¡Bienvenidos!

New Year, new Bulletin.  Innovations include:

• our first article to be published in three languages (Eng/Sp/Chinese), to reflect our global readership
• the start of our collaboration with the Cambridge-based magazine Panoramic.

Latin America has been through highs and lows since our last edition.  The greatest high was Argentina’s victory in the FIFA World Cup.  We assess the impact of Latin American football at both a societal and sporting level.

The marriage of Miss Argentina and Miss Puerto Rico was also widely celebrated.  In collaboration with Panoramic (https://www.panoramicthemagazine.com/ ) we look at the status of LGBTQ+ Latin Americans in their home countries.

Our tri-lingual article is, suitably, about that universal creative pursuit – photography: specifically, the study of photography in Latin America, the subject of a new book by Nathanial Gardner.

Staying with the visual arts, the Royal Academy in London is currently displaying treasures from across the Spanish-speaking world. We lift the lid on this eclectic collection.

This edition’s student contribution looks at the García Márquez short story María dos Prazeres, with particular focus on his use of magical realism.

The transition from 2022 to 2023 brought political upheaval to both Peru and Brazil.  We tap into expert opinion across the region to assess the threat to Latin American democracy  (in Spanish).

In similar vein, we look at the continuing relevance of the Oscar-winning film La historia oficial (on the current A-level syllabus), showing the corrosive effect of dictatorship on civilian life and moral values.

As the year progresses, our focus will switch back to Spain and the forthcoming elections. In this edition we preview how Spain’s economy will be a two-edged sword in the campaigns.

The Bulletin of Advanced Spanish is a free resource, read in 140 countries during 2022.  It is written by and for enthusiasts at all stages of their exploration of the language and culture of the Spanish-speaking world.  Please see the Guidelines tab if you would like to write for us.  The deadline for the next edition is the end of May.

Wishing our readers a healthy and successful 2023,

The BAS editorial team