parties (Junts, ERC and CUP). Taken together, it was a crushing defeat in an election defined by low voter turnout.
The ethnic question is a recurring theme in Spanish politics. It comes and goes like the Guadiana River in Andalusia. (This expression will only be understood by Spaniards or people who know the country very well.) Since about 2010, Spanish politics has been one in which territorial adequacy under the 1978 Constitution has been an upper limit for some (the center) and a lower limit for others. (especially in Catalonia and the Basque Country). This is a highly political issue that not only affects national identity, but also affects less symbolic but more practical issues related to fiscal policy, resource distribution, and public investment. I can’t do that because it’s a political question. Solved, in the sense that it will never end, because it is part of what makes Spain different. This is a problem that can only be addressed or “brought on.”implication“Like Ortega said.
Inconsistency and uncertainty about the number of countries in Spain (one, three, more?) need not be a weakness. Disagreement can actually be turned into a source of strength, transforming uncertainty into diversity you can be proud of. In a democratic society, disagreement is not a problem. The problem lies in the way society and its leaders deal with it.
Reid writes, “Spain served as a mirror, often a distorted mirror, onto which observers projected their own visions and fantasies” (2023, p.3). That is the essence EsperpentoLiterary style that emerged in the early 20sDay century. in bohemian lighting, a 1920s play, Ramón del Valle-Inclán, makes Max Estrella reflect as he takes his last breath: “The tragic meaning of Spanish life can only be expressed through a systematically transformed aesthetic… Spain is a bizarre variant of European civilization… “The most beautiful image reflected in a concave mirror is absurd.” Let’s love the image reflected in front of the concave mirror. This is because the transformed image you receive when you hold a concave mirror to an idol is exactly that.
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