Guy Hedgecoe

Madrid

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Covering Spain for BBC, Irish Times, Politico and more. Ex-editor El País English. Colchonero.

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Articles

Spain’s left celebrates rapport with Pope Francis

1 day ago | irishtimes.com | Guy Hedgecoe

In Spain, the response to the death of Pope Francis has reflected how the country’s political left found common cause with him on a range of issues, a dynamic that often riled the Catholic right. The number of Spaniards who see themselves as practising Catholics has dropped to fewer than one in five and is now surpassed by atheists and agnostics. Yet the country’s church remains a powerful institution, with five cardinals eligible to take part in the upcoming conclave.
Bullfighting documentary leaves controversy behind to unite critics

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Guy Hedgecoe

There is a shocking moment halfway through Albert Serra’s bullfighting documentary, Afternoons of Solitude: the Peruvian matador Andrés Roca Rey is caught between the horns of the bull he is fighting and it slams him with brutal force against the wooden hoarding lining the arena. If the horns had struck a few inches either way, he may not have walked out of the bullring.
Agustin Escobar and Mercè Camprubí Montal were corporate aristocracy

1 week ago | bbc.com | Guy Hedgecoe

Spanish couple killed in helicopter crash were corporate aristocracyGuy HedgecoeReporting fromMadrid, SpainGetty ImagesBoth parents held executive posts at Siemens and the family lived in BarcelonaThe five Spanish passengers who died in a helicopter crash in the Hudson River were all part of a globetrotting family which had made its mark in the corporate world as well as having close ties to one of Europe's biggest football clubs.
Spanish couple killed in helicopter crash were corporate aristocracy

1 week ago | flipboard.com | Guy Hedgecoe

12 hours agoUS: Helicopter crashes into Hudson River in New York City, killing all 6 passengers-NEW YORK, US - APR. 10, 2025: A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River near lower Manhattan on Thursday, killing all six passengers on board, according to officials.
‘They want revenge’: Spanish government accused of playing politics with Franco’s bitterly divisive legacy

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Guy Hedgecoe

At the vast monument in the mountains north of Madrid where the dictator Francisco Franco was once buried, a long, orderly queue is forming. Standing beneath the 150m stone cross that crowns this site, known as The Valley of the Fallen, the people are waiting to enter the basilica-crypt that is drilled 260m into the mountain in order to attend Sunday Mass.
Spain tackles housing 'social emergency' as rents double

2 weeks ago | bbc.com | Guy Hedgecoe

Spain tackles housing 'social emergency' as rents double in a decadeGuy HedgecoeBBCBlanca Castro, who rents an apartment in central Madrid, says she is being forced out by her landlordBlanca Castro puts on a builder's helmet before opening the door to her kitchen. Inside it, the ceiling has a large hole that is dripping water and it looks as if it could collapse at any moment.
Literary portrait of Spanish child murderer prompts freedom of speech debate

4 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Guy Hedgecoe

A book recounting how a Spanish man killed his two small children, from the murderer’s point of view, has triggered a fierce debate about the limits of freedom of speech and a bookshop boycott. In 2011, José Bretón killed his six-year-old daughter and two-year-old son in the southern city of Córdoba by drugging them, before burning their bodies. The elaborately planned murders were a reprisal against his wife, Ruth, who had told him she wanted a divorce.
Left-wing outlier Pedro Sánchez could turn Trump disruption to his advantage

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Guy Hedgecoe

The agenda of Spain’s left-wing government clashes with the worldview of Donald Trump on everything from defence and the Middle East to immigration, gender and the environment, creating enormous scope for a turbulent relationship. But the disruptive US administration could provide prime minister Pedro Sánchez with an opportunity to bolster his fragile domestic position.
Valencia floods: regional leader still feeling the wrath of angry citizens

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Guy Hedgecoe

Life is difficult right now for Carlos Mazón, the president of Spain’s Valencia region. Take a recent week in his diary as an example. On the Tuesday, he had to hurry out of a pharmacy in the town of Paterna as hecklers gathered outside, shouting “murderer” and “liar” at him. Two days later, he could barely be heard as similar barracking drowned out a speech he was trying to give in Valencia’s Arts Palace building.
Why is Spain introducing tighter regulations for tourists?

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Guy Hedgecoe

What are the new rules? As the winter ends, many of Spain’s most popular tourist destinations have been introducing tighter regulations for tourists, which could affect some of the nearly three million or so Irish who are expected to visit the country this year. Barcelona’s have been among the most stringent, and include a ban on pub crawls in the historic Eixample district in an effort to counter the prevalence of boozy late-night behaviour.