What Spain thinks of the Beckhams

Most of the Spanish press - including "serious" newspapers such as El Pais, El Mundo , ABC, etc. have included news items in the past few days about the marriage crisis of David Beckham and his wife Victoria.

It is quite extraodinary that at a moment when so much is happening in Spain and in the World, Beckham's supposed affairs with women in Madrid can cause so much interest. Or maybe it reflects the need of the media here, and the public in general, to find some light entertainment in a month dominated by terrorism and politics.

Although his photos are constantly published in the gossip magazines in Spain, the last time Beckham hit the headlines to this degree in the respected news press was when he signed for Real Madrid. His arrival was accompanied by much expectation and his presentation to the media was headline news on television, radio and in the papers the next day. Spain was as much intrigued by Victoria as impressed by Beckham, and it was almost a surprise when it turned out he was a good footballer too. Children and adolescents all over Spain (many Spanish teenagers see him as quite a hearthrob) wear the 23 Beckham Real Madrid football shirts in parks and shopping centers, and although he does not seem to speak any Spanish yet, he has been playing well for his team on the whole (although Real is going through a bit of a crisis at the moment), he smiles a lot when the camaras are near and Spain has warmed to the British player.

Not so to his wife, who Spanish people don't really understand at all. Spain is a very family-orientated country, and the fact that Victoria has apparantly decided to live in England as much as in Spain, disconcerts many people. If she was a successful artist in her own right, they would probably be more sympathetic, but as journalists here often point out, she owes much of her fame to her husband (this is more true in countries like Spain where she is less known, than in Britain of course). Initial reports which appeared in the Spanish press, denied by Beckham himself, in which Victoria was quoted as saying Spain smelt of garlic, did not help her cause.

The Spanish press have received the latest news with impartiality on the whole and not a little scepticism. As one of the newspapers here points out today, one of the women with whom he apparantly had an affair with, will appear on Sky One tonight and will receive 775.000 Euros (500.000 pounds) for revealing information for which, presumably, she has already received money from the News of the World, the newspaper which initially published her allegations. She will probably earn more in Spain too, as the gossip magazines publish their editions this week. And members of her family have already appeared on Spanish chat shows this week.

If these figures are true, perhaps this fact alone should make us examine our reaction to news stories like these. Admittedly it is a relief to turn to "light entertainment" stories, when so much of the news lately is so worrying. But given the poverty, grief and violence dominating current World affairs, how can anyone justify paying, or indeed earning ,nearly a million euros just by sharing personal information which contributes nothing to the public interest and the only thing it will probably achieve is damage to a generally well-liked personality and his family.

Terrorist threats on video in Madrid

According to a news item just released by the Spanish press, police have managed to put together the damaged transcript of the video found in the Madrid flat in which Islamic terrorist suspects blew themselves up at the beginning of this month.

In the tape, the terrorists confirm that Spain remains a target for terrorist action. According to news reports, they say that given Spain's new President's decision to allow more troops to be sent to Afghanistan, "the Companies of Death and Ansar Al Qaeda have decided to follow the path of the holy yihad.... in the name of the fight against terrorism... There is no difference between citizens and members of the military services: innocent poeple die by the thousand in Afghanistan and Iraq. Is your blood worth more than ours?.... we will kill you, we will bring the war to your homes and you will not be able to sleep..."

Spain prepares itself for its new government and new President.

At half past eight this morning, Aznar and Zapatero began a meeting to agree on the final details of the transfer of political power. This meeting is the last one between the two leaders before the new Spanish parliament meets for its first session on Thursday this week.

The Spanish political system differs from others (such as the British), in that the whole process is a bit long and complicated. Outgoing governments are given a month to pack their cases and papers. During this time they still hold power and are called "gobierno en funciones" - acting government. They are not supposed to pass any new laws and any new initiatives are put on hold until the new governing party is in power.

During this month, if the winning party has not achieved an absolute majority, it begins to hold meetings with all the other political parties who have won representation in the new Parliament, to determine whether or not their members intend to vote in favour of its presidential candidate. The Socialist party held these meetings at the end of last month.

Meanwhile, King Juan Carlos meets with the leaders of all political parties individually and during these meetings they put across their policies and tell him which political leader their party will vote for in the first big vote of the new parliament when members have to choose the new President of Spain. Once the King has spoken with all party leaders, and based on the result of these conversations, he hands over an official proposal to the Leader of Congress, containing the name of the official candidate for the Presidency of Spain. Last Wednesday King Juan Carlos handed this official proposal to Manuel Marin, the new Leader of the Congress. The document proposed Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero as the new candidate for president of Spain..

On Thursday of this week Parliament opens again, and the debate preceding the election of the new President begins. The official candidate, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, will offer a long speech in which he will lay down the policy lines and principles of his new Government. All parties are given the chance to reply to his speech, and he can answer their replies. Then on Friday members of parliament vote.

Three of the minority parties, Izquierda Unida, Esquerra Republicana y Chunta Aragonesista, have already pledged their support for Zapatero which means that even if no other party votes for him, he will still reach 176 votes in favour which gives him the absolute majority. So far only the Popular Party has said its members will vote against Zapatero. The other minority parties (among them the Basque PNV party, and the Catalan CIU party, both of whom have shared power with both PSOE and PP in former governments) have told the King that their vote depends on the contents of Zapatero's speech. Depending on what he says, their members will vote in favour or abstain.

If all goes as planned, Jose Luis Zapatero will be sworn in as Spain's new President on Saturday.

Incoming Spanish Government will cut Defense spending and invest more in Education and Housing policies.

According to El Pais, Jose Bono, the incoming defense minister, has called for a significant cut in arms spending. The money saved will be used to fund the new Socialist government's policies on housing and education. Bono last week criticised the decision of the outgoing PP defense minister, Federico Trillo, to push through last minute orders this month for arms and military vehicles and vessels worth 4 billion euros.

One of the new features of Spain's Socialist Government due to take power this week, is the creation of a new Housing Ministry. Despite the creation of new areas within the government, the Socialists remain committed to reducing the overall number of government posts. Aznar's outgoing government is made up of almost 2.000 senior posts, including ministers, secretaries of state, under secretaries, delegates and general secretaries, director generals, advisors and vice-directors. According to the PSOE, between 1997 and 2004, the administration increased spending in senior posts by 43 precent. One of the most immediate priorities of Spain's new government is to cut back on the number of these posts.

Basque nationalism and Harvard professor Huntingdon's latest controversial essay

According to this morning's edition of El Mundo, the ruling party of the Basque regional government in Spain, the National Basque Party, and Eeusko Alkartasuna will use this year's Basque Day to reiterate their demands for their region to be given national status and to be treated as a state in its own right within the framework of the European Union.

Meanwhile, El Pais publishes today an article about Samuel Huntingdon's latest controversial piece of writing, The Hispanic Challenge. Last month this Harvard University professor published an article which has enfuriated a large part of the intellectual Hispanic community, and has generated much debate. The article begins like this " The persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages. Unlike past immigrant groups, Mexicans and other Latinos have not assimilated into mainstream U.S. culture, forming instead their own political and linguistic enclaves—from Los Angeles to Miami—and rejecting the Anglo-Protestant values that built the American dream. The United States ignores this challenge at its peril". This opening paragraph is followed by twelve pages warning of the "peril" supposedly posed to the US by the growing Hispanic population and, especially, the Mexican immigrants in the USA.

The well-known Mexican writer, Carlos Fuentes, published an article in El Pais last month entitled "The masked racist" in which he rejected Huntingdon's claim that the Hispanics living in the USA form closed communities - "Spanish-speaking residents in the US do not form closed or agressive groups. On the contrary, they adapt as quickly as possible to English and, sometimes, manage to conserve their use of Spanish, thus enriching the multi-ethnic and multicultural character of the USA.... Mexicans have not invaded - their presence is due to the laws of the labour market. There is a supply of Mexican workers in the USA because there is demand for their labour".

At a time in which World violence is at a peak, perhaps it is time to look beyond divisive questions such as regionalist-nationalist demands or racial conflict, in order to create and promote policies which aim at integrating different theories, beliefs, races and cultures into the political and social process. Events like the 11S AND 11M suicide terrorist attacks, the invasion of Iraq and the situation there now, with the constant fighting and those harrowing pictures of hostages, the violent policies of Israel's government against the Palestines, suicide bombers, ethnic violence in Bosnia and Kosovo, the ETA terrorist group activities in Spain...... etc etc, are all examples of what can happen when race and culture become conflictive issues. Modern society should be able to reconcile potentially conflictive differences and to use cultural, ethnic and racial diversity to enrich global culture, rather than to destroy it.