To Our Readers
Spaniards leading a national surge in global business and politics, culture and the arts. As the country prepares for a pivotal election, TIME examines its striking creative burst
AMIGOS: From left, Jane Walker, David Trueba, Ana Palacio, James Geary, Carlos Vela, Trinidad Jiménez, Rod Usher, Ferran Adrià and James Graff
The Surprising Tastes of Spain
Meet the new conquistadores;
Spaniards leading a national surge in global business and politics, culture and the arts. As the country prepares for a pivotal election, TIME examines its striking creative burst
Posted Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004; 15.48GMT
The fried rabbit ears said it all. This was one of the unusual delicacies at the lunch TIME hosted for five leading Spaniards at the elegant La Terraza del Casino restaurant in Madrid. The ears — which tasted like a bitter parsnip and had the texture of tempura — capture the essence of Spain today: surprising, innovative, daring. Those terms also sum up our experience putting together this special report.
For Paris bureau chief James Graff, who orchestrated our reporting from Spain, the surprise was a pleasant one. He spent a lot of time in Madrid in the mid-1980s, a period of deep economic distress yet profound political optimism for Spain's young democracy. Now, Graff says, "The changes since the transition a generation ago have been more dramatic economically than many dared hope, but also more prosaic. Spain has become a more 'normal' country, but the delightful edges are still there.
Where else but in Spain do people still feel enterprising at 3 o'clock in the morning?"
That spirit of enterprise and innovation is reflected in our opening essay by Rod Usher, a longtime contributor to these pages who has lived in Spain for the past 13 years. He cites the case of 18-year-old Cristina Casadevall, a Catalan student who has come up with an ingenious way to make building material from discarded nutshells. "What impressed me was that she wants to develop her project in part because she thinks it can provide jobs for people with disabilities," Usher says.
There's daring, too, in the way Spaniards are addressing international issues like Iraq, and domestic disputes like regionalization. To chart how these issues are playing out in the run-up to the March 14 election we relied on the reporting skills of Enrique Zaldua in the Basque Country and Samuel Loewenberg in Madrid, as well as the broad knowledge of our veteran Madrid correspondent Jane Walker. We think the result — like the work of the actor on our cover, Javier Bardem — will explode stereotypes and have an impact on readers long after they've put the magazine aside. The same effect as the taste of those fried rabbit ears.
Divide And Conquer [Mar. 1, 2004]
Basque terrorist group ETA throws a "message bomb" into the Spanish general-election campaign
Death Coast [Dec 2, 2002]
After an aging tanker sins off Spain, a vast slick of fuel oil destroys beaches, wildlife and fishermen's dreams. Could this disaster have been prevented?
They Came To Reign in Spain [Sep. 27, 2002]
You wait for a major sporting competition to come along, and three show up at the same time.
A Meeting Of Minds [Jul. 15, 2002]
European Union leaders meet in Seville to look for common ground on everything
Gaudí Mania [Apr. 26, 2002]
The work of controversial architect Antoni Gaudí is getting a fresh look as Spain marks the 150th anniversary of his birth
Bust In Madrid [Dec. 21, 2001]
A well-established al-Qaeda cell may have been directly involved in planning the U.S. terrorist attacks
Madrid: Living la Vida Loca [Nov. 12, 2001]
Madrileos like it late, loud and lively in their multitude of bars and restaurants
Mogadishu at 60 Miles an Hour Arms merchants are once again doing brisk business after a rapid change of power in this tough town, but so far the peace has held
The Year of The Nuke A rundown of the world's nuclear powerhouses, and what to expect in the coming months
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