Stories written by Guillermo Medina

Opinion: Greece and the Germanisation of Europe

At last, on Tuesday Feb. 24, the Eurogroup (of eurozone finance ministers) approved the Greek government’s commitment to a programme of reforms in return for extending the country’s bailout deal.

OPINION: Reflections on Corruption and Political Regeneration in Spain

Political and institutional corruption has become the main concern of Spanish citizens after unemployment and the dramatic social consequences of the economic crisis, according to opinion polls.

Spain: Chronicle of a Disaster Foretold

The nationalisation of Bankia, the fourth largest Spanish bank, and its parent company BFA, caused an uproar and focussed attention on the failure of the financial reforms passed by the government of Mariano Rajoy last February 3. The insufficiency of these reforms combined with investors' lack of confidence and the requirements of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Union (EU) forced the government on May 11 to decide on a new reform package intended to "definitively" provide solvency and credibility to the national financial system.

FROM THE WELFARE STATE TO THE STATE OF NECESSITY

The governing Popular Party (PP) is making it clear that it knows how to dominate the communications game and seize the initiative. In the opposition during the previous government it convinced a majority of voters that Spain's problem was President Rodriguez Zapatero and that if their candidate Mariano Rajoy won, the end of the crisis would begin. He was presented as "change" itself, the mythical balm of Fierabras prepared by Don Quixote, a generator of hope that never laid out specifics or even promised more than he would he able to achieve.



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