We spent a fascinating evening at the Instituto Cervantes London with author William Chislett exploring the meaty topic of the challenges facing Spain. 

Born in the UK and now living in Spain Chislett has written extensively about Spain. The audience, including a group of young students who had joined the lecture specifically to hear directly from our speaker for the evening, were eager to hear Chislett’s analysis of the current situation in Spain. Brexit, and the hot topic of queue lengths when travelling on a Spanish passport as opposed to a British passport were briefly covered before a deeper exploration of the main political, climate, political and economic challenges facing Spain.

Chislett spoke of challenges stemming from the new Spanish government’s inability to pass new laws and the delays caused by political rivalries. An inconclusive election, reliance on Basque, Canarian, and Catalan support, and lack of co-operation in the current government, alongside the longevity of the 1978 Constitution, the powers of the Senate and Franco’s 1968 Secret’s Law, all substantial stand alone subjects, were covered.

Moving away from politics Chislett spoke of tourism, highlighting the significant relationship between the UK and Spain and the 17million Brits choosing Spain as a destination for travel each year. Over-tourism, citing Málaga and the Canarias as examples, and the conflict with economic growth were also discussed, as well as the need for sustainable tourism plans. 

The subjects of housing, fertility, mortality and immigration were also covered and the question mark over how, despite recent reform, pension revenues will be met. 

Chislett spoke of post-Brexit Gibraltar, adding personal memories of Gibraltar having married there in the last year of Franco’s rule over Spain, and the 15,000+ people who pass into Gibraltar each day.

After a very thorough and incisive presentation those gathered online and in person were invited to submit their own questions to Chislett. BritishSpanish Society chairman, author and journalist Jimmy Burns, feeling gloomy having listened to the many challenges facing Spain, and noting that many of the same challenges also affected Britain and other European countries, looked for a silver lining, asking about soft diplomacy and cultural exchanges. Chislett offered positivity in this area, noting that his work at Elcano Royal Institute showed that Spain shone in the area of soft diplomacy, buoyed significantly in its rating due to its cultural influences. A point which lead us positively to post-lecture further exploration of the topics discussed, but in the more social environment of the Library and with a glass of wine in hand. 

If you missed the lecture you can watch the recording on Instituto Cervantes’ You Tube channel. Thank you to our friends at Instituto Cervantes for hosting us and providing technical expertise.