May Day in Spain

Thu, 07 May 2009 16:40:53 +0000

Protesters filled streets across the world last week for International Worker's Day, or May Day — and Spain, with the highest unemployment rate in the European Union, was no exception.

The economic crisis helped fuel tensions on an occasion with a history of violence, and police clashed with demonstrators in Greece, Turkey and Germany, but Spaniards in Madrid marked the occasion without violence.

Anniversary of train bombings highlights political divisions

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:21:29 +0000

Remembrance of the train bombings that struck Madrid five years ago — proving for the first time that terrorism inspired by Osama Bin Laden was a reality in Europe — was tainted by political divisions in Spain that show no sign of healing.

Following a few moments of silence in the Spanish parliament to remember the 191 people who lost their lives on commuter trains bombed during a Madrid morning, leaders of the governing Socialists and opposition People’s parties faced-off over the headline-grabbing economic worries.

Score settling signals new era

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:30:49 +0000

I’m not new to gunfire on my doorstep. I studied at USC’s campus between Downtown LA and Watts. That’s why this week’s news that a Romanian doorman had been gunned down in Madrid at a nightclub just around the corner from my office and across from the Royal Opera House was sadly familiar. It was also a dark reminder of how Spain has changed in little more than a decade.

Hooked on Spain

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:11:25 +0000

Castilian Spanish hit my ears as boldly as the freezing winter temperatures that greeted me on the Barajas Airport runway upon my January 1992 arrival to Madrid. And I didn’t get either of them to begin with.

I had fled the warmth and comfort of my hometown, Los Angeles, Calif., and the comparatively musical, Mexican-accented Spanish learned during four years of school study to find adventure in continental Europe. Best to base myself in a country where I could speak the local lingo, right?