The Sobremesa Podcast

Pablo Picasso’s Guernica is probably the most well known painting of the 20th century, and has become a universal symbol of the horrors of war. But it has also been the subject of renewed controversy in recent weeks in Spain - over a yet another request by the Basque government for the painting to be displayed at least temporarily in Bilbao. The current request comes ahead of the 90th anniversary of the bombing that the painting evokes - when during the Civil War the Nazi Condor Legion unleashed a relentless aerial assault on the Basque town.The long-running debate over moving the painting to the Basque Country centres on competing claims, with Basque sovereignists arguing that it should be displayed in the same location as the events it commemorates, against Spanish government’s insistence it remain at Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid for reasons of conservation and national heritage. Today on Sobremesa, we discuss the controversy and the relationship between the work’s power and universality and the concrete, historical atrocity inflicted on Gernika the town. To do so Eoghan is joined by Brittany Kennnedy, Senior Professor of Practice at Tulane University’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Brittany is the author of Between Distant Modernities: Performing Exceptionality in Francoist Spain and the Jim Crow South.Please remember if you like what we are producing, consider making a donation to our buy me a coffee page:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey⁠

With the announcement from deputy prime minister Yolanda Diaz that she would not be standing as a candidate in next year’s general election, Spain’s radical left currently looks leaderless and increasingly fragmented. In this context, attention has turned towards Gabriel Rufian as a potential new left-wing figurehead. Yet there is one major issue: Rufian, a charismatic,working class Catalan MP is also pro-independence. Indeed, eight years ago he was one of the most visible faces in the Spanish parliament representing the attempted unilateral push for Catalan independence.Please remember if you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation to our buy me a coffee page:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

On this episode Alan is joined by Gregorio Alonso, Associate Professor in Hispanic History at the University of Leeds. We explore the 1812 Cádiz Constitution, a landmark document born in a time of siege and upheaval.Gregorio takes us through the tensions between liberalism and Catholicism, the shaping of Hispanidad, and how these ideas influenced Spain and the loss of its empire. This conversation uncovers how faith, freedom, and imperial identity collide in one of Spain’s most fascinating historical documents .Please donate at to make the podcast sustainable:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Hours after the United States and Israel bombed Iran on Saturday morning, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez released a statement which read: “We reject the unilateral military action of the United States and Israel that entails an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order...We demand immediate de-escalation and full respect for international law." He also condemned the Iranian retaliation missile and drone attacks on neighbouring Arab states.Apart from the Norwegian foreign minister’s condemnation, Sanchez stood alone among European leaders in his willingness to call out US-Israeli aggression. Indeed as he attended the Goyas film awards on Saturday night, he told reporters: ““We are witnessing a violation of international law…Violence only produces more violence.”To do so Eoghan is joined by Bécquer Seguín - associate professor of Hispanic Studies at John Hopkins University and who covers Spanish current affairs for the Nation Magazine. Just to note our discussion was recorded on Friday 27th of February - the day before the US-Israeli military aggression against Iran.Please remember if you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation to our buy me a coffee page:⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Today's guest is historian Helen Graham, who discusses her research into the brutal prison system under Francoist dictatorship. Her work shows how mass incarceration after the Spanish Civil War was only one part of a much wider system of control and surveillance — one that reached beyond prison walls into families, communities, and everyday life, shaping how millions of people experienced dictatorship.Helen Graham is Professor Emerita of Modern European History at Royal Holloway, University of London, and the recipiant of the Walter Benjamin International Memorial Prize 2025-6. Amongst other works, she is the author of ‘The Spanish Republic at War 1936–1939’, The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction (a new edition of which is out this summer) and the forthcoming ‘After the Spanish civil war: the twentieth century through five antifascist lives’Please remember if you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation to our buy me a coffee page:⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremeyHelen's essay on prisons: https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/en/publications/not-recognizing-the-political-analysing-francos-long-dictatorship/ Also the trailer for film we discuss, Modelo 77: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1e-NJObVFQAnd the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKVktmqsx4Q&rco=1

Originally released 01 August 2024On the eve of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, Barcelona was set to host the Popular Olympic games. Bringing together athletes from around the world under the banner of anti-fascism, the event was meant to take place just weeks before the Nazi Olympics in Berlin. Yet as the athletes gathered for the opening ceremony, the military coup was launched, in turn, leading to revolution in the city's streets.In this podcast, Catherine talks to James Stout, author of 'The Popular Front'. Barcelona and the 1936 Popular Olympics', about the organisation of the event, the nature of popular sport in Catalonia, and how the Popular Olympics can be seen as both one of the first casualties of the Spanish Civil War and also one of the first great examples of international anti-fascist solidarity and cooperation.If you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at our Buy Me a Coffee page here - ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Originally published: 12/07/22This week's guest is sociologist Nicole Iturriaga who Eoghan talked to about her new book 'Exhuming Violent Histories: Forensics, Memory and Rewriting Spain's Past'. The book provides a detailed case study of Spain’s best-known historical memory organization, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory which since 2000 has been responsible for exhuming many of Spain's Franco-era mass graves. In the book, Nicole argues that part of the association's success has been due to its use of a depoliticised approach, i.e. using forensic science and family testimony, rather than overtly political arguments, to force the issue of Francoist state terror back onto the public agenda. It is available to buy on amazon (including in a very reasonable ebook version): https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B094YXN968/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0

Jim Jump, the editor of the poetry anthology "Poems from Spain: British and Irish International Brigaders on the Spanish Civil War", joins Alan to discuss the collection of poems that stretch the length Spanish Civil War and after. All poems were written by men and women participating in the International Brigades. They cover the lives of the poets themselves, recite poetry from the book and discuss why it was so prominent in the war. The collection can be brought from the publishers Lawrence and Wishart's website hereIf you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at our Buy Me a Coffee page here - ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

2025 was the year Spain stood out in Europe over its clear opposition to the Israeli genocide in Gaza, as well as over its critical stance towards the Trump-led military spending spree in NATO.  With the fall of the Social Democrats in Germany, the country’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez also reinforced his position within the EU as the major figurehead of the continent’s centre-left. Yet, at home Sanchez has faced a series of crises and scandals within his own Socialist Workers Party while his complicated parliamentary majority hung by a thread while far-right Vox surged in the polls.To discuss the year’s events, Alan and Eoghan are joined by regular end of year guest IE university professor and Galician beach bar owner Joe Haslam. If you like what we produce, and want more, please think of contributing and making the podcast sustainable going forward:⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Spain is the European Union’s largest fruit and vegetable producer, with exports topping €18 billion in 2024. Yet those whose work sustains this lucrative sector face widespread underpayment and labour rights violations - with some facing extreme exploitation bordering on modern slavery.As Eoghan tells Alan, this model should not be seen as some antiqued part of the Spanish economy but rather in its employment of digital surveillance techniques and with the growing financialization of the agricultural sector, Spain is at the cutting edge of European farming.If you like what we produce, and want more, please think of contributing and making the podcast sustainable going forward:⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremeyThe investigation discussed in this episode:1. Revealed: EU Farm Subsidy ‘Bankrolls’ Widespread Labour Abusehttps://www.desmog.com/2025/09/29/revealed-eu-farm-subsidy-bankrolls-widespread-labour-abuse/ 2. In Spain, Farmworkers Are Dying in the Heat https://jacobin.com/2025/10/spain-farmworkers-heatstroke-climate-crisis

As Spain marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of dictator Francisco Franco, Eoghan sits down for a wide-range interview with Sebastiaan Faber, Professor of Hispanic Studies at Oberlin College and author of Exhuming Franco. They discuss the very contested institutional, political and ideological legacies of the dictatorship - as well as the continued fascination with Franco on the far-right in the United States. ⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

In this episode of The Sobremesa Podcast, Alan McGuire speaks with historian Dr. Jorge Marco, author of Paradise in Hell: Alcohol and Drugs in the Spanish Civil War (University of Wales Press).They explore how intoxication shaped the Spanish Civil War. Not just on the battlefield, but in propaganda, gender roles, and moral control. From the image of the “drunken enemy” to the ideal of the sober, disciplined soldier, Marco reveals how alcohol and drugs became tools for defining masculinity, nationhood, and the enemy.If you like what we produce, and want more, please think of contributing and making the podcast sustainable going forward:https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week we discuss the use of football as a propaganda tool under the Francisco Franco dictatorship, concentrating in particular on the cases of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Eoghan speaks to historian Alejandro Quiroga, author of the book the book ‘Football and National Identities in Spain’. If you like what we are producing and want more, please consider making a donation to our Buy me a coffee page. All contributions help make the podcast financially sustainable. Donate here!

In the later years of Franco’s regime, Spain was beginning to change socially, culturally, and economically. But beneath the surface of so-called “soft dictatorship” the state continued to torture, imprison, and silence those who didn’t fit its moral order and catholic ideology.In this episode, we revisit a conversation with Sonia Cuesta Maniar, a doctoral researcher at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, whose work examines how the Spanish state persecuted gay and trans people during the late Francoist period, turning them into public enemies that threatened the social order of the country.We talk about how the regime used psychiatry, imprisonment, and humiliation as tools of control, and how these acts of violence were justified.Re-released as part of our Francoism series, this episode reminds us that the dictatorship was not the “soft” authoritarianism it’s sometimes remembered as, but a system built on fear, repression, and the erasure of those who lived outside its narrow vision of Spain.The Sobremesa Podcast is completely independent; no ads, no sponsors, just time, research, and a lot of coffee. If you enjoy what we do, consider supporting us through Buy Me a Coffee so we can keep the podcast sustainable.Donate here!

In this episode of The Sobremesa Podcast, Alan McGuire and Eoghan Gilmartin are joined by Barcelona-based Italian journalist Tiare Gatti Mora. they discuss Spain’s relationship with Palestine and Israel.The conversation explores the political and moral dynamics behind Spain’s arms embargo, its efforts to help stop the genocide in Gaza, and the possible calculations shaping Pedro Sánchez’s stance on Palestine. This, of course, takes into account Spain's membership of NATO, its relationship with the Trump administration and European politics.Later they also compare Spain’s position with Italy’s response to the crisis, reflecting on how both countries’ left movements and governments have engaged with the question of solidarity.This episode offers a deep, timely analysis of how the European left have acted, and what its limitations are, when responding to one of the biggest war crimes of our time.If you want to help make the podcast more sustainable and help us pay for the programs we need to produce the podcast, please consider buying us a beer! The link is ⁠here

In this episode of The Sobremesa Podcast, we explore the complex and often contradictory history of Catalonia under Franco with historian Dr. Andrew Dowling.We unpack how the Francoist regime initially crushed Catalan language and culture, only to later co-opt selective elements for its own purposes — reshaping Catalan identity under authoritarian rule.We also examine the uncomfortable truths of the period: the early support of the Catalan upper class for the Franco regime, and how this changed in the face of growing repression and political decay.As the dictatorship entered its final, violent phase, a surprising alliance emerged — Catalan communists and the Catholic Church working together to organise resistance and push for democratic change.This episode is about memory, identity, collaboration, and struggle — and how Catalonia’s past continues to shape its present.🎙️ Support The Sobremesa PodcastWe love making The Sobremesa Podcast — bringing you deep dives into Spanish politics, culture, and history with voices you might not hear elsewhere.But here’s the truth:We have no external funding.We’re entirely volunteer-run — researching, writing questions, recording, editing, and promoting each episode ourselves.Your support helps us cover the basics:🎧 Recording platforms🎛️ Editing softwareIf you value independent, grassroots media that brings Spain to a wider audience — please consider donating to our Buy us a Coffee page. Even a few euros make a real difference and keep us going.We do this because we care — but we can’t do it alone.Gracias siempre for listening and supporting us.

This week's guest is historian Nicolás Sesma whose book on the francoist dictatorship, ‘Ni Una, Ni Grande, Ni Libre’, was named by El País as one of the top ten books published in Spanish in 2024. The book offers a brilliant re-telling of the four decades of the Francoist regime, placing particular emphasis on how a changing international context impacted its development. It also interrogates and dismantles many of the cliches and received truths around the dictatorship - such as its supposed transformation into a milder or softer dictatorship in its later decades.Nicolás is Professor of Spanish History and Civilization at the Université Grenoble Alpes.If you like what we are producing, please consider donating to out Buy Me a Coffee page: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Ten days ago Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party was rocked by a major corruption scandal - when the party’s head of organization Santos Cerdan became implicated in a massive graft operation involving the Spanish construction giant Acciona.The case has called into question Sánchez’s political judgement and credibility - in what is the most serious crisis of his seven year stint as head of government. It also brings to mind the worst crony capitalist practices that have plagued Spanish institutions for decades. To discuss the political importance of this scandal, Alan and Eoghan are joined by Joe Haslam, professor at IE University. And please remember if you like what we are producing and want more, think about supporting us at our buy me a coffee page here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

In this special live episode, recorded at the launch of The Last Days of Alicante, Alan McGuire is joined by Eoghan and a close audience of family and friends to discuss his debut poetry collection. The conversation explores the themes behind the book, from tracing the scars of the Spanish Civil War in modern-day Spain to the life and legacy of Miguel Hernández. With audience questions and reflections, this intimate event celebrates poetry, memory, and resistance.You can buy a copy of the book here It is also available on other websites and in various independent bookstores. The publisher is Culture Matters culturematters.org.ukIf you like what we produce, and want more, please think of contributing and making the podcast sustainable going forward:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

In this episode, historian Pablo Sánchez León joins Alan to explore the powerful and often disturbing alliance between the Catholic Church and the Franco regime. We go beyond the conventional narrative of the Spanish Civil War to uncover how the conflict functioned as a modern Catholic holy war — framed not just as a political struggle, but as a divine crusade to purify Spain.We discuss how anti-clerical violence was weaponised by Francoist propaganda to dehumanise Republicans as non-Spanish, even non-human, casting them as enemies of the faith rather than political opponents. Pablo explains how this fusion of religion and repression ultimately turned inward, contributing to the regime’s long-term instability.We also look at how these narratives still shape Spain’s political memory today, and why the Church’s complicity — and later dissent — remains an unresolved part of the democratic transition.If you like what we produce, and want more, please think of contributing and making the podcast sustainable going forward:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Francisco Franco and Sobremesa Podcast is launching a series of episodes examining in detail and from various angles Francoism and the dictatorial regime built during his 40 year rule over Spain from the end of the Civil War in 1939 to his death in 1975. To start the series, we are delighted to be rejoined by renowned historian and biographer Paul Preston who discusses his monumental biography of Franco, offering a fascinating psychological portrait of the dictator and talking to Eoghan and Alan about the paradoxes of the Gallego’s personality.If you like what we produce, and want more, please think of contributing and making the podcast sustainable going forward: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Last Monday at around 12.30 in the afternoon, the Iberian peninsula suffered the worst blackout in Europe over the last decades as 55 million people in Spain, Portugal and parts of south-west France were left without electricity for hours. In Madrid’s metro alone, there were 150,000 people travelling on the network when the power went and they were forced to evacuate while many high-speed trains were left stranded in the middle of nowhere on a hot late April day.To discuss the political fallout from last Monday’s national outage in more detail, Alan and I are joined by Ben Wray, a Basque based journalist whose work has appeared in Wired Magazine, Jacobin and The National.If you like what we produce, and want more, please think of contributing and making the podcast sustainable going forward: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Semana Santa is is one of the most important holidays of the year in Spain, with the main focus being on the popular processions organized by religious brotherhoods, or cofradías. Today on Sobremesa Podcast Alan and Eoghan are joined by the anthropologist Carlos Cañete to talk about both the oppressive and emancipatory sides of Semana Santa as a religious and cultural institution.Carlos is a tenured researcher at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and was the Edward Said fellow at Columbia University from 2020-2022. Donate here ⬇️https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

In this episode of The Sobremesa Podcast, Alan speaks with Alberto Corsín Jiménez, anthropologist and author of Free Culture and the City: Hackers, Commoners, and Neighbors in Madrid, 1997–2017. They explore how the principles of free software, Creative Commons, and hacker culture shaped Madrid’s urban activism—especially in the lead-up to and aftermath of the 15M movement. From the Pardo Media Lab to the reimagining of public space as an open and shared resource, this conversation looks at how free culture became a political and spatial experiment.What does it mean to claim a free city in an era where everything comes with a price tag? And what lessons can we take from these movements as digital and urban space become increasingly privatized? Tune in for a deep dive into the intersection of technology, activism, and urban commons.If you enjoy the podcast and want to help cover production costs, consider buying us a coffee. Your support helps keep these conversations going. Every contribution makes a difference!Donate here ⬇️https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Spain’s housing crisis has returned, but unlike 2008, there’s no financial collapse—just rising rents, increasing evictions, and a housing market that feels out of reach for many. What’s driving this crisis, and what can be done to address it?In this episode of The Sobremesa Podcast, Alan speaks with Dr. Koldo Casla, a Senior Lecturer in International Human Rights Law at Essex Law School, to explore the roots of Spain’s housing problems. They discuss how the current crisis differs from 2008, the impact of policy and speculation, and whether housing should be recognised as a fundamental social right.A crucial conversation on one of Spain’s most urgent issues.If you enjoy the podcast and want to help cover production costs, consider buying us a coffee. Your support helps keep these conversations going. Every contribution makes a difference!Donate here ⬇️https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremeyImage used under Creative Commons, author Barcex

Last weekend saw the European far-right once again converge on Madrid as Vox hosted a summit of party leaders from the European Patriots group. Already acting as an active lobby for Musk in the EU parliament to ensure there is no regulation of social media, the far-right grouping are jubilant at their prospects for the next 4 years after the election of Trump.That Vox’s Santiago Abascal was named president of the Patriots’ grouping last year was further evidence of how the Spanish far-right tend to punch above their electoral weight on the international stage. To discuss last Saturday’s event and Vox’s place within the global far-right, I am joined by Connor Mulhern. Connor is a campaign strategist and the lead researcher at the ‘Reactionary International’ investigative project - an initiative from the Progressive International to map out how the far-right operates globally.You can find the project's published work here: https://reactionary.international/And join its Telegram group here: https://t.me/reactionaryinternationalPlease also consider donating to our Buy Me a Coffee Page here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week writer and tour guide Nick Lloyd brings Catherine on a a more atypical historical route of Barcelona to uncover the lesser known layers to the city’s history.They start at Estació de França, a historic train station not far from the city’s port where the International Brigades arrived to Spain. They then walk down to Ciutadella Park, where Barcelona’s zoo is located to discuss the haunting effects the war had on the animals and the origins of the park. They finish at Pompeu Fabra University, a building that still bears the scars of fascist bombings and which was known during the Civil War as the Karl Marx Barracks.As always, if you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation to our buy me a coffee page or leave a review where you listen to your podcasts. https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week Eoghan talks to author and journalist Dan Hancox about his new book 'Multitudes: How Crowds Made The Modern World’. It is a fascinating exploration of the collective joy and emancipatory  potential of different forms of mass gatherings while also tracing the obsession of elites and the forces of law and order in policing, delegitimizing and suppressing crowds. Throughout Multitudes Dan returns to examples of the exuberance and potency of Spanish crowds - from Cadiz Carnaval to the 2012 general strike in Madrid. If you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at our Buy Me a Coffee page here - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

It has been a year of near constant parliamentary deadlock for Spain's left-leaning government but also one of strong economic growth in comparison to other eurozone economies. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialist Party won the Catalan elections in May and were once again the largest social democratic force in Europe after June's European parliament elections. Yet Sanchez and PSOE have also be subject to a long string of judicial investigations - most of which seem politically motivated. Yet beyond the headlines of these cases, and with the government’s legislative agenda largely blocked, the country’s acute housing crisis and the difficult clean up operation after the floods in Valencia are both ongoing in the background. To discuss the year’s political event Alan and Eoghan are joined by Laura Seoane and Joe Haslam, a professor at IE University. I hope you enjoy our discussion. Please consider supporting the podcast during our end of year fundraising drive at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week Eoghan talks to the author and journalist Michael Eaude. Michael is the author nine books, including ‘Catalonia, a Cultural History’, ‘Triumph at Midnight of the Century - A Critical Biography of Arturo Barea’ and ‘Sails and Winds - A Cultural History of Valencia’. And during the last 25 years he has also worked as a self-described "necrologist",  writing some 70 obituaries for The Guardian on leading cultural and political figures from Spain’s 20th century. He as now just published his first novel - ‘The Bones in the Forest’ - available from Clapton Press. As with his celebrated non-fiction work, the novel deals with Spain’s reckoning with its recent past and the country’s cultural and historic fault lines as the action jumps back and forth between the revolutionary 1930s and then the early 2000s.  If you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at our Buy Me a Coffee page here - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey⁠

Writer and musician, Troy Nahumko, joins Alan to discuss his new book Stories Left in Stone, Trails and Traces in Cáceres, Spain. They discuss the old town of Cáceres, a UNESCO world heritage site, Game of Thrones, the world's oldest handprint, cave art and regional politics. You can buy Troy's book here If you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at our Buy Me a Coffee page here - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey Troy Nahumko (1973, Edmonton, Canada) left Canada at an early age. First as a traveling musician around the United States and Europe, then as a writer and teacher in countries as diverse as Yemen, Azerbaijan, Libya and Laos. He has published travel pieces in newspapers and magazines around the world and was awarded the Mercedes Calles y Carlos Ballestero prize for an article that was published both in Toronto and London. His most recent work includes his bi-weekly opinion column in the HOY, the Mid-Spain section of the recent Lonely Planet guide and he has just published his first book, Stories Left in Stone, Trails and Traces in Cáceres, Spain.

130,000 people protested in Valencia last Saturday demanding regional premier Carlos Mazón resign from his post for his disastrous management of the floods which devastated the area two weeks ago. The death toll stands at 223 people while hundreds of thousands of others have had their homes and places of work gutted. Eoghan spoke to journalist Leah Pattem about the protests and the ongoing recovery and clean up operations in Valencia. Leah is the founder of https://madridnofrills.com/

Last Tuesday evening as thousands of people were commuting home from work and many others continued at their jobs in supermarkets, cinemas, factories, beauty shops and restaurants, unprecedented flash floods hit the Valencia region. That morning at 8am the Spanish Met office issued its highest warning level of maximum red, warning of extreme danger. But the right-wing regional government of Carlos Mazon failed to issue a civil protection alert to residents’ mobile phones until 8.15 pm that evening (a full 12 hours later)- by which time the worst of the flooding had already hit. Serious questions are being raised about Mazon’s disastrous emergency management as rescue operations continue amid mass destruction and death. The death toll currently stands at 207 but is likely to rise substantially in the coming days while it remains far from clear when any degree of normal life can return to the region. Today on Sobremesa podcast we talk about the tragic events this week along Spain’s Eastern coast and the political failures and fallout from the floods.

This week Eoghan talks to financial journalist Gareth Gore. In his new book Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church Gore opens the lid on the extremist, reactionary sect Opus Dei. Opus was initially set up against the tumultuous backdrop of 1930s Spain and went to play a leading role in the Francoist dictatorship - both in education and then in 1957 with the appointment of three of its members to cabinet. Gore traces how Opus went from Francoist Spain to playing a vanguard role in reactionary movements globally in recent decades - with its network of influence and patronage in Washington reaching its peak during Trump's 2016 presidency.  If you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at our Buy Me a Coffee page here - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

The island of El Hierro is at the centre of the Canary Islands’ current surge in irregular migration, receiving 13,000 refugees and immigrants this year – 2,000 more than its total residents. As hundreds die every month on the passage from West Africa to the popular tourist islands, the Spanish right are now weaponising the issue. Leader of the far-right Vox Santiago Abascal denounced what he characterised as the “mass-scale invasion” of El Hierro by “illegal migrants” while conservative media outlets dubbed it “the Lampedusa of the Atlantic”, in reference to the Italian migration hotspot where a state of emergency was declared last year. “The far-right want to turn El Hierro into a symbol of division but they won’t succeed,” insists Amado Carballo, head of social affairs in the island’s local administration. This week Eoghan and Catherine discuss the humanitarian tragedy on the Canaries and its politicization by the far-right. Please also see Eoghan's article: https://bylinetimes.com/2024/10/02/canary-islands-el-hierro-migrant-crossings/ If you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at our Buy Me a Coffee page here - ⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week Catherine talks to Sophie Turbutt about one of the most widely read anarchist magazines in 1930s Spain, La Revista Blanca, Founded by the Montseny family, this anarchist magazine featured a novelty for the time, an advice column that offered answers to questions about gender, women's bodies, sex and sexuality. - topics that were limited in their discussion and clouded by taboos, rumours and misinformed practices in a Spain still very much in the grip of Catholic morality. Catherine and Sophie discuss both the questions and answers of these advice columns, on topics such as free love, menstruation, bisexuality and abortion, and how, Federica Montseny, daughter of the magazine’s founders, would come to legalise abortion for the first time in 1936 as minister for health minister in Catalonia. If you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at our Buy Me a Coffee page here - ⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Berna León, Javier Carbonell and Javier Soria join Alan to discuss to discuss the book La desigualdad en España (Inequalities in Spain) published by Lengua de Trapo. The book includes a prologue from Thomas Piketty and over 30 - international and national - experts examine inequalities in Spain, from the historical and ongoing causes to symptoms and possible cures. The three editors discuss how the book came about and some of the Spanish specifics when it comes to inequalities. You can get the book here If you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at our Buy Me a Coffee page here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week Eoghan is joined by journalist Richard Fitzpatrick to discuss Spain’s incredible victory at the European Championships in Germany. Energised by its two daredevil wingers, Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, Spain won all seven matches at the tournament, while playing wonderful attacking, flowing football. Yet if Yamal and Williams offered the world another, more multicultural image of Spain, the team also visualised a number of important social contradictions too. Richard contributes to a number of outlets and newspapers, such as the BBC, The Irish Examiner and The New York Times. He is also the author of El Clásico: Barcelona v Real Madrid, Football’s Greatest Rivalry. If you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at our Buy Me a Coffee page here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Matthew Machin-Autenrieth, an Ethnomusicologist from the University of Aberdeen, joins Alan to discuss the world famous dance from Spain. In recent years, the Andalusian Government has embarked on an ambitious project of developing flamenco as a symbol of regional identity. But in this episode, Matthew offers an alternative and more complex history of its origins and development - from early Arab influences to how it was used most recently in anti-austerity protests by groups such as Flo6x8. Matthew also gives some tips on how to get into flamenco. If you enjoy what we produce then please give us a review on your preferred podcast platform and consider donating to our buy me a coffee fund to help the podcast be more sustainable. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Heidi Backes joins Alan to discuss the haunted houses, silent spaces and traumatic memories often seen in post-Franco gothic fiction, such as in Carlos Ruiz Zafón's international bestseller The Shadow of the Wind.' Her new book Spectral Spain looks at how Gothic literature has become a leading genre in contemporary Spain - one capable of confronting the traumatic memories of the country's past. If you enjoy what we produce then please give us a review on your preferred podcast platform and consider donating to our buy me a coffee fund to help the podcast be more sustainable. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey Books mentioned in the episode: Adelaida García Morales: "Aunt Águeda" ("La tía Águeda") and "Elisa's Secret" ("El secreto de Elisa") Julio Llamazares: "The Yellow Rain" ("La lluvia amarilla") Ana María Matute: "Uninhabited Paradise" ("Paraíso inhabitado") Carlos Ruiz Zafón: "Prisoner of Heaven" ("El prisionero del cielo") More about her book here Heidi Backes examines haunting as the perfect motif for Spanish authors to portray the tension between modernity and the imposition of a nationalized tradition throughout the twentieth century—noting not just the trauma of the civil war and the resulting dictatorship of Franco, but also the continuing and widespread disenchantment during and after the transition. It is a study of multiple manifestations of individual and collective trauma in texts written after the transition, which will assist readers’ understanding of the relationships between Gothic fear, trauma, and spectrality. Link to publisher's site https://www.uwp.co.uk/book/spectral-spain/

Alan is joined by the podcast's new co-host Laura Seoane, together they talk with political philosopher Tim Syme about the results of the European election, Yolanda Diaz's resignation, the breakthrough of Se Acabó la Fiesta (SALF) and what a rightward shift means for the European Union. If you enjoy what we produce then please give us a review on your preferred podcast platform and consider donating to our buy me a coffee fund to help the podcast be more sustainable. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week Eoghan talks to researcher and sociologist Iago Moreno about the evolution of online politics in Spain from the techno-optimist vision of the 15M movement in 2011, with its promise of networked democracy, to the rise of the contemporary fachosfera - the far-right and reactionary online eco-system. Iago also talks about the emergence of a new extremist platform to the right of Vox, Se acabó la fiesta, led by reactionary influencer Alvise Pérez. If you enjoy what we produce then please give us a review on your preferred podcast platform and consider donating to our buy me a coffee fund to help the podcast be more sustainable. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week Catherine talks to historian Brendan Von Briesen about how the organisation of skilled labour in medieval and early modern Barcelona, in the form of journeyman's guilds, can be seen as the foundation of the city's later labour and trade union movement. If you enjoy what we produce then please give us a review on your preferred podcast platform and consider donating to our buy me a coffee fund to help the podcast be more sustainable. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week Eoghan is joined by historian Andrew Dowling to discuss yesterday's historic Catalan election, which saw a definitive end to the decade long push for independence known as the procés. For the first time since 2012, the pro-independence parties failed to secure a majority of seats in the new parliament. As the Socialists secured historic gains, the progressive nationalist vote collapsed, with the incumbent ERC suffering heavier than expect losses as  the centre of gravity within the independence bloc also shifted right towards Junts. Yet, it remains far from clear what the exact makeup of the next the Catalan government will be. If you enjoy what we produce then please give us a review on your preferred podcast platform and consider donating to our buy me a coffee fund to help the podcast be more sustainable. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week Alan is joined by culture critic and researcher Anita Fuentes to discuss Spanish celebrities and politics. Should celebrities use their platforms to stand up for injustices like the genocide in Palestine and a recent revival in the Spanish MeToo movement? Furthermore, Rosalia is often claimed to have a progressive image, but is she? From real estate to cultural appropriation much would indicate that she isn't. We look at the reality behind the image of Spain's largest international star today. If you enjoy what we produce then please give us a review on your preferred podcast platform and consider donating to our buy me a coffee fund to help the podcast be more sustainable. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

After announcing last Wednesday that he was considering stepping down as Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez revealed this morning he was staying in the job so to fight for "the democratic renewal" of the country. In a move straight out of his favourite TV series Baron Noir, he has orchestrated another theatrical gesture or 'golpe de efecto' so as to rally the Left and upend the current terms of political debate in Spain. If he has regained the initiative, the question is how long will this last? Please consider supporting the podcast at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week Eoghan is joined by journalist Ben Wray to discuss last night's Basque elections, which saw historic gains for pro-independentist left EH Bildu - with the new Basque parliament being the most nationalist in 40 years. But Ben argues that this does not mean that independence is any closer but in fact the results reinforces Pedro Sanchez's centrality within the current governing arrangement in Spain. Please consider supporting the podcast at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week Eoghan and new co-host Catherine Howley talk to Richard Baxell about his new book 'Forged in Spain' which vividly recounts the lives of the extraordinary men and women who left their families and friends across Britain to risk their lives in the Spanish Civil War. Richard is a historian and former Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and is currently the International Brigade Memorial Trust's historical consultant. 'Forged in Spain' is available to buy from Clapton Press: https://theclaptonpress.com/forged-in-spain-richard-baxell/ Please consider supporting the podcast at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

This week's guest is Paul Preston, one of the foremost historians of the Spanish Civil War. Eoghan talked to Paul about his new book 'Perfidious Albion', which is out today from Clapton Press and which turns the spotlight on Britain’s crucial but often overlooked involvement in the war. Preston argues that the country's policy of non-intervention was a crucial factor in the outcome of the war and reflected "the barely disguised sympathy of the Conservative government of Great Britain" for the military rebels. Buy a copy of the book here: https://theclaptonpress.com/perfidious-albion-britain-and-the-Spanish-civil-war/ Please consider supporting the podcast at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Eoghan is joined by Christopher James Evans to discuss his new book 'Los Leones: The Unique Story of Athletic Club Bilbao', which is out this month. It looks at Athletic's century long history and the development of its Basque-only footballing philosphy, which makes it stand out as a unique among the great clubs in world football. Please consider supporting the podcast at: ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey