Archive of Spain

Why have parties of the centre-left come unstuck across Western Europe since the turn of the century, asks historian Donald Sassoon in an extract from his new book, Morbid Symptoms: Anatomy of a World in Crisis.

Chi Chang, a Chinese emigrant to the United States who joined the Communist Party and volunteered for the International Brigades to fight fascism during the Spanish Civil War. His story is retold here by Hwei-Ru Tsou and Len Tsou, and translated into English from the original Chinese by Agnes Khoo.

In an era in which public trust in political institutions is faltering, could the legacy of Hannah Arendt offer a new departure for democracy? Hettie O'Brien analyses Arendt's model of council democracy, and how Barcelona en Comú are transforming the way democracy works.

The 1 October referendum and its aftermath has exposed the extent of the democratic crisis in Spain — and Europe generally — rather than provided an answer to it.

In this excerpt from his memoir, Juan Goytisolo reflects on the early months of his exile from Franco's Spain in France and his encounters with French intellectuals and PCF militants in his effort to launch a Spanish-language political and cultural journal.