An era comes to an end in the city of Madrid as the last surviving video rental store will be closing its doors for the last time. 'Ficciones de cine' was once a place cherished by locals, but now only a few nostalgic or movie enthusiasts have been keeping the business barely alive. Before it's final goodbye on July 31st, we visited the store to le…

Only twenty years ago, there were less than 100 Iberian Lynxes in Spain... Now the latest census shows that there are more than 2000 specimens of Iberian Lynx in the Peninsula. This extraordinary improvement means that the species is no longer considered "endangered" and is now categorized as "vulnerable". This was made possible thanks to the effor…

Esta semana, en Islas de Robinson, territorio clásico americano, entre 1972 y 1973. Suenan: NEIL YOUNG - "OUT ON THE WEEKEND" ("HARVEST", 1972) / BARBARA KEITH - "DETROIT OF BUFFALO" ("BARBARA KEITH", 1973) / CHRIS DARROW - "TO WHICH CROSS DO I CLING" ("CHRIS DARROW", 1973) / JERRY GARCIA - "LOSER" ("GARCIA", 1972) / J.J. CALE - "I'LL KISS THE WORL…

En esta ocasión, presentamos una selección de artistas que participan en la edición 2024 de La Mar de Músicas, dedicada a las Islas del Mediterráneo. Además, el festival otorgará un premio especial al reconocido músico cubano Eliades Ochoa. Ángel caído Clara Peya, Anna Ferrer Corsé Tres lágrimas Anna Ferrer Tres lágrimas Cachito de pan Anna Ferrer …

In the 20th century, emmigration became a big part of Spanish culture, partly due to the difficulties of living under a dictatorship dictatorship. In the 70s, Spanish professionals who had emigrated to the United States decided to create a network between. A network that celebrated its 43rd annual congress this month in Madrid. In today's broadcast…

The international clasical theater festival of Almagro is held every year during the month of July in the Castillian town of Almagro. Although it originally focused on the Spanish Golden Age, as it grew internationally it started to include western and eastern theater plays. At the beginnig of this year it was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit in the…

Back on the 26th of June the provincial government of Leon took the first step towards what has been dubbed "Lexit", that is, the regional independence of the provinces of Leon, Zamora and Salamanca and their constitution as the 18th autonomous region in Spain. The motion approved is not binding yet... But it is a reflection of the disappointment o…

Esta semana, en Islas de Robinson, baño nocturno veraniego entre clásicos de profunda esencia psicodélica. Suenan: LOVE - “NOTHING” (“FOUR SAIL”, 1969) / THE ACTION - "A SAYING FOR TODAY" (1968/1985) / TRIPSICHORD MUSIC BOX - "ON THE LAST RIDE" ("TRIPSICHORD" 1970) / CRABBY APPLETON - “CATHERINE” (“CRABBY APPLETON”, 1970) / FAMILY - “HOW-HI-THE-LI”…

Llega el verano, llega La Mar de Músicas y, con ella, La Mar de Letras, también al programa. La cantautora japonesa Ichiko Aoba, con la que hoy abrimos, se presentará el primer fin de semana, el domingo, acompañada sobre el escenario por un ensamble de músicos de la Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia. Días antes de que comiencen a llegar los…

Bad Gyal, Rosalia, C. Tangana, Quevedo, La Zowi... These are some of the biggest namesin the Spanish music indutry right now and they are also some of the main names in urban music. In the las decade, this style has blown up nationally and internationally and that is the reason why the Spanish Society of Authors and Editors, SGAE, decided to organi…

Comunitats Rurals Queer is a project that seeks to combat depopulation in small towns and offer help to LGBT asylum seekers in one fell swoop. Sergi Salva from the project explains how they help both refugees and the small town of Campdevànol through this initiative. We also speak to Verónica Laorden of Spain's Refugee Assistance Commision(CEAR) to…

The first day of the annual bull runs in Pamplona left 6 people injured (and one gored) on Sunday, which isn't entirely unprecendented. The San Fermín festival is known, above all, for the famous running of the bulls, which takes place every morning during the week of festivities. In today's broadcast, we speak with Íñigo Gómez, of the Pamplona Cit…

Esta semana, en Islas de Robinson, nos quedamos entre 2024 y el año pasado con un puñado de preciosísimas y fantásticas canciones. Suenan: BILL MACKAY - “WHEN I WAS HERE” (“LOCUST LAND”, 2024) / ONE ELEVEN HEAVY - “THE FIRST POW” (2024) / COREY MADDEN - “THE MEANING OF COLOR” (“TASTE THE HOUR”, 2024) / LA LUZ - “POPPIES” (“NEWS OF THE UNIVERSE”, 20…

Inspiración clásica en las ejecuciones y las reinterpretaciones de hoy: la violinista holandesa Janine Jansen; el Satie de Federico Lechner al piano y Chema Saiz a la guitarra; el homenaje a la diosa zulú uNomkhubulwane que Nduduzo Makhathini ha grabado en Blue Note; el guitarrista Pat Metheny y un recuerdo a Charlie Haden (1937-2014). Violin Conce…

World Pride Day is celebrated on the 28th of June, but, here in Spain, a lot of the celebrations actually take place during the month of July instead. Within Spain's Pride period (out of sync with the rest of the world) here at the English Language Broadcast we're going to talk about LGBT rights and initiatives here in Spain. Starting by revisiting…

During the 80s a transition period was happening in Spain. The end of the dictatorship brought a new freedom to the Spanish people that led to movements like "La movida madrileña", influenced by punk and rock and with colourful and sometimes even carnoonish aesthetics. During these hectic times the capital of the country received the visit of one o…

The metro is a means of transport city-folk are now more than accustomed to, and in Madrid there are currently eleven lines and 302 stations! In today's broadcast, we're going to go back to the beginning of Madrid's metro, which opened in 1919. We'll learn about how it came through an exhibition about the architect that designed the first stations:…

Esta semana, en Islas de Robinson, las canciones las pone Borja Gorostiza, pinchadiscos de garantía, ávido coleccionista y todo un conocedor de nuestros territorios musicales. Suenan: SAN-JO - "THE VIRGIN" (1970) / MARÍA CONSUELO - "TENDIDA EN LA HIERBA" (1968) / LOS AMERINDIOS - "NO" (1973) / MARA - "STREETS OF FORBES" (1984) / TAPESTRY GARDEN - "…

Sobre su trabajo, Félix Romeo había escrito: «Cuando leo los libros de Julián Rodríguez siento que tienen una potencia aérea: ese misterio de que el acero pueda moverse rápidamente entre las nubes». Además de escritor, codirector de la editorial Periférica; director de la galería de arte «Casa sin fin»; de la revista de arte y estética «Sub rosa» o…

After the European elections, in which the rise of the far-right surprised many, and with the upcoming elections in France and in the US, on today's broadcast we analyze current international politics with Alberto Coll, international law professor in the DePaul University. Escuchar audio

Next month the 2024 Olympics will begin in Paris. This year 5250 will participate in the games, the same number as men. A success in terms of parity, especially if we think about 100 years ago... In the 1924 Olympics, also in Paris, only 136 women competed, compared tp more than 2900 men. For our country those games were particularly special. Rosa …

"Spain is different" was a slogan promoted by the Spanish government to appeal to the masses abroad during the Francoist dictatorship. But how different is Spain, really? In today's broadcast, we'll be talking to historian Nigel Townson, author of The Penguin History of Modern Spain. The book covers Spanish history from the 1898 disaster, in which …

El centenario del fallecimiento de Satie será el año que viene, pero Federico Lechner y Chema Saiz, piano y guitarra, ya se han adelantado. También suenan algunos invitados a la edición 28 de La Mar de Músicas, como Ángeles, Víctor, Gloria & Javier y su fusión de flamenco-jazz, electrónica y pop; Johan Papaconstantino, originario de Córcega, sonido…

"To infinity and beyond" is the famous phrase from the 1995 movie Toy Story, the first fully computer animated feature length film. Now, we're more than accustomed to seeing films of this medium, but what do we really know about how they're made? What exactly does 'computer animated' mean? What lies beyond infinity? An exhibition titled 'The Scienc…

The attrocities commited during the Francoist dictatorship are well known in Spain and abroad. On this broadcast we focus on one of those terrible episodes: the stolen children. Since the end of the Civil War in 1939 and well into the democratic period in the 90s, it is estimated that thousand of newborns were taken from their mothers and "adopted"…

The beaches of Malaga and Granada, the coast of Maresme in Barcelona, the island of La Concha in Guipuzcoa, the port of Valencia or the Bay of Alicante... These are all part of the almost 8 thousand kilometers of shoreline in Spain and they all have one thing in common: they have been given a "black flag" by the environmentalist confederation "Ecol…

Esta semana, en Islas de Robinson, nueva entrega de "La Hora de Pilatti", con Pablo Solo, Moses Rubin, Iñigo Pilatti y Fernando Bolado. En esta ocasión se traen canciones hechas fuera de EEUU y Reino Unido, nuestro territorio más frecuentado. Escuchar audio

Del guitarrista y compositor Pat Metheny a algunos nombres escogidos por Ted Gioia, como Howie Lee o Mei Semones. También Gregory Porter, Lauren Henderson con Mark Dover y Michael Thurber, Melody Gardot o Maro con Nasaya. Más Músicas Posibles. MoonDial Pat Metheny MoonDial Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise Fred Hersch Silent, Listening Mantra of Manj…

The feria del libro in Madrid is sadly coming to an end this weekend, but the literary spirit is not gone. On today's broadcast we tell you about the first free "litmag" (or literary magazine) published in Spain: The Madrid Review. To tell us about it we spoke with its founder and editor James Hartley. And after that, on Sunday the 16th, as the Fer…

Last Thursday, Jose Manuel Albaresm, Spanish Foreign Affairs minister announced Spain's intention to intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice. On this broadcast we analyze what this decision entails with Ana Maria Salinas de Frías, public international law professor in the University of Malaga a…

2023 marked the one hundreth anniversary of the death of Spanish painter Joaquin Sorolla, known as the "painter of light" for the extraordinary way in which he reproduced light in his paintings. To celebrate his life and his work, the Sorolla year began back in February of 2023 and, throughout these months, events and exhibitions were organized in …