This week on Sobremesa podcast we are discussing this month’s 85th anniversary of La Retirada, which saw 500,000 people flee Catalunya and into France as Franco's fascist forces occupied Barcelona. Eoghan speaks to graduate war historian and podcast host Uma Arruga i López about La Retirada and and the experience of Spanish Republicans as exiles in France. Please consider supporting the podcast at: ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

Aaron Shulman joins Alan to discuss his book The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain's Most Notorious Literary Family and the Long Shadow of the Spanish Civil War. Here he explores Spain's chaotic 20th century via the lense of the larger-than-fiction Panero family. They discuss the cult classic documentary El desencanto (1976), which portrays the family at the peak of the country's transition from dictatorship to democracy. With the ghost of the patriarchal father remaining...

Eric Calderwood, Associate Professor of Comparative and World Literature at the University of Illinois, joins Alan to discuss his new book On Earth or in Poems: The Many Lives of al-Andalus (Harvard University Press). They talk about how various groups such as feminists, Palestinians and directors making Ramadan soap-operas are all turning to the memory of al-Andalus and using it in different ways. You can buy the book here The Sobremesa Podcast has grown so much in 2023. We released 26...

This week Eoghan is joined by Bécquer Seguín to talk about his new book 'The Op-Ed Novel'. The book examines how many of Spain's most renowned writers over the last thirty years have combined novel writing with publishing regular op-ed columns in El País. As Almudena Grandes, Javier Cercas, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Fernando Aramburu and Javier Marías engaged in public debates about Spain's past and its contemporary ills across the opinion pages of the country's paper of record, their own...

2023 was the year of Pedro Sánchez living dangerously - from July's surprise snap election to his wager on a Catalan amnesty law so as to secure a further term in office. Alan and Eoghan are joined by Professor Joe Haslam from IE business school to discuss the year's events. The Podcast has grown so much in 2023 and we have released 25 episodes on topics ranging from Spain's general election to the Civil War and on to Spanish cinema, Gaudi and anarchism and Al Ándalus. Please help us...

2023 has been another great year for Spanish cinema. Eoghan sits down with Anita Fuentes to discuss some of the best films coming out of Spain over the last 12 months, including: 20.000 especies de abejas, As bestas, Matria and Las chicas están bien. Anita also recommends Spanish series La Mesías. The Podcast has grown so much in 2023 and we have released 26 episodes on topics ranging from Spain's general election to the Civil War and on to Spanish cinema, Gaudi and anarchism and Al Ándalus....

After weeks of tension, uncertainty and violent protests, Spain has a new progressive coalition government as prime minister Pedro Sanchez won an investiture vote today in the Spanish parliament. Eoghan sat down with Sumar MP Txema Guijarro a few hours after the vote to discuss the events of recent weeks, the Catalan amnesty deal and where the country's left goes from here. Please donate here to make the podcast sustainable into 2024: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/eoghangilm8

Miguel Hurtado is a human rights activist and clergy sex abuse survivor. He sits down with Alan to discuss the recent report from the Spanish government that estimates 440,000 people in the country have been victims of sexual abuse by the Catholic church. They discuss the methodology and content of the report and later the reaction. They also discuss Spain's recent changes in child protection and its flaws along with the need to abolish the statute of limitations when it comes to child abuse....

In today's episode Eoghan is joined by historian Andrew Dowling to discuss the ongoing efforts to form a government in Spain, with negotiations currently centred on the possibility of a sweeping amnesty law for the Catalan independence movement. Pro-independence Junts' pragmatic turn since September suggests a confidence and suppy deal can reached to give Pedro Sanchez 4 more years in Moncloa but internal rivalries within the independence movement could complicate issues. Please donate...

Freelance journalist James Badcock has reported on the numerous scandals of Juan Carlos closely over the years from dodgy dealings to his mistresses. He has even interviewed Juan Carlos's ex-lover Corinna. James joins Alan to discuss Leonor's recent elevation to heiress, Felipe's battles and, of course, the playboy king himself. This is the sordid story of the modern Spanish Royal family.

Carlos Delclós is a Professor of Sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He joins Alan to clarify what gentrification is and is not, what different types of gentrification there are and how they have had an effect on Spain's biggest city and tourist destination Barcelona.

Joana Ramiro joins Alan to discuss the changing cityscape of Lisbon and Porto. As a Portuguese journalist living in the UK, Joana was shocked when she went back to her home city for 6 months during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Following several articles on the changes taking place, specifically regarding housing, Joana sits down with Alan to explore the causes and responses to this simmering crisis. Related...

Alan is joined by David from Secret Kingdoms English book shop in barrio de las Letras, Madrid. They talk about some unusual books in English about Spain. Books discussed: Miguel de Cervantes - The Banks of Algeas/ The Great Sultana María de Zayas y Sotomayor - Exemplary Tales of Love and Tales of Disillusion Maria Dueñas- a Vineyard in Andalusia Salvador Dali, Marx brothers - Giraffes on Horseback Salad Gerald Brenan - South of Granada/ Spanish Labyrinth / The Literature of the...

This week Eoghan is joined by independent journalist Leah Pattem to discuss the fallout from Spanish Football Federation chief Luis Rubiales' alleged sexual assault of Jenni Hermoso at the World Cup final and why most international coverage is ignoring a crucial player in this story: Spain's powerful feminist movement.

Mahmoud Roshdy joins Alan to discuss an alternative way of teaching and looking at the history of Arabic Spain. With 8oo years of history, this new approach makes for interesting listening when compared to the average history class. Alan and Eoghan also discuss the Women's World Cup and what is happening politically after the elections. Photo by Mahmoud Hosny Roshdy

This week Eoghan sits down to talk to Dr. Brittany Kennedy from Tulane University about the two contemporary Spains. On August 17th the new speaker of the Spanish parliament recognised the right for MPs to intervene in the Congreso using the three minority languages of Spain: Catalan, Basque and Gallego - thus ensuring the state's democratic institutions better reflected the diverse and plurinational nature of the country. At the same time, Spain has also witnessed a reactionary wave over the...

This week Eoghan is joined by Vicente Rubio-Pueyo to discuss how last month's general election results fit into the wider political context of Spanish politics since the 2008 financial crisis. Vicente also explains why he believes Pedro Sánchez can be compared to the figure of Adolfo Suárez in Spain's last conjunctural crisis during the country's transition to democracy.

Alan and Eoghan are joined by sociologist Carlos Delclós and journalist Tiare Gatti Mora to discuss the fallout from last Sunday's general election. The polls suggested a clear right-wing victory for PP and Vox but it never materialised. Now could we see a new progressive coalition or are we facing new elections by Christmas?

This week Alan and Eoghan are joined by political analyst Iago Moreno to discuss the pre-campaign to July's general election in Spain.  They discuss Vox's particular brand of right-wing populism, Pedro Sanchez's attempts to regain momentum and Sumar's chances after a difficult left-unity deal. While the right currently have the edge in polls, it is far from clear if it can secure a clear governing majority. The election is too close to call! 

After a sweeping right-wing victory in local and regional elections last Sunday, prime minister Pedro Sanchez called a surprise general election for July. Professor Andrew Dowling joins Alan and Eoghan to discuss the latest developments.

With Spain's new housing law being approved in Congress last month, the current local and regional election campaign has come to be dominated by the question of housing. As rents continue to soar and a new generation of Spaniards find themselves locked out of home ownership, the left-wing coalition government are promising a raft of measures aimed at guarenteeing the right to housing. But in a country with a particularly dysfunctional approach to housing, centred predominately on private...

Dan Hancox joins Alan to discuss his 2013 book The Village Against the World. 10 years on prominent mayor Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo will not stand for re-election in 2023's local elections. He is standing down from his post after 44 years of public service. How did the village get here and where is it going? Alan and Dan discuss these questions and more in this episode of the Sobremesa Podcast. Book Description from Verso Books. You can buy it here. One hundred kilometres from...

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 Público newspaper.

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 the ideology of the Catalan ruling class is reflected in the work of this reactionary genius.