8 December – Inmaculada Concepción
Sunday, December 8, 2024
 Today celebrates the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, Son of God.
Christians the world over consider today to be one of the most important days in the religious calendar. In many Roman Catholic countries, it is an official “feast day”.
[Image courtesy of Freepik]
Designation as public holiday
[Image courtesy of Reddit]
8 December is a registered public holiday in the following sovereign countries and territories:
“Puente”
 If a “national holiday” falls on a Sunday, the regional governments — the autonomous communities of Spain — can choose an alternate holiday, or they can allow local authorities to choose.
A “Puente” (bridge) is sometimes made between weekends and holidays that fall on Tuesday or Thursday. The “Puente” will then create a long weekend.
In 2024, 8 December falls on a Sunday, today, as a result of which Monday 9 December is also a “día festivo”.
[Image courtesy of La Sexta]
 Which is why banks, schools, universities, medical centres, government and council offices and many shops and businesses closed their doors last Thursday and won’t re-open them until next Tuesday!
Spanish-owned stores, such as Mercadona and Día remain closed on religious days.
It is noticeable, however, that foreign-owned supermarkets and DIY stores, such as Aldi, LIDL and Bauhaus, German; Al Campo, Carrefour, Supeco, Leroy Merlin and Conforama, all French; IKEA, Swedish; and JYSK, Danish, open as normal.
[Image courtesy of LinkedIn]
© The History Man
Acknowledgements:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Secret Serranía
Wikipedia
Images:
Freepik
La Sexta
LinkedIn
Reddit
Tags:
8 December, Al Campo, Aldi, banks, Bauhaus, businesses, Carrefour, Conforama, Día, “día festivo”, DIY stores, foreign-owned supermarkets, Freepik, government and council offices, History Man, IKEA, immaculate conception, Inmaculada Concepción, JYSK, La Sexta, Leroy Merlin, LIDL, LinkedIn, medical centres, Mercadona, national holiday, “Puente”, Reddit, schools, Secret Serranía, shops, Spanish-owned stores, Supeco, universities, Virgin Mary, Wikipedia, áéíóúü
1
Like
Published at 5:45 AM Comments (0)
Día de la Constitución – what a disappointment!
Friday, December 6, 2024
 One of the most significant días festivos in Spain – in fact a national holiday – appears to be of little importance to the Spaniards where I live in Andalucía.
As I write this at 19.30 on the day itself in my local bar, there is nobody about!
I’ve spoken to a few of my Spanish neighbours, and today is not important for them. They’re just glad to have a day off!
Why is it not important?
Día de la Constitución
 Today is a celebration of Spain emerging from the Franco dictatorship and becoming a fully-fledged democratic country for the first time since 1936, more than 80 years ago!
But here I sit, in my local and there’s nobody about!
***
Wait! It’s 19.40 and a bunch of Spanish hotel guests have just arrived in the bar.
 I’ve just spent 20 minutes talking to them. They’re from Merida in Extremadura, my second-favourite region in Spain, and they understand the significance of today. BTW, there are 40 of them from a walking group (senderistas).
For me, as a foreigner, who has experienced Spain since Franco, the golpe de estado in 1980, the economic crash in 2008 and the Covid-19 pandemic, and the current resurgence of the Spanish economy, I think that today is a very important day in the modern history of Spain.
But, that’s just me!
The locals seem only to be interested in a day off!
© The Travel Guru
Links:
Fortieth anniversary of Spain's failed coup - Secret Serrania de Ronda
Journey to the hard extreme - Extremadura - Part 1
Extremadura – Journey to the hard extreme – Part 2 - 2021
Acknowledgements:
RTVE
Sitios de España
Tags:
Andalucía, Covid-19 pandemic, Día de la Constitución, día festivo, economic crash, Extremadura, foreigner, Franco dictatorship, golpe de estado in 1980, Merida, national holiday, RTVE, resurgence of the Spanish economy, Sitios de España, Travel Guru
0
Like
Published at 8:58 PM Comments (0)
Spain’s General Franco died 49 years ago
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
By The History Man
 Tomorrow, November 20, is the 49th anniversary of the death of Spanish dictator General Franco. The History Man remembers the day Franco died in 1975 and writes a short history of the man who outlived by three decades his fascist contemporaries, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
General Franco is laid to rest [Photo: Daily Mail]
How I found out
In November 1975 I was a young teacher in Cheshire in the North West of England. I was in my second year of teaching Spanish. One Thursday Vicente, our somewhat dour Spanish assistant, rushed into the staff room, all smiles and talking excitedly in his native tongue. “El sinverguenza ha fallecido por fin" ("The bastard’s dead at last!”) he cried in Spanish. “Who’s dead?” I asked.
 Generalísimo Franco, Spain’s dictator for almost 40 years, had finally passed away after a lengthy illness. Vicent, as he became at a stroke, was thrilled to bits. Apart from all the atrocities that could be laid at Franco’s door, he had for forty years repressed the linguistic minorities in Spain. The Basques, the Catalans and the Galicians were forbidden to use their native languages euskera, catalán and gallego. So, also the Valencians. Vicent was a valenciano, so from that November day on he decided he would be known by his nombre valenciano, Vicent.
This policy of linguistic repression was somewhat odd, given that Francisco Franco Bahamonde was a gallego, born in El Ferrol in Galicia in 1892 into an upper-class military family.
Languages of Spain [Image courtesy of Reddit]
Franco's early career
Franco enrolled in the Spanish Army as a cadet and rose quickly through the ranks to become brigadier general aged 33, the youngest general in Spain.
After leading the suppression of the 1934 uprising in Asturias, Franco was briefly elevated to Chief of Army Staff before the 1936 election moved the leftist Popular Front into power, relegating him to the Canary Islands. After initial reluctance, he joined the July 1936 military coup which sparked the Spanish Civil War.
During the civil war, he commandeered Spain’s colonial army in Africa and, after the deaths of many of the rebel leadership, became his faction’s only leader, later appointed Generalísimo and Head of State in 1936.
 Three years later the Guerra Civil ended when the nationalists declared victory which extended Franco’s dictatorship over Spain through a period of repression of political opponents. His dictatorship’s use of forced labour, concentration camps, and executions led to between 30,000 and 50,000 deaths after the war. Combined with wartime killings, this brings the death toll of the so-called “White Terror” to between 100,000 and 200,000.
In post-Civil-War Spain, Franco ruled with more power than any Spanish leader before or since, and developed a cult of personality around his rule by founding the Movimiento Nacional. During World War II he maintained Spanish neutrality but supported the Axis, whose members Italy and Germany had supported him during the Civil War, in various ways, thereby damaging the country’s international reputation.
[Photo courtesy of Wikipedia]
Franco as Spanish dictator
During the start of the Cold War, Franco lifted Spain out of its mid-20th century economic depression through technocratic and economically liberal policies, presiding over a period of rampant growth known as the “Spanish miracle”.
Franco started struggling with Parkinson’s disease in the 1960s. Owing to advanced age and illness, in 1973 he resigned as prime minister, separated from the head of state office since 1967, but remained in power as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the military.
 Always a monarchist, Franco had restored the monarchy in his final years, by nominating Juan Carlos de Borbón as his successor to the role of head of state.
Two days after his death, Juan Carlos became King of Spain, and led the Spanish transition to democracy.
Juan Carlos with Franco [Libertad Digital]
Spain post-Franco
The legacy of Franco in Spanish history remains controversial as the nature of his dictatorship changed over time. His reign was marked by both brutal repression, with thousands killed, and economic prosperity, which greatly improved the quality of life in Spain.
His dictatorial style proved highly adaptable, which enabled wide-sweeping social and economic reform, while consistent pursuits during his reign centred on highly centralised government, authoritarianism, nationalism, national Catholicism, anti-freemasonry, and anti-communism.
 Franco was controversially buried in the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen), the huge mausoleum outside Madrid he had built by the forced labour of political prisoners to honour the dead of both sides in the Civil War. He was the only person interred there who did not die during the conflict.
After much campaigning, in October 2019 Franco’s remains were removed from the Valley and reburied alongside his wife, Carmen, in a cemetery near Madrid.
Valle de los Caídos [Photo: La Vanguardia]
Endpiece
Back in that staff room in Cheshire in 1975, I don’t think Vicent or I or anyone else thought that Spain’s transition to democracy and a constitutional monarchy would be so rapid and successful.
"The bastard’s dead, long live the King!"
© The History Man
With thanks to:
Daily Mail
La Vanguardia
Libertad Digital
Paul Whitelock
Wikipedia
Recommended reading:
Between Two Fires by David Baird (Maroma Press, 2008)
Guerra by Jason Webster (Black Swan, 2006)
The Spanish Civil War – A Very Short Introduction by Helen Graham (Oxford UP, 2005)
The Rise and Fall of King Juan Carlos I
Tags:
Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Between Two Fires, communism, David Baird, death, democracy, dictator, General Franco, Guerra, Helen Graham, Jason Webster, Juan Carlos, king, Paul Whitelock, Spain, Spanish Civil War, Valle de los Caídos, Valley of the Fallen, Wikipedia, World War II
0
Like
Published at 7:29 AM Comments (0)
11.11 at 11.11
Sunday, November 10, 2024
11 November is the date of the Armistice which signified the end of the First World War in 1918. It has become the date when all subsequent wars involving British and Commonwealth troops is remembered.
 Indeed, we call the nearest Sunday to the 11 November Remembrance Sunday or Poppy Sunday after the peace symbol which raises huge sums for charity via the Salvation Army Poppy Appeal.
In the UK the memorial services begin at 11.00 am with a minute’s silence.
Poppy Appeal [Photo: Royal British Legion]
11.11 at 11.11
 The exact moment of the signing of the Armistice by the Allies and the Germans was 11 minutes past 11 on 11 of November (the 11th month).
In Germany “am elften Eften um elf Uhr elf” is the start of Fasching, a celebration of parades, open air concerts, dressing up and drinking and eating in public.
Signing of the Armistice, 11 November 1918 [Photo Wikipedia]
Me and Remembrance Day
I was involved in Remembrance Sunday from a young age. As a Cub Scout and then a Scout, my troop always turned out wearing our woggles, neckerchiefs and berets and proudly sporting the badges we had earned sown onto our tunics.
As an adult I would dress up in suit and tie and overcoat and scarf to attend church with my young family.
Me and Fasching
I’ve been in Germany for Fasching a handful of times. Two occasions stick in my mind.
The first was Stuttgart in 1972 whilst on my “Year Abroad”. Along I went, romantically unattached at the time, to an event in the city, where there were three female students from the same university as me (Salford) who were also working in the city.
Jac was the fiancé of my best friend Dan, so no chance there.
Jan was a very attractive redhead that I quite fancied, but I didn’t have a clue where to begin.
Brenda had been my girlfriend during the first part of our six months in Spain. Suddenly she dumped me unceremoniously for a local Spanish guy. I don’t think we have spoken since.
Not an evening I enjoyed very much, I have to say.
 The second Fasching of note was in Cologne in 2007, when I visited my daughter Amy who was on her year abroad from Oxford, where she was studying German and English Literature.
 We had a great time together. Quite by chance one of my favourite groups of the time, Londonbeat, was performing on one of the stages. It was great to see them live.
Amy, 20 years on Chief Exec.Tutors United [LinkedIn]
Londonbeat [Photo and audio courtesy of You Tube]
Amy and I shifted some beer that night, but we had a great time and no hangovers the next day.
Probably down to the strict Reinheitsgebot (German Purity Laws) which all beers must adhere to.
Endnote
I’ve not been to Fasching since. Oktoberfest, yes, but that’s another story for another day …..
© The History Man
Links:
Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking About You (Special Extended Mix)
LINDOR, Fúndete de placer – 6s - Londonbeat's 25 greatest hits
Acknowledgements:
LinkedIn
Royal British Legion
YouTube
Wikipedia
Tags:
11 November, 1918, Allies,“am elften Eften um elf Uhr elf”, Amy, Armistice, badges, berets, British and Commonwealth troops, Cologne, Cub Scout, English Literature, Fasching, First World War, German, German Purity Laws, Germany, Londonbeat, memorial service, minute’s silence, neckerchiefs, Oktoberfest, Oxford, Poppy Sunday, Reinheitsgebot, Remembrance Sunday, Salvation Army Poppy Appeal, Scout, Stuttgart, The History Man, Tutors United, woggle
1
Like
Published at 6:03 PM Comments (0)
15 August – día festivo nacional
Thursday, August 15, 2024
Sí, señor, it’s yet another bank holiday in Spain. This time it’s an important religious one, Día de la Asunción, commemorating the ascent of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, into Heaven.
Background
Whilst some d ías festivos are optional – it’s normally the comunidad autónoma, or region, that decides – 15 August is obligatory throughout the Spanish territory, ie the mainland; the two island groups, the Balearics and the Canary Islands; and the two enclaves in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla.
15 August was established as Día de la Asunción by Pope Pius XII in 1950, the year I was born.
This year, 2024, 15 August falls on a Thursday. This means that many workers will take the Friday off as a “puente”, with the agreement of their employers, of course. This makes for a long weekend with many Spanish families going away for 3 or 4 nights, to the coast or to the mountains.
Días festivos nacionales still to come in 2024
12 October Día de la Hispanidad
1 November Todos los Santos (All Saints)
6 December Día de la Constitución
25 December Día de Navidad
© The History Man
Interesting reading:
Spain's forthcoming long 'bridge' holiday weekend - Secret Serrania de Ronda
Photos:
El Faro de Ceuta
SUR in English
Wikipedia
Tags:
1 November, 6 December, 12 October, 15 August, 25 December, All Saints, Balearics, bank holiday in Spain, Canary Islands, Ceuta, Día de la Asunción, Día de la Constitución, Día de la Hispanidad, Día de Navidad, día festivo, día festivo nacional, días festivos nacionales, El Faro de Ceuta, enclave, Heaven, Jesus Christ, Melilla, Pope Pius XII, puente, SUR in English, The History Man, Todos los Santos, Virgin Mary, Wikipedia
1
Like
Published at 10:40 AM Comments (0)
Women political leaders
Thursday, August 8, 2024
 Some 36% of countries have had female heads of state or heads of government. Significant ones that come to mind are Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of the United Kingdom for 11 years; Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany for 16 years; Golda Meir, prime minister of Israel for five years; Indira Ghandi, India, 15 years; Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan, five years; Corazon Aquino, Philippines, six years; Mary Robinson, president of Ireland, seven years; Julia Gillard, Australia, three years; and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Argentina, 12 years.
 But none of these was the first. That honour goes to Sirimavo Bandaranaike who became prime minister of Ceylon, later Sri Lanka, in 1960. She took over from her husband who was assassinated. She served four terms, totalling 18 years.
Facts
36% of the world’s 195 nations, ie only about 70, have had a female head of government or head of state.
The first was Sirimavo Bandaranaike who was elected prime minister of Ceylon, later Sri Lanka, in 1960.
In 1980 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir of Iceland became the first woman in the world to be elected head of state in a national election.
Of the 10 most populous countries, the United States, Russia, China, Mexico, and Nigeria had never elected a woman leader, although Claudia Sheinbaum was recently elected president of Mexico, and Kamala Harris is surely poised to be elected the first female president of the United States in November 2024.
Significant women leaders in Europe
The Iron Lady - Margaret Thatcher
 Margaret “Mrs” Thatcher, daughter of a grocer, became leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party in 1975 and in 1979 she became the first ever woman prime minister of the United Kingdom.
She survived her potential demise after one term by declaring war on Argentina when that country invaded the disputed Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas), which the South American republic claimed was theirs, and still does, despite the archipelago being British since 1833.
Thatcher dismantled the welfare state; privatised rail and bus companies, and energy providers, ie electricity, gas and water; and was anti-Europe, although the UK remained a member of the Common Market, the European Union’s name at that time.
Mrs Thatcher, the Iron Lady, was ousted by her own party in 1990, to be replaced as PM by John Major.
“Mutti” – Angela Merkel
 Angela Merkel grew up in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). She was effectively an “Ossie”, yet she became the dominant politician in the re-united Germany, ruling as chancellor for 16 years, from 2005 to 2021.
"Mutti" Merkel presided over a strong economy, the Deutsche Wirtschaftswunder (German Economic Miracle), although in her later years, her policy of opening Germany’s borders to refugees fleeing from Africa and Eastern Europe has tarnished her legacy.
Both these women leaders were admired around the world, less so within their own countries.
The future
Who will be the next woman to have a major impact in Europe?
 Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-wing party National Rally (Rallye Nationale) in France appears to be a “busted flush”, after this summer’s general election, when in the second round of voting, the left and centre-left parties “ganged up on her”.
 Giorgia Meloni is an Italian politician who has been prime minister of Italy since October 2022, the first woman to hold this position. She has led the right-wing populist Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d'Italia - FdI) political party since 2014. Forbes magazine ranked Meloni as the fourth most powerful woman in the world in 2023. In 2024 she was listed among the most influential people in the world by Time magazine.
Gerardo Elorriaga, writing for Diario Sur on 28 July 2024, considered the above two women to be significant. Others he dismissed as largely irrelevant in terms of their likely impact on world politics.
He considered Thatcher and Merkel to have been massively important figures in European politics, and Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto and Sheikh Hasina Wajed, in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh respectively.
  
Benazzir Bhutto Indira Gandhi Sheikh Hasina Wajed
Stop Press: In the wake of the current civil unrest in Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina Wajed has been forced to resign. Her place has been taken by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who heads an interim government.
Sources:
Diario Sur
Encyclopedia.com
New York Times
Wikipedia
Photographs:
Britannica
El Mundo
France24
Heroinas
Wikimujeres
Wikipedia
www.deutschland.de
Tags:
Angela Merkel, Benazir Bhutto, Britannica, Claudia Sheinbaum, Corazon Aquino, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Diario Sur, El Mundo, Encyclopedia, France24, Giorgia Meloni, Golda Meir, Heroinas, Indira Gandhi, Julia Gillard, Kamala Harris, Margaret Thatcher, Marine Le Pen, Mary Robinson, New York Times, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Wikimujeres, Wikipedia, www.deutschland.de
0
Like
Published at 7:08 AM Comments (1)
Election Fever 2024
Friday, July 5, 2024
There are an unprecedented number of general elections around the world scheduled for 2024. Among these were/are China, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, the UK, and the USA.
Foreword
Not all of these countries are democracies, eg China and Russia and, some might say, Hungary.
Of the western democracies, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and the USA are of particular interest. France is currently in the middle of theirs (they have two polling dates in their system); Spain has already had its general election, with an inconclusive result; the UK is going to the polls today, 4 July); and the USA has its elections in November.
Out of 20 countries in Europe, five have lurched/are lurching to the right, namely Austria, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain.
Is this a concern? I think not.
Austria is not an important player.
As a founder member of the original six countries that formed the Common Market, France is significant, but it’s looking like Marine Le Pen and her right-wing party, National Rallye, will not get into government as all the centre and left parties are allied against her.
Italy is another founder member of the Common Market, but the recently elected Giorgia Meloni is not so extreme as the parties of the Right bin other countries.
In the Dutch elections earlier this year, the right won, but did not gain sufficient seats to form a government. The Netherlands were also in at the start of the Common Market.
 Spain has a socialist-led coalition government. The Partido Popular is not effective, and their leader Alberto Nuñex Feijoo is not charismatic. They have refused to join forces with Santiago Abascal’s extreme right party VOX. In my view, as a long-term resident of Spain, and a keen student of politics and history, this move to the right will not last. The three PP governments since Spain returned to democracy following the death of General Franco, have been poor.
Thursday 4th July, 2024
 Also Independence Day in the USA, today is the date of the British General Election. Opinion Polls have been telling us for weeks that the Labour Party, led by Sir Keir Starmer, will win with a massive majority, possibly sending the Conservative Party into oblivion. If, the Reform Party, previously, UKIP, led once again by Nigel Farage, takes votes from disgruntled Tories, it looks even worse for the governing party, led by Rishi Sunak, the party’s fifth leader in 14 years.
Since David (now Lord) Cameron foolishly agreed to hold a simple yes/no referendum on leaving the European Union, the party and its several governments has failed on so many fronts, that many Tory MPs will surely be relieved to no longer be in government, when they lose their “safe” seats today. Some have already announced that they are standing down, in order to avoid the embarrassment of defeat at the poll.
Thursday 4 July 2024, 11.00 pm
 Polling stations in the UK have just closed. The official exit poll predicts a landslide for the Labour Party. Labour 410; Conservative 131; Liberal Democrats 61; Reform 13; SNP 10; Greens 2; others 23.
This is only a poll based on 130 constituencies, yet in the last five general elections, the exit poll has been uncannily accurate.
I’ve just got myself an ice-cream and am going to settle down to watch the first actual results come in …..
More later …..
Thursday 5 July 2024, 05.00 am
It’s six hours since polling stations closed, and the count started.
 The state of play, at 05.45 am, as Rishi Sunak retains his seat, with 436 out of 650 results declared, is Labour 308; Conservative 67; Liberal Democrats 40; Reform 4; Green 4; others 14.
The Tories have lost a record 11 cabinet ministers namely Alex Chalk, Therese Coffey, David Davies, Oliver Dowden, Liam Fox, Gillian Keegan, Brandon Lewis, Johnny Mercer, Penny Mordaunt, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Grant Shapps.
I’m going to take a break – I need a cuppa and an early breakfast …..
Friday 5 July 2024, 06.00 am - Labour wins the 2024 General Election
 In the short time I was away in the kitchen Labour achieved the 326 seats it needed to win the election. Sir Keir Starmer is the new Prime Minister.
Friday 5 July 2024, 06.30 am
With results in from 550 seats – 100 to go – Labour has 373; Conservatives 91; Liberal Democrats 51; Reform 6; Green 5; others 24.
Friday 5 July 2024, 07.30 am
Labour reach 400 seats with just 34 still to declare.
Friday 5 July 2024, 12.00 noon
The mood in the UK is positive and hopeful following the momentous General Election on Thursday. With 649 of the 650 seats declared, it is clear that Labour has routed the Conservatives and has a massive majority in the House of Commons.
With one result to come, this is the situation:
Labour 412
Conservative 121
Liberal Democrat 71
Scottish National Party 9
Sinn Fein (N.Ireland) 7
Independent 6
Reform UK 5
Democratic Unionist Party (N. Ireland) 5
Green 4
Plaid Cymru (Wales) 4
others 5.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow is round 2 of the French Elections. An alliance of left-wing parties is hoping to prevent the right-wing Rallye National winning a majority.
© The History Man
Sources:
Cornish Times
El Periodico
France 24
Google Imagenes
Independent
Reuters
SKY News "Election Night"
Wikipedia
Tags:
Alex Chalk, Brandon Lewis, Conservative, David Davies, general election, Gillian Keegan, Grant Shapps, Greens, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Johnny Mercer,Keir Starmer, Labour, Liam Fox, Liberal Democrat, Oliver Dowden, opinion poll, Penny Mordaunt, Reform, Rishi Sunak, SNP, Therese Coffey, vote, voting,
0
Like
Published at 8:23 AM Comments (0)
Felipe VI clocks up 10 years as King of Spain
Thursday, June 20, 2024
It came as a shock when, 10 years ago King Juan Carlos I, abdicated in favour of his son and heir to the Spanish throne.
"Why?" many asked, but it soon began to emerge that Juan Carlos, king since 1975 when the dictator Franco died, had been a naughty boy.
 Meanwhile, his son Felipe VI, now aged 56, has been head of state for a decade. Amid recent speculation about the state of his marriage to Letizia, an Australian commoner, Felipe VI has been a model of integrity. When the truth about the corrupt behaviour of his father emerged, Felipe disowned his father, who has been living in exile for the last decade.
At his recent trial in London, Juan Carlos was found not guilty, yet there remain question marks about his integrity and his apparent wealth towards the end of his reign. "Hero to zero" in just 25 years, for Juan Carlos played a huge role in converting Spain from a republican state back into a constitutional monarchy.
The previous king, Alfonso XIII, his grandfather, was forced into exile in the 1930s, effectively leaving Spain as a republic for some 45 years, even though he did not abdicate.
The ensuing provisional government evolved into the relatively short-lived Second Spanish Republic. The Spanish Civil War began in 1936 and ended on 1 April 1939 with the victory of General Francisco Franco and his coalition of allied organisations commonly referred to as the Nationalists.
Franco appointed Juan Carlos I de Borbón as his successor, and it was the new king who was credited with presiding over Spain's transition from dictatorship to democracy by fully endorsing political reforms.
Impatient with the pace of democratic reforms, the new king, known for his formidable personality, dismissed Carlos Arias Navarro and appointed the reformer Adolfo Suárez as President of the Government in 1977.
In 1978 Spain was officially declared a constitutional monarchy once more after some 45 years as a republic. It remains so to this day. There is little desire in Spain to abolish the monarchy.
 So, Felipe VI has been celebrating his decade on the throne, with Queen Letizia and their two daughters, Leonor, The Princess of Asturias, elder daughter of the King and heir to the throne, and The Infanta Sofía, younger daughter of the King.
© The History Man
For more information about the demise of Juan Carlos I, click here
Acknowledgements:
ABC
El Español
El Mundo
Paul Whitelock
Wikipedia
www.eyeonspain.com
Tags:
ABC, Adolfo Suárez, Alfonso XIII, Carlos Arias Navarro, constitutional monarchy, El Español, El Mundo, Felipe VI, Francisco Franco, head of state, heir to the throne, Infanta Sofía, Juan Carlos, Leonor, Nationalists, Paul Whitelock, Princess of Asturias, Queen Letizia, republic, Second Spanish Republic, Spanish Civil War, Wikipedia, www.eyeonspain.com
1
Like
Published at 9:17 AM Comments (1)
Between “The Rock” and a hard place
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
 Gibraltar has been in in the news lately. As a British colony or protectorate, “The Rock” has been “in limbo” since the citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016, and finally did so on 1 January four years later.
A Problem Resolved?
 This meant that Spain had a border with a non-EU country for the first time since it joined the then European Economic Community (EEC) in 1986. The other states with borders to Spain, namely Portugal, France, and Andorra, are all still EU member states.
Talks have been taking place between the relevant politicians in Gibraltar, the UK, Spain and in Brussels in an attempt to come up with an agreement so that Gibraltar, La Línea and San Roque (both Spain) and the whole of the Campo de Gibraltar region benefit from closer collaboration.
 On 12 April after a meeting of all parties, including Gibraltar’s first minister Fabian Picardo, the executive vice-president of the EU and the foreign secretaries of the UK and Spain, agreement on a way forward was reached.
According to the joint communiqué released, all that remains is to spell out in black and white the agreement which affects the airport, movement of goods and mobility of people.
“The devil is in the detail”, as they say in English. The future prosperity of the whole region is at stake.
© The History Man
Acknowledgements:
Pedro Garcia Vazquez (7TV)
Publicaciones del Sur
Ronda Semanal
Photos:
Britannica
Europa Sur
YouTube
Tags:
7TV, airport, Andorra, Brussels, Campo de Gibraltar, EEC, EU, European Economic Community, European Union, Fabian Picardo, first minister of Gibraltar, France, Gibraltar, History Man, mobility of people, movement of goods, Paul Whitelock, Pedro Garcia Vazquez, Portugal, Publicaciones del Sur, Ronda Semanal, San Roque, Spain, “The Rock”, UK, United Kingdom
2
Like
Published at 7:10 AM Comments (0)
20th Anniversary of 11-M – The Madrid Bombings
Monday, March 11, 2024
By The History Man
 Today is the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Madrid train bombings (known in Spain as 11-M).
In the morning rush hour of Thursday 11 March 2004 a series of coordinated, almost simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías (commuter train system) of Madrid hit the Spanish capital, killing 193 people and injuring around 2,050.
Overview
 The bombings constituted the deadliest terrorist attack carried out in the history of Spain and the deadliest in Europe since Lockerbie in 1988. The attacks were carried out by individuals who opposed Spanish involvement in the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
The attacks took place three days before Spain’s general elections were scheduled.
Controversy about the handling and representation of the bombings by the government arose, with Spain's two main political parties—the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and the Partido Popular (PP)—accusing each other of concealing or distorting evidence for electoral reasons.
In the elections, on Sunday 14 March, Prime Minister José María Aznar’s Partido Popular was defeated. The PP leaders claimed evidence indicating the Basque separatist organisation ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) was responsible for the bombings, while the opposition claimed that the PP was trying to prevent the public from knowing it had been an Islamist attack, which would be interpreted as the direct result of Spain's involvement in Iraq, an unpopular war which the government had entered without the approval of the Spanish Parliament.
The scale and precise planning of the attacks reactivated memories of the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York (9-11).
Following the Madrid attacks, there were nationwide demonstrations and protests demanding that the government "tell the truth." The prevailing opinion of political analysts is that the Aznar administration lost the general elections because of the handling and representation of the terrorist attacks, rather than because of the bombings per se.
Diary of an atrocity
 During the peak of Madrid rush hour on the morning of Thursday, 11 March 2004, ten explosions occurred aboard four commuter trains (cercanías). The date, 11 March, led to the abbreviation of the incident as "11-M".
All the affected trains were travelling on the same line and in the same direction between Alcalá de Henares and the Atocha station in Madrid. It was later reported that thirteen improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had been placed on the trains.
Bomb disposal teams (TEDAX) arriving at the scenes of the explosions detonated two of the remaining three IEDs in controlled explosions, but the third was not found until later in the evening, having been stored inadvertently with luggage taken from one of the trains. The following timeline of events comes from the judicial investigation.
All four trains had departed the Alcalá de Henares station between 07:01 and 07:14. The explosions took place between 07:37 and 07:40.
At 08:00, emergency relief workers began arriving at the scenes of the bombings. The police reported numerous victims and spoke of 50 wounded and several dead.
By 08:30 the emergency ambulance service, SAMUR (Servicio de Asistencia Municipal de Urgencia y Rescate), had set up a field hospital at the Daoiz y Velarde sports facility.
Later the death toll had risen to 193 confirmed dead victims, and around 2,050 injured.
Personal recollections
 I vividly remember that morning. I was in the middle of a residential education conference at Haydock Park Racecourse on Merseyside. On the morning of the bombings, I had just had breakfast when news of the atrocity broke.
In the course of watching the TV news and reading about it online, I broke down. I was weeping uncontrollably. Why?
A kindly primary headteacher I knew well asked me what was up. I told him. I was distraught. I couldn’t explain my reaction, other than that I had had a close relationship with Spain over many years, had been to Madrid a few times and knew the main station Atocha. It was all a bit too close to home.
He advised me to pull out of the conference and go home, which is what I did, eventually.
I attended the first session, but couldn’t concentrate, so took my leave at the coffee break.
With hindsight I’d had a nervous breakdown and the following week was sent on gardening leave with full pay.
There was turmoil within the education department I worked for (Sefton Council) and, fully unconnected with my breakdown, by Easter of the following year, I and a half a dozen other schools advisers had been made redundant and offered early retirement with access to our work pensions.
11-M aftermath
 Back to the 11-M bombings in Madrid, the culprits were identified as Jihadi sympathisers, who, when discovered in an apartment building in a suburb of Madrid, blew themselves up. Later, other co-conspirators were identified, tried in court and gaoled.
So, today is a poignant anniversary. There has been blanket coverage in the Spanish Press, on TV and online.
It’s certainly an event I shall never forget.
© The History Man
Acknowledgements:
ABC
At the Races
Diario Sur
El Diario
Paul Whitelock
Racecourse hospitality
RTVE
Wikipedia
Tags:
9-11, 11-M, 11 March 2004, Alcalá de Henares, Atocha, bomb disposal, bombings, cercanías, Daoiz y Velarde, Diario Sur, early retirement, gardening leave, Haydock Racecourse, History Man, IEDs, improvised explosive devices, Iraq, Jihadi, José María Aznar, Lockerbie, Madrid, Merseyside, nervous breakdown, PP, PSOE, Paul Whitelock, prime minister, redundant, SAMUR, Sefton Council, Servicio de Asistencia Municipal de Urgencia y Rescate, TEDAX, Wikipedia
0
Like
Published at 6:30 AM Comments (1)
Spam post or Abuse? Please let us know
|
|