Spain: The Trials and Triumphs of a Modern European Country

In the quarter century after the 1975 death of Francisco Franco, the longtime dictator of Spain, the country has engineered a transition to democracy, modernized its economy, suppressed Basque separatist terrorism, and entered both the EU and NATO. This book is a solid general-interest introduction to twenty-first-century Spanish politics. The author, the Economist’s man in Madrid, asks why Spain’s trajectory seems to have reversed: since 2000, it has been buffeted by economic stagnation, the rise of the far right, and political tumult in Catalonia. Yet his answers are unsatisfying. In keeping with his work as a journalist, the book reads like a series of extended magazine articles. Driven by anecdotes and quotes, it is leavened with potted histories of topics such as Spanish nation building and Franco’s rule. Little evidence backs up his central claim: that Spain suffers from the problems typical of middle-income countries such as Brazil, Poland, and South Korea. These maladies include real estate bubbles, escalating debts, income inequality, and corruption, which in turn have fostered political disillusionment, extremist politics, minority governments, and regional separatism. The book’s conclusion—that if something is not done, citizens may lose patience—leaves the reader entirely in the dark about what, if anything, could address these problems.