The International Writers Magazine: Spanish Woes

Spanish Economics Take Two • James Skinner ‘I may seem ‘hooked’ over the past few months on my pet theme which is the troubles and woes of this country and although appreciate that many other horrors are taking place around the world, Spain nevertheless is a problem child that requires constant supervision by the European Union hierarchy.

Merkel knows it and so does Sarkozy. Berlusconi is too busy chasing tarts whilst Cameron is still finding his feet. Remember that we’ve had a swing of politics in Europe and centre-right has now taken over whilst Zapatero continues to revert back to the 1930’s. I keep on repeating that they are constantly hoodwinking the Brussels accountants and one day…well?

Mayhem strikes in France, incredible attack by students in London and financial uncertainty in Greece, Portugal and in particular Ireland are the present and future results of economic ‘belt-tightening’ in Europe that will no doubt go on for years. Spain’s government on the other hand still finds ways of keeping the lid on the boiling pot that eventually will burst like an overheated pressure cooker. One of their pet abilities is, as the saying goes, ‘kicking the ball into touch’. However, a very important event is to take place at the end of this month: the Catalan Regional elections on the 28th of November. Aside from economics and other issues this could be a real turning point in the political situation in Spain. It could mean the beginning of the end as Spain as a nation. The comical side is that it is to coincide with the ‘Derby’ football match between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Will the voters be inclined to watch the match with a six pack or venture out into the cold to vote? For this reason, this short note is more of a preview for next month with the cherry on the cake homed in on Catalonia.

So, before I go into the ‘other’ issues such as Pope Benedictine VII recent visit, the Morocco/Sahara conflict, the continued rise in unemployment, ETA, the Basque separatist movement, to name but a few I’ll wait until the above has taken place and give a more solid assessment of the current situation. I’ve also decided to change tactics. A brief on these events will be followed by my view of what should be done in this country to somehow revert back to the main highways of the XXI century and not continue in four-wheel drive on the mud tracks that are leading the Spaniards towards a quagmire.

By the way, I now have two other well known journalists in Spain who are following my Hacks articles on Spain very closely. I won’t be surprised if one day a green jacketed civil guard will knock on my door and ask me to ‘walk the plank’. Apparently my views are not only controversial, they seem to predict the ‘truth’ as events develop although I still think that any well versed economist or historian could have fathomed them anyway.

Finally and on a snip of local info, the Civil Guards have just uncovered one of the largest cocaine rackets between Colombia and Spain via Galicia – where I live – for over 10 years. The haul was more than 2 tons of the muck, with sixty-five arrests including an extremely influential businessman in my neighbourhood. Ironically my recent novel ‘Serene Maiden’ delves deeply into this whole business. See you next month!

© James G. Skinner. 15th November 2010. 
Political Reality in Europe
James Skinner
As France Riots, Spain remains in political turmoil - they'll be storm clouds ahead

Publishing News: Hackwriters regular correspondent James Skinner launches his new novel about the European Drug Trade Serene Maiden
Order the book here


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