The Sobremesa Podcast

The Sobremesa Podcast
  • 4.7 (18)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Semimonthly

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

  1. Sánchez under Siege

    5d ago

    Sánchez under Siege

    In recent months Pedro Sánchez's government has faced the most sustained judicial offensive of its time in office. Sanchez’s wife has been ordered to stand trial for influence peddling and her passport confiscated because a right-wing judge believed she constituted a flight risk. Meanwhile the prime minister’s brother is now awaiting a verdict in a highly controversial trial for influence peddling and malfeasance that was based entirely on circumstantial evidence. At the same time, Former Socialist prime minister and key Sanchez ally, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has also been placed under criminal investigation - after the US Homeland Security Department supplied messages from a cloned phone that suggests he could have lobbied for a pandemic-era loan for a Venezuelan airline.  Lawfare has been a key weapon for the Spanish right in undermining Sanchez’s left-leaning administration over the last 8 years - with its use accelerating particularly after the 2023 Catalan amnesty. But the intervention of the Trump administration adds a new international dimension - with many in the Spanish media and politics believing that the questionable evidence sent by US Homeland Security against Zatatero in March was retaliation for Sanchez’s stance on the war in Iran. It was a move which has certainly killed most of Sanchez’s momentum from his growing international profile and plunged his administration into renewed crisis. Today on Sobremesa podcast, we discuss the judicial siege that Sanchez, his government and family now find themselves under. And to do so I am joined by IE University’s Joe Haslam. If you like what we are producing and want to help keep the podcast going, please consider donating at our buy me a coffee page.  https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

    1 hr
  2. Tribulete 7: The Building on the Frontline of Madrid's Housing Crisis

    Jun 15

    Tribulete 7: The Building on the Frontline of Madrid's Housing Crisis

    Let me tell you a story about Lavapiés. Spain's housing crisis has finally come for you. Your home has just been sold to a vulture fund and they want you out. What would you do? The residents at Calle Tribulete 7 came together and set out on a path of resistance, one that would transform them into a Madrid-wide symbol of the battle for housing rights. The documentary Soy Tribulete 7 (I am Tribulete 7) takes us inside the 107-year-old Lavapiés building and into the lives of an extraordinary community whose looming eviction launched the fight of their lives. This week on Sobremesa podcast, we discuss the new documentary and the housing block behind. To do so, I am joined by the film’s co-director Leah Pattem. Leah is a photo and investigative journsalist and the founder of the blog Madrid No Frills. Remember if you like what we are producing and want to keep the podcast sustainable going forward, please consider making a donation to our Buy me a Coffee page: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremeyTrailer for the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wr1hdNO51I

    54 min
  3. Conquistadors and Culture Wars

    Jun 6

    Conquistadors and Culture Wars

    Last month Madrid’s right wing regional premier Isabel Ayuso took it upon herself to travel to Mexico so as to lecture the Mexican public about their own history - as she participated in a homage to the conquistador Hernan Cortes. Proving once again her reputation as a Trumpian figure within the mainstream conservative Popular Party, she even went as far as to insist on her return to Madrid that “Mexico did not exist until the Spanish arrived.”  She and much of Spanish right have form on this. In 2021 as Pope Francis apologised for the Catholic Church’s role in the conquest of the Americas, she responded: “It surprises me that a Spanish-speaking Catholic would speak that way about a legacy like ours, which was precisely to bring Spanish—and, through the missions, Catholicism, and thus civilization and freedom—to the American continent,” Today on Sobremesa podcast we talk about Spain’s other memory war, that is: The Spanish right’s revisionist crusade to revindicate the supposed civilizational mission associated with the conquest of the Americas. To do so I am joined by the historian Juan José Ponce Vázquez, of The University of Alabama. Please remember if you like what we are producing, consider making a donation to our buy me a coffee page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey⁠

    1h 4m
  4. The Battle over Picasso's Guernica

    May 10

    The Battle over Picasso's Guernica

    Pablo Picasso’s Guernica is probably the most well known painting of the 20th century, and has become a universal symbol of the horrors of war. But it has also been the subject of renewed controversy in recent weeks in Spain - over a yet another request by the Basque government for the painting to be displayed at least temporarily in Bilbao. The current request comes ahead of the 90th anniversary of the bombing that the painting evokes - when during the Civil War the Nazi Condor Legion unleashed a relentless aerial assault on the Basque town. The long-running debate over moving the painting to the Basque Country centres on competing claims, with Basque sovereignists arguing that it should be displayed in the same location as the events it commemorates, against Spanish government’s insistence it remain at Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid for reasons of conservation and national heritage. Today on Sobremesa, we discuss the controversy and the relationship between the work’s power and universality and the concrete, historical atrocity inflicted on Gernika the town. To do so Eoghan is joined by Brittany Kennnedy, Senior Professor of Practice at Tulane University’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Brittany is the author of Between Distant Modernities: Performing Exceptionality in Francoist Spain and the Jim Crow South. Please remember if you like what we are producing, consider making a donation to our buy me a coffee page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey⁠

    53 min
  5. Gabriel Rufian and the Spanish left

    Apr 15

    Gabriel Rufian and the Spanish left

    With the announcement from deputy prime minister Yolanda Diaz that she would not be standing as a candidate in next year’s general election, Spain’s radical left currently looks leaderless and increasingly fragmented. In this context, attention has turned towards Gabriel Rufian as a potential new left-wing figurehead. Yet there is one major issue: Rufian, a charismatic,working class Catalan MP is also pro-independence. Indeed, eight years ago he was one of the most visible faces in the Spanish parliament representing the attempted unilateral push for Catalan independence. Please remember if you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation to our buy me a coffee page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

    1h 4m
  6. From Faith to Freedom: Catholicism, Liberalism, and Hispanidad in Cádiz 1812

    Apr 1

    From Faith to Freedom: Catholicism, Liberalism, and Hispanidad in Cádiz 1812

    On this episode Alan is joined by Gregorio Alonso, Associate Professor in Hispanic History at the University of Leeds. We explore the 1812 Cádiz Constitution, a landmark document born in a time of siege and upheaval. Gregorio takes us through the tensions between liberalism and Catholicism, the shaping of Hispanidad, and how these ideas influenced Spain and the loss of its empire. This conversation uncovers how faith, freedom, and imperial identity collide in one of Spain’s most fascinating historical documents . Please donate at to make the podcast sustainable:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

    50 min
  7. Sánchez on the World Stage

    Mar 9

    Sánchez on the World Stage

    Hours after the United States and Israel bombed Iran on Saturday morning, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez released a statement which read: “We reject the unilateral military action of the United States and Israel that entails an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order...We demand immediate de-escalation and full respect for international law." He also condemned the Iranian retaliation missile and drone attacks on neighbouring Arab states. Apart from the Norwegian foreign minister’s condemnation, Sanchez stood alone among European leaders in his willingness to call out US-Israeli aggression. Indeed as he attended the Goyas film awards on Saturday night, he told reporters: ““We are witnessing a violation of international law…Violence only produces more violence.” To do so Eoghan is joined by Bécquer Seguín - associate professor of Hispanic Studies at John Hopkins University and who covers Spanish current affairs for the Nation Magazine. Just to note our discussion was recorded on Friday 27th of February - the day before the US-Israeli military aggression against Iran. Please remember if you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation to our buy me a coffee page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey

    1h 24m
  8. Francoist Prison Worlds: Totalitarianism and Social Control

    Feb 25

    Francoist Prison Worlds: Totalitarianism and Social Control

    Today's guest is historian Helen Graham, who discusses her research into the brutal prison system under Francoist dictatorship. Her work shows how mass incarceration after the Spanish Civil War was only one part of a much wider system of control and surveillance — one that reached beyond prison walls into families, communities, and everyday life, shaping how millions of people experienced dictatorship. Helen Graham is Professor Emerita of Modern European History at Royal Holloway, University of London, and the recipiant of the Walter Benjamin International Memorial Prize 2025-6. Amongst other works, she is the author of ‘The Spanish Republic at War 1936–1939’, The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction (a new edition of which is out this summer) and the forthcoming ‘After the Spanish civil war: the twentieth century through five antifascist lives’ Please remember if you like what we are producing, please consider making a donation to our buy me a coffee page: ⁠⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/thesobremey Helen's essay on prisons: https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/en/publications/not-recognizing-the-political-analysing-francos-long-dictatorship/ Also the trailer for film we discuss, Modelo 77: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1e-NJObVFQ And the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKVktmqsx4Q&rco=1

    59 min
See All (139)

4.7
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    The Sobremesa Podcast
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    139
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The Sobremesa Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Sobremesa Podcast

You Might Also Like