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- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
Iraq war behind the USA, went against polls that
showed 90 per cent of the public opposed involvement.
When four bombs killed 191 people early one March
morning three days before the 2004 general election,
Aznar tried to blame ETA despite evidence to the
contrary. PP leader-in-waiting, Mariano Rajoy, paid the
price. Despite the PP’s sizeable lead in the polls, a
horrified public elected the PSOE into government; the
new regime withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq almost
immediately.
In October 2007 a Spanish court sentenced 20 men
and one woman, largely a mixture of Moroccan Arabs
and Spaniards, to thousands of years in prison for the
bombings. Seven others, including an Egyptian man
that prosecutors painted as the ringleader, were
acquitted.
Catching up with
the rest of Europe
While Spain’s economy took
off in the late 20thcentury,
the most radical changes
wrought by democracy were
social. After years of strict
conservatism it didn’t take
Spain long to catch up with
modern, secular Europe.
Sexual liberation thrust
forth, aided by the
relaxation of censorship
laws and the legalisation of
contraception. Abortion and
divorce were also legalised.
The archaicpermiso marital,
demanding that women
secure permission from their
husband or father before
opening a bank account or
getting a job, was abolished
and women began moving
into the workplace. Cultural
changes accompanied the
social catch-up, with film,
in particular, making
great strides, revelling in
the release from tight
censorship. Today, Spain
is an integrated, keenly
European nation, somewhat
calmed since the high times
of the 1980s and 90s.
