The Cunninghame Graham Lecture 2025

About the event

This event has was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Office of Cultural and Scientific Affairs of the Embassy of Spain in the United Kingdom and the University of Edinburgh.

Fifty years after General Francisco Franco’s death, Spain stands as one of the most remarkable cases of political, economic, and social transformation in modern Europe. Emerging from nearly four decades of dictatorship, Spain transitioned peacefully to democracy under King Juan Carlos and the 1978 Constitution—now the longest-standing in the nation’s history.

The country has evolved into a “full democracy,” according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, and a major global economic player: a founding member of the eurozone, the world’s second most visited country, and home to multinational firms with substantial outward investment. Social progress has been equally profound—urbanisation, gender equality in higher education, and significant immigration have reshaped a society once marked by conservatism and isolation.

Yet Spain faces pressing challenges. Persistent unemployment, sluggish productivity, and high public debt strain its fiscal stability. Meanwhile, climate change, housing shortages intensified by overtourism, and intergenerational inequality expose structural weaknesses. Political polarisation and enduring corruption further erode institutional trust, hindering consensus-driven reform. Despite these vulnerabilities, Spain’s transformation remains a success story of resilience and adaptation.

William Chislett, a veteran journalist and analyst, has chronicled Spain’s transformation from dictatorship to democracy for over five decades. His work, grounded in first-hand observation and deep historical insight, traces the country’s political, economic, and social evolution with clarity and nuance.

As a former correspondent for The Times and Financial Times and now a senior analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute, Chislett offers an unparalleled perspective on how Spain has redefined itself since Franco’s death and the challenges that continue to shape its future.

About the speaker

William Chislett (Oxford, 1951) is Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Elcano Royal Institute. He covered Spain’s transition to democracy for The Times of London between 1975 and 1978. He was then based in Mexico City for the Financial Times between 1978 and 1984. He returned to Madrid on a permanent basis in 1986 and since then, among other things, has written more than 20 books on various countries.

The Elcano Royal Institute published four of his books on the subject of Spain between 2002 and 2016. He wrote a monthly review of Spain ('Inside Spain') for the Institute between April 2004 and September 2021, and has been writing a monthly blog on Spain since November 2021.

He has been a visiting scholar at Bilkent University, Ankara, and New York University, and has spoken at the universities of Oxford, Harvard, Princeton, Chicago, Georgetown and the London School of Economics.

He curated the exhibition on Arturo Barea (1897-1957) in the Cervantes Institute, Madrid, in 2018 and organised various acts in memory of the Spanish émigré writer, including a square in Madrid bearing his name. He was granted Spanish nationality in November 2021 by Royal Decree.

Attend in person or online

This is a hybrid event. When booking your ticket, please tell us if you would like to attend in person - in the Usha Kasera Lecture Theatre - or online. If you opt for online, we will send you platform and joining details nearer the date.

The Cunninghame Graham Lecture

The Cunninghame Graham Lecture was established in 1996 in honour of Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham - aka ‘Don Roberto’ (London, 1852-Buenos Aires, 1936) - politician, estanciero, and writer, who travelled extensively in Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay and had very strong ties to Argentina.

Delivered annually, it is jointly organised by LLC and the Office of Cultural and Scientific Affairs of the Embassy of Spain with the aim of promoting Spanish language and culture in Scotland.

Past speakers have included scholars, film makers, politicians, journalists, novelists, and figures bridging the Hispanic world and Scotland, such as the architect Enric Miralles (1955-2000) who designed the Scottish Parliament building.