With the summer holidays almost upon us, there is a vivid sense of place in this edition.
We join local people on the streets of Málaga, Madrid and Mallorca as they grapple with the competing pressures of an over-active tourist trade and the need for affordable housing.
Walking the waterfront of Miami, we discover its hidden identity as a city of expatriates and artists, where the world is mapped out in the wing of a cucaracha [in Spanish].
Returning to the early 1900s, we see Buenos Aires’ sweet spot, the Plaza San Martín, through the eyes of the marvellous Miss Kavanagh, whose literally towering ambition lifts her above her socialite critics.
And in the second part of our series on visual analysis, we see what happens when our subject takes to the mean streets of Mexico City openly carrying a gun.
Urban violence is high on the agenda in several Latin American states, with ‘punitive populism’ seen by some as the solution. We compare violent crime in El Salvador and Ecuador, and ask whether the former’s ‘Bukele model’ of mass arrests can quell the sudden upsurge of violence in the Andean state.
Colombia’s decade of la violencia (1948 – 1958) did at least provide inspiration for the writing career of its most illustrious author, Gabriel García Márquez. We look at the extent to which his early novella El coronel no tiene quien le escriba (No one writes to the colonel) is his response to the injustices of the then dictatorship in his native land [in Spanish].
Spain and Portugal were also under dictatorships at that time. Fifty years on from Portugal’s Carnation Revolution, we compare and contrast the developments that led up to and followed on from the two neighbours’ mid-1970s transitions.
Spain’s current political situation has brought to the fore contrasting figures, in the persons of the suave Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the quirky Catalan nationalist Carles Puigdemont. We examine how these two leaders have maintained their influence and support base through challenging times [in Spanish].
Summer allows us to lift our gaze for a while from worldly events and to indulge in a little escapism. Nothing better than a good book to help us along, and there can be no better book for thought-provoking fun than La tía Julia y el escribidor / Aunt Julia and the scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa. Our correspondent looks at the ‘corrupt and compelling’ artist-muse relationship at the heart of the novel.
Summer holidays are also a great opportunity for Sixth Form hispanists to turn their minds to the Bulletin of Advanced Spanish / University of Glasgow Essay Competition, whose closing date this year is 23 September. The winning entry will be published in our next edition. Download Competition rules here.
Since 2017 the Bulletin of Advanced Spanish has been a free resource, read on every continent, 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 September.
Feliz verano a todos,
The BAS editorial team
Bulletin of Advanced Spanish 