Neil Martin - Writer
@neilmartin.bsky.social
Writer and journalist whose specialist subjects include fintech, robotics, Spain, A Corspe in Alicante and Rotterdam-P5S. Unfit cyclist.
#Spain - the uglier side of its economic success.
In Spain right now: Migrant workers live in slums, and much more...
Bits of news that are easy to digest. Basic facts plus my view in italics. Agree/disagree? Give me a shout. This article is continually updated and was first published in January, 2025.
lifeinspain.substack.com
August 15, 2025 at 3:38 PM
#Spain - the uglier side of its economic success.
Would I choose to live in Spain now?
Would I move to Spain now?
The country's good and bad bits.
open.substack.com
August 15, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Would I choose to live in Spain now?
Pomegranate tree gets attention.
Old pomegranate tree gets the water treatment
The old tree has become a symbol of our efforts to garden in the heat.
mediterraneangardening.substack.com
August 13, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Pomegranate tree gets attention.
This will make the far right happy (not)!
In Spain right now: Immigration boosts Spanish population, and much more...
Bits of news that are easy to digest. Basic facts plus my view in italics. Agree/disagree? Give me a shout. This article is continually updated and was first published in January, 2025.
lifeinspain.substack.com
August 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
This will make the far right happy (not)!
This should be funny, right...?
I was trying to be funny with this, but then I read the news
What would Reg have said?
open.substack.com
August 8, 2025 at 2:18 PM
This should be funny, right...?
It's time to call it a day.
Should bullfighting and bull running in Spain be stopped?
Is it time for a change?
open.substack.com
August 1, 2025 at 2:49 PM
It's time to call it a day.
This a load of bull...
In Spain right now: a load of bull, black olive worries, disappearing beaches in Barcelona, North Korea, fruit and veg, a big telescope, Franco/Hitler, mass graves, a nuclear accident, and more...
Bits of news that are easy to digest. Basic facts plus my view in italics. Agree/disagree? Give me a shout. This article is continually updated and was first published in January, 2025.
lifeinspain.substack.com
July 30, 2025 at 11:24 AM
This a load of bull...
For Hemingway, Spanish bullfighting was more than just a spectacle.
Hemingway and bullfighting
For Hemingway, Spanish bullfighting was more than just a spectacle.
open.substack.com
July 30, 2025 at 11:17 AM
For Hemingway, Spanish bullfighting was more than just a spectacle.
OMG - here we go again.
The Brexit nightmare continues for us Brits - round two (dos) is now underway
Brits in Spain under the UK Withdrawal Agreement (UKWA) are once again having to face the Dante's hell of the Spanish bureaucratic system, a complex game of snakes and ladders.
open.substack.com
July 25, 2025 at 2:35 PM
OMG - here we go again.
More tourists off to Spain!
Happening in Spain right now: monasteries latest hotspot tourist destination and more
Bits of news that are easy to digest. Basic facts plus my view in italics. Agree/disagree? Give me a shout.
open.substack.com
July 24, 2025 at 9:21 AM
More tourists off to Spain!
A tricky subject.
We need to talk about racism in Spain
Unsurprisingly, racism in Spain is complicated.
open.substack.com
July 18, 2025 at 2:26 PM
A tricky subject.
Anti-migrant riots broke out in Torre Pacheco, a Spanish town in Murcia, when a pensioner was allegedly beaten up by people of north African origin. Locals attended what was meant to be a peaceful demonstration, but things turned violent when right-wing agitators began shouting anti-migrant slogans.
News snippets | Life in Spain and Coffee | Neil Martin | Substack
The latest news from Spain. Click to read Life in Spain and Coffee, by Neil Martin, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
lifeinspain.substack.com
July 14, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Anti-migrant riots broke out in Torre Pacheco, a Spanish town in Murcia, when a pensioner was allegedly beaten up by people of north African origin. Locals attended what was meant to be a peaceful demonstration, but things turned violent when right-wing agitators began shouting anti-migrant slogans.
Coming to a Spanish town near you.
Christ alive: is this a good idea?
Theme park or spiritual monument?
lifeinspain.substack.com
July 4, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Coming to a Spanish town near you.
Periodically, I take flight, switch off the news and retreat into a calmer world, and at the same time, I know how lucky I am to be able to do that. I'm not dodging missiles in Tel Aviv, Gaza, or Tehran.
When the world goes to shit, where is your happy place?
As the old white gits continue to subject me to their way of running the world - spreading hatred, inflicting violence and peddling their own warped narrative - I need a happy place more than ever.
lifeinspain.substack.com
June 27, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Periodically, I take flight, switch off the news and retreat into a calmer world, and at the same time, I know how lucky I am to be able to do that. I'm not dodging missiles in Tel Aviv, Gaza, or Tehran.
They are shooting the wrong people!
The slogan stinks and so does the message
The water-pistol-armed anti-tourist protesters have got it wrong, but who cares when you need to spread the message and symbolism counts?
lifeinspain.substack.com
June 27, 2025 at 9:07 AM
They are shooting the wrong people!
Canadian lobsters now available fresh in Spain.
First direct lobster flight from Gander to Madrid
Canadian lobsters are clocking up the air miles.
lifeinspain.substack.com
June 27, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Canadian lobsters now available fresh in Spain.
Let the oil flow.
Spain's olive oil flows again
Some good news as the price of Spanish olive oil takes a dive.
open.substack.com
June 13, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Let the oil flow.
Labour will pray this will boost a faltering economy.
What the Spending Review 2025 means for startups and scaleups
The heat is on for the Labour Government to boost the economy and this event is going to be a pivotal moment, or a damp squib for innovative companies.
open.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Labour will pray this will boost a faltering economy.
Hurry if you want to nominate a fintech founder.
Nominations close soon for Fintech Frontiers 50
You need to hurry if you want to nominate a founder for one of the most prestigious awards in Southeast Asia.
open.substack.com
May 14, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Hurry if you want to nominate a fintech founder.
Would you accept these odds of dying on your next trip to the south of Spain?
6,000 died to get here
On average, 16 people died each day last year trying to reach Spain illegally via the treacherous West Africa to the Canary Islands route.
open.substack.com
May 6, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Would you accept these odds of dying on your next trip to the south of Spain?
Beam goes under.
Beam loses balance
A company that bet large on transforming the offshore wind industry has called it a day. Scant details of the collapse have surfaced.
open.substack.com
May 4, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Beam goes under.
Spain goes dark - weather, or cyberattack?
Spain goes dark - weather, or cyberattack?
Spain has just experienced it's worst ever power outage in living memory and the weather has been blamed. Believable, or a cover-up for something more sinister?
open.substack.com
April 29, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Spain goes dark - weather, or cyberattack?
The answer to this puzzler surprised me - it might you.
How many Spanish popes have there been—and why there may never be another?
While the cardinals get ready to be ensconced in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace and choose their new boss, it's time to reflect on how Spain might have blown its chances for the top job.
open.substack.com
April 25, 2025 at 4:27 PM
The answer to this puzzler surprised me - it might you.
#Tesla takes a hammering.
Tesla punctures
Ironman may have been the lead poster boy during the recent far-right coup in the US, but he's now paying the price for his am-dram performances as Trump's jester-in-chief.
open.substack.com
April 23, 2025 at 6:17 PM
#Tesla takes a hammering.