Talk:Politics of Spain

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There are some inaccuracies on the page, that follow from a Spanish nationalist political perspective. Instead of giving here the opposite view from a Catalan perspective, let me just mention this:

1) The Constitution of Spain states that the Nation is formed by nationalities and regions. The concept of Nationalities was introduced as a political pact between different political views, so it is paramount to understand the social and political Structure of Spain. Lacking to mention it cannot be explained away by forgetfullnes.

2) Therefore this sentence is also lacking precision: "17 regions covering all of peninsular Spain", or calling reions the "Basque and Catalan regions" when they are (even officially) Nationalities is also a political bending ofsocial and political reality.

Moreover, there is no mention of the different official languages in Spain. The "Languages" entry does not exist while they are part of the political structure. Eleven million Catalan speakers (see Catalan_language) are again conspicuously ignored.

Please, add this information to the article. That's how Wikipedia works! DavidWBrooks 17:09, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC)
I've just added a section covering this issues. I also have changed some words that were not English: now it says "territorial constitutions" instead of "autonomy statutes" since "statute" is not a correct English translation. (User:Enrix 20:30, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Football

One of these days I'd like to write something about Spanish football and politics. -- Error 01:47, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Facts

I think most of the information in section FACTS should be moved to the Spain article because generic information such as the official name fit better in the generic article. Any objection?

Habbit 08:25, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] talante?

I have heard of the concept of "talante" with reference to modern Spanish politics. Can anyone living in Spain comment on its meaning and use? Does it mean something like "listening to each other"? Is it important enough to merit inclusion in this article? thanks for any help.BrainyBabe 20:08, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Yeah it's something like that, like willingness to reach consensus with as many people as possible. Zapatero made this term popular after Aznar's second mandate, in which, due to his parties' absolute majority at Congress, he was able to legislate without the need to negotiate with other parties (which, as you can understand, they did not appreciate!). :) Cheers Raystorm 17:15, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Talante

The common dictionary translates 'Talante' as mood. 'Buen talante' can be translated as 'willingly'. But in the actual spanish politic, words 'Buen talante'(good mood) are ironical references to the actual prime minister, Rodríguez Zapatero. In his opposition time, he used them to mark a virtual diference between him and the previousminister, Aznar. This one, in his second time in governement, he took decisions with the opposition of every other parties (but the absulute majority in votes.

[edit] bias?

It's interesting that the history of Spain's first (and longest-lived) elected government since the declaration of the republic is accorded one line, while Aznar's centre-right PP government lasted only half as long but requires quite a bit more than twice the space. Felipe oversaw the most enormous changes to take placein public life west of the Iron Curtain; it was also dominated by strong personalities and, finally, by scandal. Perhaps this article suffers from some bias in its political orientation?

[edit] Rebellion vs. Terrorism

As an Spaniard, I'd like to point out that neither ETA nor the GRAPO are considered or even referred to as "rebels" by any Spaniards. Being both well-known terrorist groups, I think the more reasonable thing to do is to mo ve the contents of that section into the "Terrorism" section.

Hi, please read Wikipedia:Words to avoid#Terrorist, terrorism. To quote from that page:
Encyclopedic:
  • X is on the U.S. Department of State's "Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations" list.
  • X, identified by the Y government as responsible for the PQR suicide bombings [or "who claimed responsibility for the PQR suicide bombings"], is classified as a terrorist group by A, B and C [countries or bodies].
  • Countries A, B and C regard X as a terrorist group [because...]
Not encyclopedic:
  • X is a terrorist group.
  • Y, leader of the X terrorists, ...
  • After a rapid military response, the X terrorists abandoned the hostages.
Get it? —Khoikhoi 02:34, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

OK, understood, but I still think it's not appropiate. Sue me LOL. What about merging both sections under a different title then?

Like what? —Khoikhoi 21:27, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Uhm. That's a tough one. If "terrorism" is verboten, I can't think of any. I'm still in favour of unifying both sections, though, I'd like to make that clear, because Spaniards regard both ETA, GRAPO and Al-Qaeda as terrorists.

I think I'd better leave that to other readers. It's just that I am a Spaniard myself and it upsets me to find GRAPO and ETA under the "Rebellion" section.

Well, you might try militant or guerrilla. Also just nationalist might work. Remember, you can say "it is recognized by Papua New Guinea as a terrorist organization", but you can't say, "it is a terrorist organization". —Khoikhoi 22:17, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

I imagine Militant or Guerrilla are both acceptable. I wouldn't use Nationalist, though, because there are many political parties that defend Nationalism in Spain through legal means and with minor exceptions (Batasuna, political branch of ETA) they have always condemmed violence.

[edit] ETA

In the first paragraph of the section on ETA, a translation is given as Basque Homeland and Freedom and in the third as Basque Fatherland and Liberty. Since these mean basically the same thing is there an official translation so just one can be used? Cameronlad 12:23, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Peer review requested for Madrid article

A Peer review has been requested for Madrid, the article about the capital city of Spain. Please feel free to edit the Madrid article to improve it and/or leave a comment at Wikipedia:Peer_review#Madrid. EspanaViva 19:02, 7 March 2007 (UTC)