Yes, Spain!!!!

[Image descriptions: 1. Tweet by AJ+ @AJPlus [gold check verified] that says: Spain became the 1st country in Europe to offer paid menstrual leave, for 3-5 days. It also gave final approval to laws that: [bullet point] enshrine rights to abortion for people over 16 [bullet point] let trans people over 16 self-identify gender by simple declaration, one of the only places to do so [Attached to the Tweet is a photo of a group of people with trans flags gathered on the steps of a building with large stone columns.]

2. A headline from DW that says: “Spain passes laws on trans rights, abortion, menstrual leave – DW.” The visible part of the article says, “The new laws expand transgender rights and abortion access, as well as give workers paid menstrual leave. The approval comes ahead of…” \End descriptions]

Confiscated pens containing cheat notes intricately carved by a student at the University of Malaga, Spain. (2022)

What's funny to me is that nobody cares about copyright outside the US and maybe, I dunno, Canada and Europe? For the entire third world, it's something we politely pretend is real so we don't hurt their feelings, but it's probably the fakest and less upheld concept here, absolutely nobody cares.

Some yanqui says something deranged like "um, uh, yeah, you should pay for every time you play a song otherwise you're stealing" and we just pat their head and say "claro que sí tesoro" while we download 15 GBs of movies and the local pizzeria has a mural of like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny to promote it.

Donkey in Zamora Province, Spain hauls flowering nabiza (turnip plants) to be pressed into vegetable oil

National Geographic - March, 1978

anaquirosa

There you are, innocently eating tapas at a restaurant, when you hear boss fight music behind you:

(He'll have the Caesar salad, gracias.)

This 10 meter tall statue of Augustus looms over Puerta Cinegia Gastronómica, a dining/shopping mall in Zaragoza, Spain. Augustus founded the town as Caesaraugusta (hence Zara-agoza) over 2000 years ago as a colony for veterans of the Cantabrian Wars, and many Roman ruins are still visible. I now want to visit Zaragoza.

Thank you Spain, we'll remember your good deeds.

400 [hundred: typo that I need to leave as a sign of shame and the necessity of proof reading--maze is just 400 years old and not 40000] year old (not) abandoned maze in Spain. Edit: As pointed out, the hedges are not in fact abandoned, but carefully maintained by expert hedgers. https://www.pazodesanlorenzo.com/en/about/

400 year old abandoned maze in Spain.

Alhambra Castle | Granada, Spain.

Spain lied about not selling weapons to Israel.

Even after October 7th, Spain has sold more than 1 million € of weapons to Israel. Norway and Finland make it possible.

In January, Spain made headlines word-wide when the government's Minister of Exteriors, José Manuel Albares (PSOE), claimed in Congress and later again in a radio interview that Spain had stopped selling weapons to Israel ever since October 7th. Israel's intensification of violence in Gaza following October 7th meant that, on top of decades of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, between October 7th and January 23rd Israel had already killed 28,000 people and forced 2 million out of their home. In this context, many people were demanding their governments stop arming and funding the genocide of the Palestinian people, and here on Tumblr and other social media sites like Twitter I think we all saw the many posts praising the Spanish government for this.

Well, it turns out it was a lie.

According to Albares, "Since October 7th there are no more weapons exportations [from Spain] to Israel". But in November alone, Spain exported weapons to Israel for 987,000€, as was published on the Spanish Government's official website dedicated to exterior commerce (Comex). A researcher from Centre Delàs (an independent centre for peace studies) found it and published it, and it has also been verified by newspapers such as elDiario.es.

This 987,000€ worth of weapons in November was not the only ammunition that Spain has sent to Israel in 2023. In 2023, Spain exported a total of 1.48 million € in war material to Israel.

All of the weapons sent in November come from the factory of Nammo Palencia (Castilla y León), a corporation that is 50% property of the Government of Norway and 50% owned by a public Finnish business. However, even if the owners are foreigners, the ammunition was sent from Spain and thus it had to be authorized by the an organism of the Spanish Government named Junta Interministerial de Defensa y Doble Uso, whose deliberations on whether a weapons exportation is accepted or denied are kept secret. The only cases where they have denied exporting weapons to Israel have been when they thought that Israel would re-sell these weapons to the Philippines.

Spain has had a close relation with Israel for years. As published by the Spanish Government, Spain has sold 20 million € of weapons to Israel between 2012 and 2022. Spain also buys weapons and military software from Israel (for example, the Spanish Intelligence Service has been using the Israeli software Pegasus to illegally spy on Catalan activists, journalists, politicians and civil society members and their relatives to attack the Catalan independence movement), and Spain has continued buying from Israel and allocating defense contracts to Israel even after the October 7th attacks. It is very difficult to track the concessions of public contracts such as buying weapons, but some contracts have been known. For example, on November 24th 2023, Spain bought 287.5 million € of missiles from Israel. This is not unusual: between 2011 and 2021, it is publicly known that Spain bought war material from Israel for at least 268 million €, but experts say that the real number could be two or three times as much.

Spain has also continued allocating concessions to Israel. For example, on December 15th 2023 Spain allocated a contract worth over 576 million € to Israel for a rocket launcher programme. On November 22nd, Spain allocated another another Israeli company to provide missiles for 237 million € at the same time as the Spanish army bought Israeli inhibitors for 1.4 million €. The very next day, November 23rd, Spain signed another military allocation to Israel for 82,600€. The following week, Spain signed yet another allocation with a different Israeli military corporation for 3.7 million €.

Spain also allows Israeli weapon manufacturing companies to produce weapons through their branches located in Spain. This way, Israeli weapons make their way to markets with which Israel doesn't have diplomatic ties but Spain does, like Saudi Arabia. And since Spain is a member of NATO, Israeli weapons produced in Spain are approved according to NATO standards and access it easily. In the same way, these Israeli weapons manufacturers also access European Union defense funds through their branches in Spain. (source).

As I said, I saw a lot of positive posts around when Albares said Spain was going to embargo, but I haven't seen any post about how they didn't do it. I also (personally) haven't seen anything on international media, and barely anything on Spanish media, which is already busy with the PSOE covid material corruption scandal. So I share this in the hope of helping put pressure on Spain to cut all ties with Israel immediately.

SHAME ON EVERYONE WHO GIVES ISRAEL THE MATERIAL AND MONEY THAT WILL BE USED TO MASSACRE THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE. SHAME ON SPAIN, NORWAY, AND FINLAND.

Nerja, Spain (by Yuliya)

some good news!! the spanish state's ministry of equality has finally passed one of the most progressive trans laws on the planet, shielded free and universal access to abortion and banned conversion therapy and genital surgery for intersex babies, among a lot of other feminist policies. the minister of equality irene montero gave a speech thanking spain's lgtb and trans associations for helping her draft these legislations. couldn't be more proud!!

Full moon behind the Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor, on the summit of Mount Tibidabo in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.