Spain: The Trials and Triumphs of a Modern European Country

by Michael Reid

An incisive account of modern Spain, from the death of Franco to the Catalan referendum and beyond


Spain’s transition to democracy after Franco’s long dictatorship was widely hailed as a success, ushering in three decades of unprecedented progress and prosperity. Yet over the past decade its political consensus has been under severe strain. A stable two-party system has splintered, with disruptive new parties on the far left and far right. No government has had a majority since 2015.


Michael Reid overturns the stereotypical view of Spain as a country haunted by its Francoist past. From Catalan separatism and the indignados movement to the Spanish economy’s overdependence on tourism and small business, Spain’s challenges can often seem unique. But Reid is careful to emphasize the many pressures it faces in common with its European neighbors—such as austerity, populism, and increasing polarization. The result is a penetrating yet rounded portrait of a vibrant country—one that is more often visited than understood.

Genres: History, Spain, Nonfiction, Politics, European History, Travel

352 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2024

About the author

Michael Reid is a journalist, writer and commentator on Latin American and Iberian affairs. He has been a staff journalist with The Economist since 1994. His books include "Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America's Soul" (2007) and "Brazil: The Troubled Rise of a Global Power" (2014).

Reviews

[Richard de Villiers · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those unfamiliar with Reid, he was a longtime journalist at The Economist. Reid wrote books about his previous posts in Latin America and another about Brazil. It is only natural that Reid ended up closer to home covering Spain, a country he unabashedly loves. The book is more about the recent history of Spain with a focus on the politics and the issues confronting the nation(s). The "s" is added for a reason. A big part of the story is the regionalism that is a huge part of the conversation about Spain and its post-Franco history. This book is a remarkable tour d'horizon of Spain today and how it got there. Reid acknowledges the challenges Spain faces but notes that even if it is taken for granted - the remarkable progress Spain has made since Franco's passing.

[Iris Schrijver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dit boek hoort op de leeslijst te staan van elke student Spaans Toegepaste Taalkunde en Taal- en Letterkunde. Reid geeft een kritisch, maar empathisch en genuanceerd overzicht van de Spaanse politiek en socio-economische tendensen van de laatste 150 jaar. De inhoud is voor iemand die niet vertrouwd is met de Spaanse actualiteit misschien niet zo toegankelijk, maar voor studenten Spaans is dit boek een goed referentiewerk met voldoende “losse eindjes” om verder te bestuderen.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Major disappointment.There are so many threads of thought in this book, the reader has to work extremely hard to weave them together into a cogent whole. This is not a history of Spain although history is used to justify the author's opinions, such as about how Spain and the world should regard how Spain deals with its history (historical memory). If you have lived many years in Spain, as the author has, and had wide-roaming discussions about the several dozen political parties, political movements, and political philosophies (with all their meaningless labels), this book may be enjoyable; if you are new to Spain and eagerly beginning your effort to understand its history, I'd recommend starting elsewhere.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a deep dive into Spanish democracy following the death of Stalin. Provides a good explanation of the major issues, especially movements in Catalonia and Spain. The author writes for the Economist, so there are a lot of facts. Although I found the book perfectly neutral, one could say the author has a bias toward liberal democracy, free trade, etc. and little patience for separatist movements and the populist left and right parties.

I listened to the audiobook. The narrator skirted with the robotic in his delivery, but this is dry material to narrate.

[Elvira Girón · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un buen libro para aproximarse a la historia reciente de España y al momento político actual. No me ha impresionado ni he descubierto nada nuevo, pero entiendo que es muy buen recurso para un extranjero que quiera saber sobre España o incluso, para cualquier lector que necesite recapitular sobre nuestra historia política reciente, por eso mi puntuación: más por utilidad que por fascinación.

[Dejangod · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tremenda basura reaccionaria

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reid is a much better historian than he is polemicist.

Generally, an incisive history of 21st century Spain, that does a good job tracing the threads of recent history (of which the reader needs prior knowledge) as well as explaining the culture, politics and mechanics of the today’s country.

What let’s it down is Reid’s indulgence of his own biases - he’s an aggressive globalist centrist (in the Merkel mode), who believes infinity immigration causes zero problems (other than racism), anyone who votes for the right is misinformed and that all regional movements are truly stupid. For instance, he suggests the best way to ‘protect’ democracy if Vox won the plurality would be for all the other parties to cooperate against them. And naturally, much as the author loves feminism and hates (really really hates) regionalism and separatism, he’s utterly terrified of saying anything negative (or anything much at all) about Islamic immigration.

[Zachary Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have finished reading “Spain: The Trials and Challenges of a Modern European Country” by Michael Reid.

Michael Reid writes for The Economist. He lives in Spain with his family.

After the death of the Military Dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, Spain has gone through much change at breakneck speed. Whereas before it was seen as something of a stale backwater, the country now is seen as dynamic, open and exciting. At the start of the book the author tries to give the reader a sense of the place through anecdotes about his experiences of travelling around Spain shortly before and then after Franco’s death.

However, the author’s central argument is that the transition, when it happened, seemed to be based on several understandings. The amnesty law, pushed by the Communists, was to stop score settling and raking up the past from the painful Spanish Civil War period and the repressive days of Franco. The different nations within Spain, which were recognised in the post Franco Constitution, were accepted as having places within the new system, but with an expectation that they would not exceed their mandates. According to the author, this seemed to work well for a while. But now Spain seems to be experiencing growing pains. Growing pains which have rocked most of Spain’s institutions.

As in much of Europe, political polarisation has infected Spain’s body politic, arguably more severely than many other places on the continent. Politics since the days of Aznar and Zapatero in the early 00s, has descended into a period often called “confrontation”, where attacks between political parties become more personal and less policy based.

To add to this mix the different autonomous Nation’s seem to have different agendas. The Basque region is mainly doing very well, especially in the rejuvenated and dynamic city of Bilbao, while the Basque Nationalists for now seem content at their autonomy within the framework of the Spanish nation. Things in Catalonia however, seem a lot more uncertain after the declaration of independence several years ago. This move by Catalan nationalists, which was unconstitutional, disturbed much of the Spanish population but also provoked the rise of populists party seeking to address the divisions that led to the declaration.

Podemos emerged as left wing populists who occasionally flirt with challenging the post Franco settlement. Citizens is a centre right populist party who sprung up as a challenge to the main conservative party, in response to the Catalan declaration of independence. Vox has emerged as an extreme right populist party in a similar mould to the French Front Nationale and the US Republican Party under Trump. The emergence of all of these parties, and now a few more since the book has been written, has seemed to push Spanish politics away from it’s years of Socialist/People’s Party (conservatives) dominance. This means that the temperature of Spanish politics is unlikely to decline soon.

There are many issues within Spain that require attention. Public Administration is outdated. Regional Governments are prone to petty corruption. Much of the interior of Spain has seen towns and small cities become ever more depopulated, leading desperate residents take to formal politics to save their settlements. Issues also remain with regards to the Catholic Church’s place in Spanish society.

Overall, I can’t fault this book for being informative about it’s subject matter. But I did feel this writer often made his arguments with scant attention to balance. This was particularly evident in the chapter about the Catalan declaration of independence, granted that the declaration and the passing of alleged supporting laws was unconstitutional. I did feel that apart from the rather quick snapshot of the author’s youthful travels in Spain, there wasn’t much chance for the reader to get immersed in or even introduced to Spanish culture. I think this is a shame. It meant that while this read was very informative, it felt a bit cold too. The story of a country is somewhat empty without much mention of the people in it.

[Chris Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad at all.

At first I didn't care for some of the author's assertions, they seemed to be biased to the right rather being simply observations but, as the book wore on, I realised that he criticised where he thought criticism was due and praised when he saw something he approved of. I can't say that I agree with all of his assertions or all of his analysis but as a general handbook of how things have gone until the very recent past I can't fault it. There were certainly several clear explanations of things that I had seen happen here in Spain without realising their import.

Nice, crisp, clear writing style too though sometimes, perhaps, sometimes, brevity was achieved by lack of detail. I'm nitpicking though.

[Nico Brennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aggressively centrist

[Book busy · Rating 4 out of 5]

God. I'm really not one for history books. HOWEVER I really enjoyed the more narrative and romantic tonality to Reid's interpretation of modern Spain, journalistic in flair as it may be. I'm still not one for the History books I've read rolling around stats that just inevitably whiz over my head but the balance in this book in its address of tradition, politics, independence movements, housing, national attitudes etc. I feel gives you a nice socio-political spin on the country. I will need to make note of the stuff I want to recall because honestly this and Townson's "History of Modern Spain" are pretty hefty and sporadic in their focus areas. For me the Catalan independence chapters and the "Scandinavia in the Sun?" chapters were particularly insightful. I feel like this book has altered some misconceptions of mine, particularly considering the standing of VOX and the outlook, origins and history of Podemos/ Sumar (I will need to research more into Iglesias because that guy ... strange).

3.75/ 5

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7* I sympathise with Reid's moderate take on politics and culture, based as it is on decades he spent in Latin America as well as Europe, watching where more exciting radical enthusiasms can lead (in fact I once briefly met him in Colombia, while he was covering the murder of local judges there in the 1980s as a journalist). I base my response to this book in five years when I happily lived in Madrid, where I worked often with the public sector. So his jaundiced eye on nationalism-seperatisim and on the increased polarisation of politics lands easily with me. His historical summaries made sense, accorded with what I had read elsewhere. But it is a 'bitty' book, caught trying mostly to respond to current issues in Spain, which makes it relevant for the early/mid-2020s, but for me less satisfying overall and without many surprises. Still, I haven't read a better book on current/recent Spanish politics.

[J.Istsfor Manity · Rating 3 out of 5]

The impulse is often to stress what divides rather than what unites, what Sigmund Freud called 'the narcissism of small differences.’ This is most obviously so with Basque and Catalan nationalists, but it applies more widely in Spain today. The country risks becoming a kingdom of taifas, Felipe González often warned, referring to the mosaic of small warlord states that emerged in Muslim Spain following the collapse of the Ummayad caliphate in 1009. This fissiparous tendency ignores the many things that all Spaniards have in common, as women or men, parents and children, workers, professionals, consumers, ecologists, cyclists, football fans and basketball players, eaters of tortillas, tomatoes, squid, fish or steaks. And the focus on the local and regional has come at the cost of Spain's national and international interests.

— Michael Reid / Spain

[Christina Ward]

As someone whose partner is Spanish and will very likely live there in the near future, I've been trying to pick up any media to learn more about Spain as it is today. This book was a great overview of the last 50 years, and very in depth look in the last 10 years, of the social, political and economic outlook of modern day Spain. It was so interesting and also makes me realize politics and government will for ever and always be messy. Also incredible to see how much Spain changed from the end of Franco's dictatorship 50 years ago to where it is today.

[Happy Booker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply engaging and very accessible book of modern Spain from the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 thru the democratic transition and up to the challenges of the Catalan separatism. Reid offers a readable narrative of Spain's post-Franco re-birth with economic and political highs and lows and regional tensions. Michaels Reid's journalistic prowess comes to the forefront in his balanced and insightful understanding of contemporary Spain. Highly recommend for anyone interested in understanding Spain's identity as is stands today in modern Europe.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book by an Economist correspondent reads like a long string of Economist articles, which is good and bad.

The good: It’s tightly written, highly informative, and mixes economic data with social and political reporting. The bad: It’s rather disjointed and meandering, and written in the know-it-all British tone that tends to permeate the Economist.

So a useful if imperfect and occasionally irritating primer on 21st century Spain

[Camilo Orozco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Reid has an amazing ability to explain recent events in Spanish politics. From personal experiences to testimonies of characters totally antagonistic to each other. All followed by brilliant political analysis on his part. Although I don't agree with it in some things, I think that for those of us who are not from here (Spain) it is an excellent book to learn to know this country.

[Giovanni García-Fenech · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonky successor to John Hooper’s The New Spaniards, Reid’s book is bogged down by too many statistics that end up muddying the broader narrative. Also, its argument against addressing Franco’s abuses falls flat. Nonetheless, it really is highly informative and offers as comprehensive an overview of Spain's current political landscape as you could ask for.

[Vivek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book to read for a good understanding of the current affairs and recent history of Spain. Glad I came across this book and the author courtesy the Cheltenham Literature festival where the author was a guest at one of the Events and signed my book.
I will treasure this book as a reference book to keep going back to as my exploration of Spain, it's history and it's character continues.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and insightful commentary on modern Spain and how it became the country it is. There is a lot of detail about the political parties and personalities that is necessary to provide the full analysis that the book is trying to provide but makes it a bit heavy going for the more casual reader.

[Owen McArdle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had some interesting points but it did all begin with a tirade against Catalan nationalism devoid of much context or introduction and never quite recovered – it would have been a much better book if the arguments it makes were rearranged into a more coherent order for sure.

[Elliot Hair · Rating 4 out of 5]

An up-to-date and comprehensive book on Spain's politics and economy and their intersections with history and culture.

[Javier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly one of the best books on Spain. Suitable both for foreigners and Spaniards.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’ll written and insightful.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive, but possibly biased.

[Marzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent discussion of modern Spain and the radically different approaches of autonomous regions like the Basque Country and Catalonia.

[Joaquin Moro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imprescindible, necesario, útil.

[Santiago Endara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written and entertaining account of Spain´s most recent history, current situation and challenges for the future.

[Maud Temmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erg interessant overzicht van de Spaanse geschiedenis. Kost wat energie om in te komen, maar dat is het zeker waard.

[Mariana Monteiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detail-rich book for those wanting to understand Spain. A lot on economics, politics, history and culture. Could however, in some parts, have had a more accessible/direct writing.