A new political bandwagon? The rise of Ciudadanos in Spain

Support for Ciudadanos has risen substantially in Spanish opinion polls over recent months, with the party in first place in several cases. But is the party really on the brink of taking over from Mariano Rajoy's People's Party and becoming the dominant force in Spanish politics? Alejandro Quiroga highlights several factors, including the crisis over Catalan independence, that are currently working in the favour of Ciudadanos, but notes there are still major challenges that will have to be overcome if the party is to translate its polling figures into an election victory

Despite the rise of Ciudadanos and Podemos, there is plenty of life left in the Spanish political establishment

A surge in support for two parties – Podemos and Ciudadanos – ahead of the Spanish general election later this year has led some commentators to ask whether Spain’s two party system, which has traditionally been dominated by the centre-left PSOE and centre-right People’s Party, is coming to an end. Alejandro Quiroga writes on how support for the parties sits following parliamentary elections in Andalusia on 22 March. He argues that while municipal and regional elections in May will give a better idea of how the general election might go, it remains far from clear that the era of two party politics is finished in Spain

Book review: Iberian military politics: controlling the armedforces during dictatorship and democratisation by José JavierOlivas Osuna

In Iberian Military Politics: Controlling the Armed Forces During Dictatorship and Democratisation , José Javier Olivas Osuna traces the divergent trajectories of civil-military relations in Portugal and Spain from the 1930s to the 1980s. This book offers a convincing challenge to the idea of a shared Iberian pathway through dictatorship and democratisation, finds Alejandro Quiroga

The Pujol scandal might weaken the Catalan government, but it is unlikely to derail the campaign for Catalan independence

Jordi Pujol, the former president of the Catalan government between 1980 and 2003, has faced a corruption scandal in recent months. Alejandro Quiroga writes on the potential impact the affair might have on the campaign for Catalonia’s independence from Spain. He argues that while the scandal may have undermined attempts to draw a distinction between corruption in the Spanish government and the actions of politicians in Catalonia, it is unlikely to significantly damage the wider independence movement

The symbolism in Spanish football illustrates that Catalan and Spanish identities are not necessarily incompatible

This weekend Spain’s two most successful football clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, will play each other in Spain’s national football league. As Alejandro Quiroga writes, the fixture between the two sides – commonly referred to as ‘el clásico’ – has increasingly become associated with the issue of Catalan independence. However he argues that support for the Spanish national team among citizens in Catalonia highlights that Spanish and Catalan identities are not necessarily incompatible

Escenario actual de la resistencia a la colistina mediada por plásmidos en América Latina

Colistin resistance can occur by chromosomal mutations and by acquisition of plasmid-carrying determinants, mainly mcr-1. In the recent years, we have observed the outburst of this resistance gene in our region. Due to the risk of the rapid dissemination of mcr-1, this finding has worried and alerted different actors from the health field and has become one of the most prolific topics. Our review compiles available reports of well-documented mcr-1-positive strains of Enterobacteriaceae, obtained from different samples in Argentina and other countries of Latin America. Furthermore, it addresses the association of mcr-1 with ESBL resistance markers and outlines the platforms involved in their dissemination.Fil: Quiroga, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Nastro, Marcela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Di Conza, José Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; Argentin

Spanish nationalism

In recent years, it has been a common complaint among scholars to acknowledge the lack of research on Spanish nationalism. This article addresses the gap by giving an historical overview of ‘ethnic’ and ‘civic’ Spanish nationalist discourses during the last two centuries. It is argued here that Spanish nationalism is not a unified ideology but it has, at least, two varieties. During the 19th-century, both a ‘liberal’ and a ‘conservative-traditionalist’ nationalist discourse were formulated and these competed against each other for hegemony within the Spanish market of ideas. In the 20th-century, these two discourses continued to be present and became backbones of different political regimes. However, after the emergence of the Basque and Catalan nationalist movements, Spanish nationalists unified as a counter-force to these regional sources of identity. In fact, one can see 20th-century Spanish nationalism as a dialectical struggle between the centre and the periphery

Military Liberalism on the East Florida Frontier : Implementation of the 1812 Constitution

The first quarter of the nineteenth century was a time of great political change in both Spain and its American empire. The French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 1808 led to a long war for independence, as the Spanish people and government sought to oust Napoleon\u27s troops and form a constitutional monarchy. During the war deputies from throughout the empirr formed the Cortes Generales, or National Assembly, in Cadiz and proclaimed the first Spanish constitution in 1812. The change of government in Spain had consequences for the American colonies, and scholars have pointed out the role played by the Cortes de Cadiz and the Constitution of 1812 as crucial to understanding the dissolution of the Spanish Empire. Very little has been written, however, about the reception of the constitution in Florida.2 Political historians, when dealing with this period have essentially focused on the Patriots War and the diplomatic relationship between ths United States and Spain overlooking the new legal and political system that was etablished in the territory between 1812 and 1814.

National Deadlock. Hot Nationalism, Dual Identities and Catalan Independence (2008–2019)

The article explores the transformations of Spanish and Catalan national identities and the growth of the pro-independence movement in Catalonia following the 2008 global recession. It argues that the Great Recession provided a new historical context of hot nationalism in which Catalanist narratives of loss and resistance began to ring true to large sectors of Catalan society, whereas the Spanish constitutionalist narratives seemed increasingly outdated. The article also shows the limits of the process of mass nationalization by both the Catalan and the Spanish governments and the eventual ‘crystallization’ of an identity and political divide between pro and anti-independence supporters which split Catalan society down the middle and led to a sort of national identity deadlock.This research was funded by Research group IT-708-13 and MINECO HAR2017–83955-P research projec