cafebabel.com

Frappé, cult official beverage of Greek economic crisis

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:00:00 -0000

Having an obligatory iced coffee in the Greek capital is a heady mix of the crisis, anarchic events and corruption at all levels with the wisest and healthiest farniente (pleasant idleness). Only those much-condemned across Europe could own such a flavoursome melange

Greece crisis: profiling rich, scot-free yacht-owners

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:45:00 -0000

The economic flavour of the Greek crisis tastes different for those on top - the shipowners, the yachting association bosses - than the diet prescribed for the masses. In Athens though, the latter rage against the state rather than the privileged classes. Lucky richies

In the red

Wed, 05 May 2010 13:22:00 -0000

In the economic crisis, why do Italians say they are 'in the green' when Brits are 'in the red?' Tour of European expressions for all those broke joes out there

Anything but lethargic: multi-faceted life of a German in Lisbon

('Annie Rutherford',) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Evora, where life bumps to a different rhythm than in Lisbon

('Darren Thompson',) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:00:00 -0000

The economic development of the Alentejo region of the country poses the same problem faced by many Mediterranean countries. How can innovation and tradition survive side-by-side?

Ripping up ballot papers in Italy

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

You could call him ‘Veltrozy’. The leader of the Italian democratic party wants to distance himself from his predecessor, Romano Prodi. Just like French president Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to distance himself from his predecessor, Jacques Chirac. Berlusconi however wants to delete the memory of the null economic growth

A dioxin with my Italian mozzarella, please

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

On 28 March the EU withdrew a ban on the Italian cheese after regulations found they contained more dioxins than usual. French sales were halted temporarily – we speak to an Italian cheese-seller in Paris

Ebay or ham: how to save money in Spain

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

We’re more used to tightening our purse strings after the loss in purchasing power in countries like Spain. It’s become a veritable challenge to get to the end of the month for those who having to do a balancing act with their current accounts. How to buy for less?

Italy's pasta prices soar to 14%

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Frozen incomes and an inflation rate above the European average - purchasing power is at a breaking point in a country where poverty particularly affects the younger population

Gran Scala – Spain’s new Las Vegas

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:15:00 -0000

Europe’s largest construction project is an amusement park in Los Monegros. It is in competition with Expo Zaragoza 2008, whose main focus is on raising awareness of sustainable water development

Zapatero celebrates a complicated victory in Spain

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:43:00 -0000

On 9 March, the socialist prime minister won another four year term in office, but his margin of alliances is limited with the rise of the right. A 75.3% participation rate quashed the nationalist pole, allowing for an English–style two-party system

Spain votes on 9 March, and not just in Spain

('Erin Woycik',) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Both Spanish and French voters go to the polls to vote in their legislative and municipal elections this month

Spain: elections under terrorist alert

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Although arrests of suspected ETA and Jihad terrorists have increased in Spain, the terrorist threat overshadows the campaign of the Spanish legislative elections on 9 March

Spot the Italian (or German) in South Tyrol

('Ed Saunders',) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

The fortunate can discover the possibilities of European linguistic diversity at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. Multilingualism shows its true colours here – both good and bad

Economic crisis looms over election preparations in Spain

('Daniel G. Ross',) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0000

Spain is suffering from the after-effects of a decade of impressive economic growth. The threat of economic downturn will play an important role in the upcoming elections on 9 March

Video: homage to Italy’s Totó, prince of babel

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Antonio De Curtis, or the Italian ‘prince of guffaws’, was born on 15 February 1898. Watch an English subtitled video of him, ‘Peppino' and 'the Bitch’ in action in 1956

It's not just rubbish in Naples

('Mary Maistrello',) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Campania drowns in tonnes of refuse. The EU threatens the intervention of the Court of Justice. How did we get this far, asks a young Neapolitan reporter

'Sarkozy or YouTube 3.0?' in Bologna

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Better processors, improved data management possibilities integrated into consoles. Report from the 'Future Film Festival' in Italy

Malta gets the euro

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0000

From 1 January 2008, Malta and Cyprus changed their currency to the euro, bringing the total number of member states in the eurozone to fifteen. Report from the capital of Europe's smallest state

Rome: Europe = shops

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:00:00 -0000

We continue our series of articles visiting the streets of Europe which carry the continent’s name. In this episode, shopping and lessons in a non-existent Europeanism at the heart of Eur(ope?)

Iberia: unite Spain and Portugal

('Sophie Paterson',) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:00:00 -0000

28% of Portuguese and 45% of Spaniards want to unify Spain and Portugal

Loving dictator Salazar

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0000

General De Gaulle in France, Churchill in the UK. The Portuguese have voted the founder and leader of the authoritarian regime the 'greatest ever figure in Portuguese history'

Who are Lisbon's contemporary artists?

('Sophie Paterson',) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Who’s selling? Who’s buying? Who’s organising? Run-down of the unjustified creative pessimism in the Portuguese capital, from Culturgest, ZDB and

Hairy Portuguese women

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0000

The French and Spanish joke goes that Portuguese women have moustaches

Jeta Xharra: ‘Kosovo's status is not a solution to everything’

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Playwright, journalist and Kosovo's answer to Jeremy Paxman - the ‘pushy, irritating’ TV presenter as she describes herself, 29, exposes local politicians in a society she vouches is 'fed-up'

December: pure culture seeker

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Berlin sparks and pixels, free Splash electro in Paris, European student cinema festival in Manchester and eat yourself to death in Lodz

Censoring Oliviero Toscani

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

'In art transgression is a duty,' says the Italian photographer, author of the latest shock campaign with French anorexic model Isabelle Caro. 'Brussels don't want to know a thing about my European vision'

God bless our babelblogs

('Natalia Sosin',) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

From Prishtina to Kiev with our new reporters project, via Istanbul and the US along the comic soundtrack of Europe - by Groucho Marx and Tim Burton

Curt Ficcions: 35mm short film to zero

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The Academy of Spanish Cinema undermine short films by excluding the medium from the world of television. Spanish short films are currently airing in francophone territories

Don't laugh. It's (video) politics

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

European politicans occasionally star in dramatically hilarious or simply grotesque scenes - are ETA terrorists a great nation? Was the Russian Breznev actually the president of the United States?

Greeks don't snap in elections

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The governing conservatives won a reduced majority in general elections on 16 September. The far-left and extreme right rapidly gained seats in parliament, whilst the twice-defeated socialists are the big losers

Jordi Porta: 'More people speak Catalan than Danish'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

As the region of Catalunya celebrates its national day on 11 September, a sidelook at a revitalised minority language

European heritage battle

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:00:00 -0000

At the foot of the Acropolis, a new museum is undergoing construction – but something important is missing: the British Museum is not prepared to return pieces of the world-famous Parthenon frieze to Athens

The more Greek gods the merrier

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Only 2% of Greeks aren't Orthodox. Somewhere amongst this low percentile, the polytheist movement who worship twelve Gods fight the state for recognition as a religion

Malta and Cyprus to adopt the Euro by 2008

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Malta and Cyprus win approval from the European Commission and the European Central Bank to become the respective 14th and 15th Eurozone members by 1 January

Camorra: from Spain with fury

('Andrew Burgess',) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Of Roma art and Charlie Chaplin

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0000

On 7 June the Venice Biennale saw the grand opening of ‘Paradise Lost’, its first Roma Pavilion. Gipsy kitsch, or the artistic emancipation of an oppressed people?

Eduardo Dávila Miura: 'a bullfighter never thinks about his own death'

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0000

He was one of the best Spanish bullfighters, until he ended his career in autumn 2006. The 33-year-old talks about the loneliness of the arena and bullfighting as an art form

'You have to accept that Spain isn’t an Islamic country'

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The construction of Europe’s biggest mosque is thrown into limbo two weeks after fresh elections in Seville city council

The 1, 000 Euros a month club

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Europe’s youth follow the cog: university, a first job, building a future. But Seville’s brood of ‘1000-Euro-a-month-ers’ are finding even that hard

Beer goes underground – all change in the Andalucian capital

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0000

A journey of discovery through the city’s infrastructure – with a focus on young businessmen

Over 50, 000 forest fires in Europe per year

Thu, 10 May 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Wildfire 2007, the 4th International Wildland Fire Conference, takes place in Seville, Spain from 13-17 May

Barcelonistan

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0000

As 29 people of mainly Moroccan origin go on trial in Madrid for the March 11 bombings of 2004, life for Barcelona's Muslim community ticks on

Beer over Gaudi

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0000

In Barcelona, unlicensed street performers, sleeping on park benches and drinking and urinating on its streets is illegal. How has the civic by-law affected society one year on?

DJ Krush - Tokyo-ing Barcelona

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0000

One night in Barcelona's famous 'Apolo' club, where the 'international master of turntablism' divides clubgoers with his mellow electronic strains

Barcelona's immigrant mirage

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0000

A Spanish-speaking immigrant between immigrants - in Catalan Barcelona

Olympic city - dizzy Catalonian heights

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0000

A long tradition of international events and Olympics throwbacks - like Fòrum 2004 - have regenerated urban Barcelona, but haven’t always helped improve its European image

Squats vs. sharks in Barcelona

('RenataB',) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0000

As riots hit Copenhagen after the demolition of a legal youth culture house, Barcelona considers its 300 squats in the look up to May’s municipal elections

Sandra Camps: Barcelona's journalist as Africa's social worker

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Her reports on dwarfism and the mass tide of immigrants to the Canaries are gracing German screens - the Catalan journalist gives a voice to those without

Erri de Luca, Neapolitan, generation '68

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Winner of the 2002 Prix Fémina for Foreign Writers for his splendid Montedidio – written in 'very Neapolitan Italian' – Erri de Luca reflects on Europe, the Mediterranean and the passing of generations