The Sobremesa Podcast

This week Eoghan speaks to political analyst Mario Ríos about the current reorganization of the Spanish left around deputy prime minister Yolanda Díaz's new Sumar [Unite] platform and the divisions this is creating among the organizations within the current left space. Mario teaches political science at the University of Girona, is an advisor to Catalunya en Comú and a regular contributer to P...

This week Alan and Eoghan sit down with Jim Jump, Chair of the International Brigade Memorial Trust, to talk about his father's experience in the Brigades, the 85th anniversary of the Battle of the Ebro and why he thinks the story of the international volunteers who went to Spain in the 1930s still fascinate and resonate today. They also discuss the work of the IBMT.

This week's guest is writer, historian and guide Catherine Howley. Catherine runs the Spanish Civil War Walking Museum tours with Nick Lloyd in Barcelona and has written extensively on Barcelona's architecture and working-class history. In this episode she talks to Eoghan about the historicial context in which Antoni Gaudí designed his iconic buildings in the city and how that context and...

Steven Marsh joins Alan to give an overview of Spanish film. They touch on the autobiographical film written by Franco, how Ken Loach inspired 90's cinema and the legacies of prominent Spanish directors such as Pedro Almodóvar and the late Carlos Saura. Originally from the UK Steven Marsh is a specialist on Spanish film. Before coming to the US he lived in Madrid for many years. He is the author o...

Simon Deefholts from The Clapton Press joins me to discuss the memoirs of Kate Mangan and Jan Kurzke, which until recently had been languishing in a Dutch archive only accessible to professional historians. Here he recounts the love story that can be found in Kate's memoir (but not in Jan's!) and how with the help of historians and Kate and Jan's daughter Charlotte, they were able to publish both...

Eoghan is joined by Irish journalist Brendan Boyle to talk about the innovative urban model of his adopted home city of Pontevedra, which has largely eliminated the use of private cars. Traffic in the city of 65,000 has been reduced by 97 percent under current mayor Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores . Brendan also compares his pre-pandemic life in hectic Madrid with his new one in Galicia. His latest wo...

Nerea joins Alan to discuss why she is standing as a candidate for Izquierda Unida in for the regional parliament of Extremadura. Here they talk about some of the other factors around the 'empty Spain' and Extremadura in particular. 

Alan and Eoghan are joined by IE University's Joe Haslam to discuss the year in Spanish politics - from Pablo Casado's political assassination in February to Pedro Sanchez creating his own luck in the Christmas lottery. Also a shout out to Popular Party MP Alberto Casero who voted mistakenly in favour of the coalition's labour reform, thus tipping the majority in favour of the legislation and...

Jose Armengol, Professor of English at Castilla La Mancha University, joins Alan to discuss how masculinity and aging have changed in their form of representation in Spanish literature and film. Eoghan and Alan also discuss a closely related polemic that includes the Ministry of Equality and Minister Irene Montero. 

Alcarràs, Cinco lobitos (Lullaby), En los márgenes (On the Fringe), El Agua, As bestas and Modelo 77 - 2022 has been a great year for Spanish cinema. Eoghan sits down with La Base's Anita Fuentes to review the year in film and discuss the impact a new generation of women and feminist directors are having on cinema in Spain. Anita Fuentes is also the host of the English language Security In Context...

In the wake of the recent climate protest at the Prado museum in Madrid, as well as the use of the museum for a dinner during this summer's NATO summit, Eoghan sit down with art historian Almudena Cros to discuss the relationship between the iconic gallery and politics. Cros argues that the Prado itself needs to become much more open to critical approaches to art history and explore the complex re...

This week Eoghan talks to Sebastiaan Faber about Spain’s best known contemporary novelist,Javier Marías, who died aged 70 in Madrid in September and who was the author of 15 novels including Todas Las Almas, Corazón Tan Blanco and Berta Isla.

Andrew Dowling joins Alan to discuss his latest book A New History Of Catalonia (2022, Routledge) Andrew Dowling is Reader in Spanish History at Cardiff University and researches the history and politics of Catalonia. He has previously published The Rise of Catalan Independence: Spain’s Territorial Crisis with Routledge in 2018 and Catalonia since the Spanish Civil War: Reconstructing the Nation (...

This week Spain's progressive coalition unveiled its budget for next year aimed at dealing with the cost of living crisis. Eoghan sat down with sociologist Carlos Delclós to analyse the package of measures that were agreed by the country's progressive coalition and to discuss what it says about Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's party political strategy as we enter a big election year.  

Eoghan is back and he joins Alan in recounting some of their favourite news stories from the summer. Max Ferrar joins Alan to discuss his project which links the effects of globalism on the modern day image and shape of the Catalan independence movement. Here they specifically discuss the effect mass tourism has had on the movement and the physical area of Girona itself.  If you have any sugg...

Often when you read, watch or hear about the International Brigades, the United Kingdom and sometimes Ireland, are lumped together into one big group. In this episode Fraser Raeburn joins me to discuss how the 'Scottish context' was different. We talk about Aid for Spain and the ideological and political context that convinced so many Scots to join the brigades to fight fascism in Spain. Fraser's...

Following the retreat of republican forces at the end of the Spanish Civil War, many people become refugees in France and North Africa. Whilst some would later return, many men of fighting age who had been in the Republican army could not. This is their story from how they ended up in refugee camps in the south of France to being members of the British army including members of the SAS.  Sean...

Spain's Democratic Memory Law is passed by parliament after nearly 2 years of gruelling negotiations. The law aims to protects the rights of Franco's victims to truth and justice and includes a raft of advances but also runs up against major limits. Eoghan is joined by doctoral student Tom Wardle, a researcher into the country's historical memory movement from the University of Southampton, to dis...

Felicity Hughes joins Alan in the real world to discuss the origins of Lavapies in Madrid and some interesting places that you would normally have just walked past.  Felicity Hughes is a professional writer and editor based in Madrid. Her work has appeared in a variety of different publications including Lonely Planet , The Guardian and Wire magazine. The Making of Madrid is a pet project tha...

In this week's episode we talk about the brutal killing of 37 migrant people at the hands of Moroccan security services along the border of the Spanish enclave of Melilla, as well as discussing the fallout from the results of the Andalusian elections.

As Spain's most populous region Andalusia heads to the polls this Sunday, we preview this crucial regional election and ask if a likely right-wing victory points to a wider reactionary shift in the country more generally.

This week Eoghan speaks to academic Deborah Madden and journalist Laura Seoane about the feminist policies being advanced by Spain's coalition government, concentrating particularly on the country's new active sexual consent law (known as 'only yes is yes'). We also talk about how the debates among different strands of the country's feminist movement are playing out at cabinet, with major differen...

Nathen Jones joins Alan to discuss his research and book on the other special relationship between Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar. His book The adoption of a pro-US foreign policy by Spain & the United Kingdom: José María Aznar and Tony Blair's personal motivations and their global impact looks at how the modernisers of their day worked hand in hand on issues such as the EU and Iraq, but also...

This week Eoghan talks to Nick Lloyd about his book 'Forgotten Places: Barcelona and the Spanish Civil War'. The discussion ranges from George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and the strategic dilemmas facing the Republican side during the 1936-9 conflict to the contrasting experiences of the war in Madrid and Barcelona. Please support the podcast and help us grow: https://www.buymeacoffe...

In Spain this week there has been a lot of discussion around the age of gaining consent to get an abortion, should you need your parent's consent if you are between 16-18? This law says no. Internationally we have seen headline after headline talking about 'period leave' but unlike the Daily Mail says it is not unlimited.  Deb Madden is a feminist academic who joins Alan do discuss the histor...