In this episode of The Sobremesa Podcast, we explore the complex and often contradictory history of Catalonia under Franco with historian Dr. Andrew Dowling. We unpack how the Francoist regime initially crushed Catalan language and culture, only to later co-opt selective elements for its own purposes — reshaping Catalan identity under authoritarian…

This week's guest is historian Nicolás Sesma whose book on the francoist dictatorship, ‘Ni Una, Ni Grande, Ni Libre’, was named by El País as one of the top ten books published in Spanish in 2024. The book offers a brilliant re-telling of the four decades of the Francoist regime, placing particular emphasis on how a changing international context i…

Ten days ago Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party was rocked by a major corruption scandal - when the party’s head of organization Santos Cerdan became implicated in a massive graft operation involving the Spanish construction giant Acciona. The case has called into question Sánchez’s political judgement and credibility - in what …

In this special live episode, recorded at the launch of The Last Days of Alicante, Alan McGuire is joined by Eoghan and a close audience of family and friends to discuss his debut poetry collection. The conversation explores the themes behind the book, from tracing the scars of the Spanish Civil War in modern-day Spain to the life and legacy of Mig…

In this episode, historian Pablo Sánchez León joins Alan to explore the powerful and often disturbing alliance between the Catholic Church and the Franco regime. We go beyond the conventional narrative of the Spanish Civil War to uncover how the conflict functioned as a modern Catholic holy war — framed not just as a political struggle, but as a di…

We’re joined by Caroline Voaden, B2B Communications Consultant and Founder at STORY Copywriting. After close to a decade inside corporate PR, advising banks, SaaS companies, governments and the occasional scandal-prone CEO, Caroline realised that most comms were "painfully dull, strategically thin or written by people who’ve never had to calm a boa…

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Francisco Franco and Sobremesa Podcast is launching a series of episodes examining in detail and from various angles Francoism and the dictatorial regime built during his 40 year rule over Spain from the end of the Civil War in 1939 to his death in 1975. To start the series, we are delighted to be rej…

Last Monday at around 12.30 in the afternoon, the Iberian peninsula suffered the worst blackout in Europe over the last decades as 55 million people in Spain, Portugal and parts of south-west France were left without electricity for hours. In Madrid’s metro alone, there were 150,000 people travelling on the network when the power went and they were…

Semana Santa is is one of the most important holidays of the year in Spain, with the main focus being on the popular processions organized by religious brotherhoods, or cofradías. Today on Sobremesa Podcast Alan and Eoghan are joined by the anthropologist Carlos Cañete to talk about both the oppressive and emancipatory sides of Semana Santa as a re…

In this episode of The Sobremesa Podcast, Alan speaks with Alberto Corsín Jiménez, anthropologist and author of Free Culture and the City: Hackers, Commoners, and Neighbors in Madrid, 1997–2017. They explore how the principles of free software, Creative Commons, and hacker culture shaped Madrid’s urban activism—especially in the lead-up to and afte…

We’re joined by Dan Mortimer, Head of Marketing at Nimble Approach, a technology consultancy headquartered in Sheffield. Early on in his career, Dan ran Norton Creative, a marketing agency formed as part of The Sheffield College, designed to help apprentices gain real world skills and experience working on live briefs for real companies. He has cre…

Spain’s housing crisis has returned, but unlike 2008, there’s no financial collapse—just rising rents, increasing evictions, and a housing market that feels out of reach for many. What’s driving this crisis, and what can be done to address it? In this episode of The Sobremesa Podcast, Alan speaks with Dr. Koldo Casla, a Senior Lecturer in Internati…

Last weekend saw the European far-right once again converge on Madrid as Vox hosted a summit of party leaders from the European Patriots group. Already acting as an active lobby for Musk in the EU parliament to ensure there is no regulation of social media, the far-right grouping are jubilant at their prospects for the next 4 years after the electi…

This week writer and tour guide Nick Lloyd brings Catherine on a a more atypical historical route of Barcelona to uncover the lesser known layers to the city’s history. They start at Estació de França, a historic train station not far from the city’s port where the International Brigades arrived to Spain. They then walk down to Ciutadella Park, whe…

This week Eoghan talks to author and journalist Dan Hancox about his new book 'Multitudes: How Crowds Made The Modern World’. It is a fascinating exploration of the collective joy and emancipatory potential of different forms of mass gatherings while also tracing the obsession of elites and the forces of law and order in policing, delegitimizing an…

We're joined by Mel Kanarek, Digital Economy Specialist and Director at Sheffield Digital. Mel began her career in the music, fashion and consumer goods industries, but has always been far more interested in business to business and technology. In the early 1990s, Mel was able to combine these elements by working at a PR firm focused on B2B tech, e…

It has been a year of near constant parliamentary deadlock for Spain's left-leaning government but also one of strong economic growth in comparison to other eurozone economies. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialist Party won the Catalan elections in May and were once again the largest social democratic force in Europe after June's European parli…

We're joined by Charlotte Allen, Marketing Manager at Millgate Connect. Charlotte began her B2B marketing career at GE, before moving on to Atmospheric Water Generation manufacturer Hogen Systems. Earlier this year, she started a new chapter at Millgate Connect, the telecommunications branch of tech firm Millgate. In the episode we cover: Manufactu…

This week Eoghan talks to the author and journalist Michael Eaude. Michael is the author nine books, including ‘Catalonia, a Cultural History’, ‘Triumph at Midnight of the Century - A Critical Biography of Arturo Barea’ and ‘Sails and Winds - A Cultural History of Valencia’. And during the last 25 years he has also worked as a self-described "necro…

We’re joined by freelance B2B copywriter and content strategist, Tom Wearing. Tom started his career as a graduate in a client services role at a large B2B marketing agency. He realised fairly quickly that he was better suited to working as a creative, and moved into the agency's copywriting team. Tom has developed a reputation for being an excelle…

Writer and musician, Troy Nahumko, joins Alan to discuss his new book Stories Left in Stone, Trails and Traces in Cáceres, Spain. They discuss the old town of Cáceres, a UNESCO world heritage site, Game of Thrones, the world's oldest handprint, cave art and regional politics.You can buy Troy's book here If you like what we are producing, please con…

130,000 people protested in Valencia last Saturday demanding regional premier Carlos Mazón resign from his post for his disastrous management of the floods which devastated the area two weeks ago. The death toll stands at 223 people while hundreds of thousands of others have had their homes and places of work gutted. Eoghan spoke to journalist Leah…

We’re joined by Fractional Marketing Strategist, Paola Piccinno. Paola has spent most of her career working at global tech corporations in the UK, EMEA and now APAC. Last year, she decided to embark on a fractional journey, and is currently focused on partnering with B2B agencies and companies all over the world to support them with their ABM and b…

Last Tuesday evening as thousands of people were commuting home from work and many others continued at their jobs in supermarkets, cinemas, factories, beauty shops and restaurants, unprecedented flash floods hit the Valencia region. That morning at 8am the Spanish Met office issued its highest warning level of maximum red, warning of extreme danger…

We’re joined by Maddy Barber, who leads content marketing at award-winning conversation intelligence platform, Jiminny. We cover: • How Maddy would define content marketing • What good content marketing looks like • What content marketing approaches aren’t working so well • Maddy’s main learnings about content marketing this year • How Jiminny can …

This week Eoghan talks to financial journalist Gareth Gore. In his new book Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church Gore opens the lid on the extremist, reactionary sect Opus Dei. Opus was initially set up against the tumultuous backdrop of 1930s Spain and went to play a leading role in …

The island of El Hierro is at the centre of the Canary Islands’ current surge in irregular migration, receiving 13,000 refugees and immigrants this year – 2,000 more than its total residents. As hundreds die every month on the passage from West Africa to the popular tourist islands, the Spanish right are now weaponising the issue. Leader of the far…

Jim Jump, the editor of the poetry anthology "Poems from Spain: British and Irish International Brigaders on the Spanish Civil War", joins Alan to discuss the collection of poems that stretch the length Spanish Civil War and after. All poems were written by men and women participating in the International Brigades. They cover the lives of the poets…

This week Catherine talks to Sophie Turbutt about one of the most widely read anarchist magazines in 1930s Spain, La Revista Blanca, Founded by the Montseny family, this anarchist magazine featured a novelty for the time, an advice column that offered answers to questions about gender, women's bodies, sex and sexuality. - topics that were limited i…