Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

What We're Watching

In Spain, demonstrations turn violent

Spanish riot police officers stand guard during a protest, following acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's negotiations for granting an amnesty to people involved with Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid, in Madrid, Spain, November 7, 2023.

Spanish riot police officers stand guard during a protest, following acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's negotiations for granting an amnesty to people involved with Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid, in Madrid, Spain, November 7, 2023.

REUTERS/Susana Vera
Willis Sparks
By Willis SparksNovember 08, 2023
Willis Sparks
Willis Sparks is a senior editor for GZERO Daily. He is also a Director in the Global Macro practice at Eurasia Group, where he has worked since 2005. He has made speeches on international politics on every continent except Antarctica. Willis holds degrees from Brown University, the Juilliard School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He also holds an honorary degree from the Moscow Art Theatre School. A native of Macon, Georgia, Willis has worked as a stuntman at New York's Metropolitan Opera. As a child, he declined an opportunity to spend an afternoon riding the Great American Scream Machine, a rollercoaster, with Ronald McDonald, for money. He has never regretted that decision.
See Full Bio
Make us preferred on Google

Right-wing protests against Spain’s governing Socialist Party erupted in violence this week as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez moved closer to a deal that would provide Catalan separatists with amnesty in exchange for providing him with the backing he needs to form a new coalition government and avoid fresh elections. Rioting in Madrid on Tuesday night injured 29 police officers and 10 demonstrators.

In July, the conservative People’s Party won the most votes in national elections, but party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo fell short in September of attracting enough coalition partners to form a government. Sánchez now appears on the verge of forming a center-left coalition that depends on support from the pro-independence Together for Catalonia and the Catalan Republican Left. In exchange for their support, they’ve demanded amnesty for several hundred Catalan politicians and activists in legal trouble following a failed drive in 2017 for Catalan secession from Spain.

Spain’s right-wing opposition accuses Sánchez of flip-flopping on the question of amnesty, which he once called “unconstitutional,” and blames him for the resulting violence, which looks likely to continue.

politicsspainsocialistselectionseuropesanchezcataloniacatalonia separatist movementamnesty

Latest Videos

Will the US midterm elections bring a blue wave?play icon
Quick Take

Will the US midterm elections bring a blue wave?

Can Europe keep Ukraine in the fight?
GZERO World Clips

Can Europe keep Ukraine in the fight?

Europe under threat from Russia
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Europe under threat from Russia

MBS CONFRONTS Trump!
Puppet Regime

MBS CONFRONTS Trump!

Who has the upper hand in the Ukraine war?
GZERO World Clips

Who has the upper hand in the Ukraine war?

How far will Putin push NATO?
Ian Explains

How far will Putin push NATO?

More For You

South Africans head to the polls, Meloni wants to keep wealthy people in Italy, Russia’s return to the ice draws causes controversy

Election posters of South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) and other political parties are displayed on street poles ahead of South Africa's municipal elections on November 4, in Pretoria, South Africa, October 29, 2026.

Election posters of South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) and other political parties are displayed on street poles ahead of South Africa's municipal elections on November 4, in Pretoria, South Africa, October 29, 2026.

REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
South Africans vote in pivotal local elections Voters in Africa’s wealthiest country have a pivotal election of their own today, with over 250 local contests nationwide. The elections are widely seen as a referendum on the African National Congress (ANC), the party that has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid, amid frustration over [...]

Bangladeshi garment workers’ protests, Trump’s last-ditch midterm effort, Mexico’s new ban on phones in schools

Members of the Green Bangla Garment Workers Federation hold a protest rally demanding the immediate reconstitution of the wage board for garment workers and the announcement of a minimum wage of Tk 30,000 in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on October 9, 2026.

Members of the Green Bangla Garment Workers Federation hold a protest rally demanding the immediate reconstitution of the wage board for garment workers and the announcement of a minimum wage of Tk 30,000 in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on October 9, 2026.

Mamunur Rashid/NurPhoto
Bangladeshi garment workers demand higher wagesGarment workers in Bangladesh have taken to the streets over the past week, demanding higher wages and forcing more than 600 factories to shut down nationwide. Protests escalated on Sunday in the capital, Dhaka, after police fired tear gas at demonstrators. The industry generates more than $40 billion [...]

Tensions rise between Polish president and PM, UN withdraws from Western Sahara, China retaliates over soccer star’s Mao comment

Polish riot police officers stand in a defensive cordon along Avenue Szucha outside the Constitutional Tribunal building on October 31, 2026, in Warsaw, Poland. Security forces deployed early in the morning to secure the perimeter following overnight political developments regarding the leadership of the court.

Polish riot police officers stand in a defensive cordon along Avenue Szucha outside the Constitutional Tribunal building on October 31, 2026, in Warsaw, Poland. Security forces deployed early in the morning to secure the perimeter following overnight political developments regarding the leadership of the court.

Anadolu via Reuters Connect
Poland’s constitutional crisis deepensPoland is engulfed in a constitutional crisis amid a standoff between Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Karol Nawrocki over the country’s top court. Last month, Chief Justice Bogdan Święcicki, aligned with the previous government’s Law and Justice Party (PiS), refused to allow a parliament-approved [...]

EU leaders' rush to find new ECB head, the debate over Daylight Saving Time, the $6 billion crypto heist

October 29, 2026, Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany: European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde arrives for a press conference following a Governing Council meeting in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

October 29, 2026, Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany: European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde arrives for a press conference following a Governing Council meeting in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
The changing of LagardeChristine Lagarde announced yesterday that she will step down as head of the European Central Bank (ECB) eight months earlier than planned. Lagarde’s early exit will allow French President Emmanuel Macron to play a role in choosing her successor before he leaves office next year. The move will prevent presidential [...]