The Sobremesa Podcast

Jan 23 2025 113 ep. 52 mins 114
The Sobremesa Podcast artwork

The Sobremesa Podcast is about modern-day Spanish society, politics and history, without the stereotypes. Please donate at to make the podcast sustainable: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

  Society & Culture
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Re-release: Barcelona's Hidden Civil War Monuments

Jan 23 2025 35 mins  
This week writer and tour guide Nick Lloyd brings Catherine on a a more atypical historical route of Barcelona to uncover the lesser known layers to the city’s history. They start at Estació de França, a historic train station not far from the city’s port where the International Brigades arrived to Spain. They then walk down to Ciutadella Park, where Barcelona’s zoo is lo

Spanish Crowds - Carnaval, Fiestas and Protests

Jan 14 2025 63 mins  
This week Eoghan talks to author and journalist Dan Hancox about his new book 'Multitudes: How Crowds Made The Modern World’. It is a fascinating exploration of the collective joy and emancipatory potential of different forms of mass gatherings while also tracing the obsession of elites and the forces of law and order in policing, delegitimizing and suppressing crowds. Throughout

Spanish Politics: The Year in Review 2024

Dec 29 2024 75 mins  
It has been a year of near constant parliamentary deadlock for Spain's left-leaning government but also one of strong economic growth in comparison to other eurozone economies. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialist Party won the Catalan elections in May and were once again the largest social democratic force in Europe after June's European parliament elections. Yet Sanchez and P

Michael Eaude on Spain's Reckoning with Its Past

Dec 08 2024 64 mins  
This week Eoghan talks to the author and journalist Michael Eaude. Michael is the author nine books, including ‘Catalonia, a Cultural History’, ‘Triumph at Midnight of the Century - A Critical Biography of Arturo Barea’ and ‘Sails and Winds - A Cultural History of Valencia’. And during the last 25 years he has also worked as a self-described "necrologist", writing some

Stories Left in Stone: Tales from Cáceres Extremadura

Nov 17 2024 58 mins  
Writer and musician, Troy Nahumko, joins Alan to discuss his new book Stories Left in Stone, Trails and Traces in Cáceres, Spain. They discuss the old town of Cáceres, a UNESCO world heritage site, Game of Thrones, the world's oldest handprint, cave art and regional politics. You can buy Troy's book here If you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation at ou

Anger and Rage in Valencia after the Floods

Nov 11 2024 39 mins  
130,000 people protested in Valencia last Saturday demanding regional premier Carlos Mazón resign from his post for his disastrous management of the floods which devastated the area two weeks ago. The death toll stands at 223 people while hundreds of thousands of others have had their homes and places of work gutted. Eoghan spoke to journalist Leah Pattem about the protests and t

Mass Deaths in Valencia after Flooding and Political Failure

Nov 02 2024 45 mins  
Last Tuesday evening as thousands of people were commuting home from work and many others continued at their jobs in supermarkets, cinemas, factories, beauty shops and restaurants, unprecedented flash floods hit the Valencia region. That morning at 8am the Spanish Met office issued its highest warning level of maximum red, warning of extreme danger. But the right-wing regional gov

Inside Opus Dei - From Francoism to Trump

Oct 17 2024 67 mins  
This week Eoghan talks to financial journalist Gareth Gore. In his new book Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church Gore opens the lid on the extremist, reactionary sect Opus Dei. Opus was initially set up against the tumultuous backdrop of 1930s Spain and went to play a leading role in the Francoist dictatorship - both

Tragedy in the Canaries Amid Spain's Anti-Immigration Turn

Oct 07 2024 57 mins  
The island of El Hierro is at the centre of the Canary Islands’ current surge in irregular migration, receiving 13,000 refugees and immigrants this year – 2,000 more than its total residents. As hundreds die every month on the passage from West Africa to the popular tourist islands, the Spanish right are now weaponising the issue. Leader of the far-right Vox Santiago Abascal

Poetry of the International Brigaders

Oct 05 2024 60 mins  
Jim Jump, the editor of the poetry anthology "Poems from Spain: British and Irish International Brigaders on the Spanish Civil War", joins Alan to discuss the collection of poems that stretch the length Spanish Civil War and after. All poems were written by men and women participating in the International Brigades. They cover the lives of the poets themselves, recite poetry from th