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Articles by Heather Galloway
Nepal’s Generation Z seeks to defeat the old guard in the upcoming elections: ‘We want to see new faces’
Nepal has become a pressure cooker in the run-up to the March 5 snap elections, triggered by the September Gen Z riots that shocked the world and ousted the then-prime minister, communist party boss, Sharma Oli. The protests forced the resignation of the then prime minister, Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, and opened the door to change in this mountainous country of 30 million people after years of nepotism, corruption and a lack of opportunities for the younger generation.
La generación Z de Nepal presiona para derrotar a la vieja guardia en las próximas elecciones: “Queremos ver caras nuevas”
Nepal se ha convertido en una olla a presión en vísperas de las elecciones anticipadas del 5 de marzo, convocadas como consecuencia de las revueltas sociales impulsadas el pasado septiembre por la generación Z ―los nacidos entre finales de los noventa y principios de la década de los 2010―.
A new Muslim political coalition is running for power in Europe
National Muslim parties across Europe have formed a coalition to run in the European parliamentary elections in June under the campaign slogan “Free Palestine” in response to the recent electoral gains of the far right. The first meeting of the as yet unnamed umbrella movement took place in Lille, France, on the weekend of 28 October, three weeks into Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
Portugal’s new anti-Islam Chega party is soaring in the polls, so why aren’t Muslim leaders worried?
As Europe reels from the shock of anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders’ dramatic win in the Dutch general election- on 22 November recent polling in Portugal has put their anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim Chega party on course to win 17% of the vote in the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections in March.
Spain’s far right pushes for a ban on Spanish nationality for people from ‘Islamic culture’
Spain’s ultra-right party Vox has registered a proposal with Congress to deny nationality and residency to immigrants from countries with a predominantly Islamic culture while blocking entry to new Muslim arrivals “so long as we cannot ensure their correct and peaceful integration into our territory”.
‘I’m going to be the first female president of Afghanistan’
“I’m going to be the first female president of Afghanistan one day,” said Khadija Amin, sipping a glass of rioja on the terrace of her home on the outskirts of Madrid. The 30-year-old journalist and mother of three was an anchorwoman for state-run Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) before the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15, 2021, and barred her from the newsroom. She is a refugee living in the Spanish capital’s commuter belt, and her prediction seems extravagant but not inconceivable.
‘In this town there’s a problem if you’re Muslim or foreign’
The leader of a white supremacist gang that terrorised a small Spanish town now faces seven years in jail on charges of assault and distributing hate-filled material Antas is a small, inland town in the Andalusian province of Almeria, surrounded by clay quarries and dusty scrub. Mayor Pedro Ridao says it’s a neighbourly place where everyone knows everyone and xenophobia doesn’t exist. “This town is not racist, and there’s a lot of immigrants here.
Andalusia’s first Islamic political party looks to the Muslim rulers of its past for a socially just future
The Andalusi Party is making its debut in Spain’s upcoming regional elections and believes Islam offers the path to a more inclusive politics. Rekindling the glory of the Islamic state of al-Andalus, a caliphate that at its zenith in the 10th century sprawled across the Iberian peninsula, is an unlikely mission, usually claimed by extremist groups.
Miss Raisa: “Being Muslim is a part of my identity, but not all of it”
The Spanish rapper says hip-hop has given her a platform — but that doesn’t mean she’s the voice of a generation Imane Raisali, 26, Spain’s first female Muslim rapper, walked into her local neighbourhood restaurant in the town of Sabadell, an hour from Barcelona, and the waiter’s face lit up. Tall and radiant, she is the definition of unassuming grace.
MUST READ: How to avoid hangovers as a British expat in Spain this Christmas
AS Christmas approaches, there’s a tacit understanding that we will all throw caution to the wind and have a glass or two more than we should. This, we will pay for afterwards with a state of fragility that inevitably raises a laugh or two. But a severe hangover is far from funny. Not only do we spend the following day dogged by an unshakeable sense of guilt and shame, we also get a premonition of how it might feel to have one foot in the grave.
Cañada Real: Drugs, conflict and a 760-day power cut plague Europe’s biggest shantytown
By Heather Galloway • Updated: 07/11/2022 - Copyright Credit: AP Gemma and Angel’s house is a shell at the far end of Europe's largest shantytown where they live with their three small children. Most of their neighbours have been rehoused or simply evicted. They are now isolated, cut off from the rest of the Cañada Real Galiano slum by mounds of strategically placed earth, their evenings lit by candles.
'If I want a shower, I boil a kettle': How people in Spain are struggling amid soaring energy bills
By Heather Galloway • Updated: 07/09/2022 - 15:48 - Copyright Credit: AP Photo Last winter, father-of-two Miguel turned off his electric boiler at his home near Madrid and began putting on extra layers to keep warm. Rising energy prices and inflation have accelerated a backward slide that the 61-year-old says began a decade ago when his pay was cut. “If I want a shower, I boil the kettle and shower like that,” Miguel told Euronews.
LONG READ: Will Spain's sex industry simply go underground as new anti-prostitution laws come into force?
FORTY kilometres outside Madrid, figures of dancing girls adorning the front of the seedy dark brick Olimpo are designed to lure punters off the motorway for a wild night of booze and sex. In 1999, the same establishment was used to lock up 40 girls trafficked from Romania who were being farmed out to clients in Madrid’s Casa de Campo. The Spanish owner was arrested along with his cronies, his activities curtailed. But, 23 years on, the Olimpo is still going strong.
Territorial war threatens Spain’s bid to become the Saudi of Europe in renewable energy
SPANISH cinema is at its best when portraying rural life and the award-winning 2022 Alcarràs is no exception. It tells the tale of a struggling farming family divided when their century-old orchard is mercilessly trampled ‘by progress’ in the shape of a solar farm.
Hükümetin fuhuşu yasaklamaya hazırlandığı İspanya'da seks işçileri endişeli
Heather Galloway • Son güncelleme: 04/07/2022 - 21:44 - © AP Photo Seks işçisi Linda, İspanya'nın para kazanmak için iyi bir yer olduğunu duymuş ve 23 yıl önce kalkıp bu ülkeye gelmiş. Ülkesi Meksika'da kendisini terk eden partnerinden hamile kalan Linda, Akdeniz kıyısındaki Murcia'da bir seks kulübü tarafından işe alınmış. euronews'e yaptığı açıklamada, "Kızım doğduğunda benim ve kızım için yaşayacak bir yer verdiler, bana iş verdiler" diyor.
Meet the sex workers against Spain's bid to crack down on prostitution Original
By Heather Galloway • Updated: 04/07/2022 - 17:26 - Copyright Credit: AP Linda came to Spain 23 years ago after getting “a tip” that it was a good place to make money as a sex worker. Pregnant by a partner who abandoned her back in her native Mexico, she was taken on by a sex club in Murcia on the Mediterranean coast. “They gave me work and a place to live for me and my daughter when she was born,” she told Euronews.
Why Spain's renewable energy boom is so controversial
By Heather Galloway • Updated: 21/06/2022 - 18:58 - Copyright Credit: AFP The acclaimed Spanish film Alcarràs tells the story of how a solar park uproots astruggling farming family growing peaches in Catalonia: a century-old orchard mercilessly trampled by progress; a family divided. Winner of the Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear and a box office hit at home, the film has clearly struck a chord with Spaniards.
From shanty town to supermarket shelf: The shocking truth behind Spain's vegetable growing industry
JUST kilometres away from some of Andalucia’s trendiest beaches, Europe’s vegetable garden is cultivating shanty towns. On route 3108 in the Almeria district of Nijar, Ayoub, a 20-year-old Moroccan working illegally in the region’s ubiquitous greenhouses emerges from the jumble of shacks and saunters towards me. “Nobody is going to talk to you here,” he says. “Many people come and tell us they are going to save us. They take our picture, but nothing changes.
Ukrainian refugees bring new life to Spain's rural villages
By Heather Galloway • Updated: 25/05/2022 - 19:21 - Copyright Euronews Svetlana peers over the balcony of her new home onto the empty square in Aguilafuente, a village of barely 600 inhabitants in the depths of Castilla y León. The once-thriving heartland of Spain is now scattered with deserted and slowly emptying villages, spread across sweeping, arable plains.
La herencia de la pandemia en Nepal: el aumento de la trata de personas
Tras dos años aislado del mundo exterior, un grupo de aldeas tradicionales magar situadas a la sombra del gigantesco Dhaulagiri, en la región de las colinas centrales de Nepal, vuelve a acoger tímidamente vida de otros lugares cuando algún ocasional caminante extranjero lo atraviesa o se detiene para descansar sus fatigados miembros.
Opinion | Pro-eating disorder social media content is a pressing health concern
Disturbingly, the hashtags #proana and #promia are commonly used on by social media creators to identify pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia content. By Heather GallowayContributor Mon., April 18, 2022timer3 min. read A quick search of Twitter, Instagram or TikTok using the hashtag #thinspo reveals a deeply troubling corner of social media. Pro-eating disorder (pro-ED) communities are well established across these platforms and pose a serious threat to the mental and physical health of young people.
Opinion | Pro-eating disorder social media content is a pressing health concern
Disturbingly, the hashtags #proana and #promia are commonly used on by social media creators to identify pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia content. By Heather GallowayContributor Mon., April 18, 2022timer3 min. read A quick search of Twitter, Instagram or TikTok using the hashtag #thinspo reveals a deeply troubling corner of social media. Pro-eating disorder (pro-ED) communities are well established across these platforms and pose a serious threat to the mental and physical health of young people.
DISPATCH: Ukrainian refugees rescued by Spain's maverick priests join Easter parade in Madrid
THE Catholic Church in Spain may be mired in scandal and shedding fans at an alarming rate, but there are still pockets of goodness and gestures worthy of the Christian message. While 27.5% of Spaniards declared themselves to be non-believers in 2019, 37.1% made the same claim in 2021, according to a recent report by la Fundacio Ferrer i Guardia.
The Spanish are world-class drinkers and smokers so why do they live longer than Brits and Americans?
By Heather Galloway Life expectancy is longer in Spain than it is in the United Kingdom – and much longer than in the United States. This is something that has been pointed out by a number of studies, the latest being from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, published recently in The Lancet medical journal.
From shanty town to supermarket shelf: The shocking truth behind Spain's vegetable growing industry
JUST kilometres away from some of Andalucia’s trendiest beaches, Europe’s vegetable garden is cultivating shanty towns. On route 3108 in the Almeria district of Nijar, Ayoub, a 20-year-old Moroccan working illegally in the region’s ubiquitous greenhouses emerges from the jumble of shacks and saunters towards me. “Nobody is going to talk to you here,” he says. “Many people come and tell us they are going to save us. They take our picture, but nothing changes.
GAG LAW: What happens when you are accused of 'disrespecting' a police officer in Spain
THE Guardia Civil officer tells me the crime I am reporting is hardly worth the trouble. The sum being taken from my bank account is trivial, he says. I raise my voice, struggling to be heard over his wall of words: “It’s not trivial to me. It’s a day’s work and I would like to report it so that I can be reimbursed.” It takes at least 20 minutes to persuade the officer to entertain my request for a report to hand to the bank.
Do proposed reforms of Spain's controversial 'gag law' go far enough?
By Heather Galloway • Updated: 11/02/2022 - 18:12 A gagged gay activist from the platform "We are not crime" looks on as she protests against the public security law "Ley Mordaza" - Copyright Credit: AFP The days of Spain’s highly controversial "gag law" are numbered. It has been used to jail rapper Pablo Hasél -- for insulting the monarchy and praising terrorism -- and permit the summary return of thousands of illegal immigrants.
Chinese New Year: How Spain's Chinese community is fighting back against stereotypes
THE Chinese Lunar New Year ushers in power and rebellion with the Year of the Tiger, but the celebration in Madrid’s Chinatown in the southern district of Usera is a mere shadow of its former self. There are reams of Chinese lanterns in this neighbourhood where 20% of the population is Chinese, yet no giant dragons or Chinese artists weaving their magic beneath them. For the second year running, the festivities have largely migrated online.
ANALYSIS: The meteoric rise of Spain’s far-right party – how far can VOX go? - Olive Press News Spain
THE Vox candidate for Castilla y Leon, Juan Garcia Gallardo stands mask-free on the podium in the regional capital’s Plaza de la Universidad. He is 30 years old and has been in the news for deleting tweets about ‘queers’ in football and how women have the easy life, or words to that effect. Alongside him stands party leader Santiago Abascal, who’s here at the mid-January rally to kick off its regional election campaign. Santiago Abascal, Vox leader in Valladolid.
Is Spain's far-right Vox Party about to govern for the first time?
By Heather Galloway • Updated: 24/01/2022 - 16:46 Leader of the far-right party Vox, Santiago Abascal gives a speech during a campaign meeting at the bullring in San Sebastian de los Reyes, near Madrid, on April 24, 2021 - Copyright Credit: AFP Stirring patriotic music fills a city square in Valladolid, where around a thousand Spaniards are gathered, chanting "long live Spain!".
FOCUS: Why Spain's patchy LGBTQ+ rights are under threat
DESPITE the easy insult of “maricon” or “poofter” tossed around the Spanish school yard, Spain is known as a global beacon of tolerance and pride when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights. Madrid, Barcelona and Ibiza all feature as top tourist destinations for the international LGBTQ+ community and Madrid hosts one of the world’s biggest and wildest Pride weeks.
Navidad en España: las tradiciones pueden ser bulliciosas, divertidas y, a veces, extrañas
Por Heather Galloway • última actualización: 24/12/2021 - 17:38 Persona vestida de payaso salta al Mediterráneo en Barcelona mientras participa en la Copa Nadal, una tradicional competición de natación que se celebra cada 25 de diciembre. - Derechos de autor AP / Manu Fernandez No hay medias tintas cuando se trata de la fiesta en España, por lo que no es de extrañar que el país albergue una de las celebraciones navideñas más multifacéticas del planeta.
MUST READ: How to avoid hangovers as a British expat in Spain this Christmas
AS Christmas approaches, there’s a tacit understanding that we will all throw caution to the wind and have a glass or two more than we should. This, we will pay for afterwards with a state of fragility that inevitably raises a laugh or two. But a severe hangover is far from funny. Not only do we spend the following day dogged by an unshakeable sense of guilt and shame, we also get a premonition of how it might feel to have one foot in the grave.
Christmas across Europe: Spain's festivities can be boisterous, banging and, at times, bizarre
By Heather Galloway • Updated: 23/12/2021 - 13:19 An athlete dressed as a clown jumps into the Mediterranean in Barcelona as he takes part in the Copa Nadal, a traditional swimming competition on 25 December each year - Copyright Credit: AP There are no half measures when it comes to the fiesta in Spain, so it’s no surprise the country hosts one of the most extensive Christmas celebrations on the planet.
PROFILE: The rise and rise of Isabel Ayuso, the saint and saviour of Spain's right
IN the space of two years, Isabel Diaz Ayuso has gone from neo-liberal rookie to saint and saviour; an icon of freedom with the kind of rock star undertones previously attributed to her nemesis, former United Podemos frontman and left-wing warrior, Pablo Iglesias.
ANALYSIS: The beastly dilemma of animal rights in Spain
THE fate of animals in Spain as “things or property” as opposed to “sensitive beings,” may finally change as politicians give a tentative green light to the draft of a new law on protecting animals from a range of abuses. But the proposals have not proved dissension-free, with the ultra-right Vox party voting against, the conservative Popular Party abstaining and PACMA, Spain’s main animal rights organisation stating that they do not go far enough.
Supermarket sweep: How prices compare on a weekly shop in Spain?
I HAVE been branded a supermarket snob by my children who tell me to change chain every time I whinge about the bill. This is particularly the case with my oldest who was a firm fan of Aldi when she was doing her degree in London, bustling down to an industrial-looking outback south of Peckham to do her weekly shop every Sunday, after which she inevitably felt depressed.
ANALYSIS: Spain's clergy downplays its legacy of sexual abuse
CLEANLINESS might be next to godliness but Spain’s Catholic Church ignores demands from sexual abuse victims to air their dirty washing in public Spain’s Catholic Church has refused to launch an independent inquiry into the shocking sexual abuse carried out within its ranks over the past 70 years, maintaining, “there’s only a few cases,” amounting to “0.8%” of the priesthood.
¿Por qué la Iglesia católica no acepta una investigación externa de los supuestos abusos sexuales?
Por Heather Galloway • última actualización: 23/11/2021 - 15:51 Vista general de la Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena de Madrid - Derechos de autor Gregorio Borgia/AP2011 Los activistas piden una investigación independiente sobre los presuntos abusos sexuales en la Iglesia católica española. Insisten en que el número de casos está a la altura de su vecina Francia, donde una reciente investigación ha detectado 218.000 víctimas desde 1950.
Why is Spain's Catholic Church refusing an independent investigation into sex abuse claims?
By Heather Galloway • Updated: 22/11/2021 - 15:59 A general view of St. Maria la Real de la Almudena Cathedral in Madrid - Copyright Credit: AP Activists are calling for an independent probe into alleged sexual abuse in Spain's Catholic Church. They insist the number of cases is on a par with neighbour France, where a recent investigation found 218,000 victims since 1950.
ANALYSIS: How Spain's Catholic Church is under pressure to investigate child sex abuse claims
CLEANLINESS might be next to godliness but Spain’s Catholic Church ignores demands from sexual abuse victims to air their dirty washing in public Spain’s Catholic Church is dragging its feet on launching an independent inquiry into the shocking sexual abuse carried out within its ranks over the past 70 years.
Spain’s education sector dips a toe into the 21st century, but will it take the plunge?
STUDENTS of UK expats or Spanish-expat hybrids have long been faced with a significant challenge when taking the leap from the Spanish Baccalaureate to the UK university system. Bombarded with reams of stodgy material to learn verbatim for the final school exams, 18-year-olds in the Spanish education system emerge from the experience with the ability to reel off every date in Spanish history without ever questioning why any of it happened.
EYEWITNESS: The Olive Press sent Heather Galloway to investigate San Cristobal, Madrid’s most dangerous suburb, where a machete-wielding homeless man was gunned down by police - Olive Press News Spain
IT doesn’t take long to find the spot where a 44-year-old African immigrant was slain by five police bullets in broad daylight. Fittingly, on the wall of a health centre next to where Issa, from Ghana, was gunned down, two policemen stand watch as a workman in overalls paints over two large words, daubed crudely in full sight of anyone going past. A worker paints over ‘Policia Asesinos’ graffiti as police watch.
Can vegan butchers help Spain give meat the chop?
A RASH of shops selling plant-based products under the guise of animal fare may persuade Spaniards to cut back on meat consumption, though it promises to be an uphill battle, writes Heather Galloway.
Adventures in Brexitland: How a bid for Spanish nationality turned in a Kafka-esque nightmare
AS AN adminphobe, my main beef with Brexit was the paperwork that would ensue; I had an inkling it would be a ballbuster. For three years at least, I prayed the whole nightmare would go away. The referendum vote would be overturned or Brexit would exist in name only. When I finally pulled my head out of the sand, it was to confront the worst deal short of no deal. I changed my UK driving license and Spanish residence permit relatively painlessly towards the end of 2020 in the thick of Covid.
From shanty town to supermarket shelf: The shocking truth behind Spain's vegetable growing industry
JUST kilometres away from some of Andalucia’s trendiest beaches, Europe’s vegetable garden is cultivating shanty towns. On route 3108 in the Almeria district of Nijar, Ayoub, a 20-year-old Moroccan working illegally in the region’s ubiquitous greenhouses emerges from the jumble of shacks and saunters towards me. “Nobody is going to talk to you here,” he says. “Many people come and tell us they are going to save us. They take our picture, but nothing changes.
Satanism, male lovers and family abandonment...the alleged lesser known side of Spain's maestro Francisco Goya
THE last of the Old Masters and the first of the new, Goya may be one of the most celebrated artists in the world with a hallowed place in Madrid’s Prado Museum. Francisco Goya in his later years But in the week that marked his 275th birthday (he was born on March 30, 1756), we thought it might be fitting to dig out some of the lesser know facts about the iconic Spanish painter. Take Jeremy Irons for example, who potrayed the painter in a recent biopic.
Adrift in Madrid’s white weekend
IF we thought the bells on New Year’s Eve marked the end of our troubles, a historic snowfall in and around Madrid prompted a rethink. At 2.37 am, the lights literally went out in swathes of Madrid’s commuter belt and we woke up to a chill house, the heating off and kettles cold. Things were looking decidedly bleak at around 1 pm with a blizzard outside, 40 cm of snow piling up around the house, the temperature within plummeting to 14ºC, cold soup on the menu and no sign of Iberdrola.
Santa Cruz (Single), by Avi Vinocur
Today I heard about the news that you might go to Santa Cruz But I don’t want to think about all I’d lose if you went to Santa Cruz So I’m putting on my dancing shoes to try and mask these lonesome blues ‘Cause I’m worried sick that you might choose to up and go to Santa Cruz Yeah they’ve got some ocean views but they don’t got no 'me's and 'you’s way out there in Santa Cruz So I rid your bike of chains and screws so you cant ride to Santa Cruz I’m filling up your drink with booze so you...
How residents in Madrid dealt with the first week of partial de-escalation measures
LIKE Sleeping Beauty, Madrid is emerging from its induced coma after eight long weeks of lockdown during which dogs and their owners ruled the streets. Now, they are outnumbered by people, both young and old, who have been holed up in their flats so long, the concept of exercise is being embraced with the enthusiasm of gym bunnies – 20.3% of Madrid’s apartments are interior with no view of the street.
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