WALKING TOUR WITH A LEGAL TWIST

By Nicole Tiger

Brandeis University

Hi from Madrid! It’s only our second day in Spain and we’re already off running…or biking, I should say. After sightseeing the city from the awesomeness of our bikes, Cristina gave us a walking tour with a legal twist. We saw the buildings that house some of Spain’s most important legal institutions, such as the Congreso de los Diputados. As we learned later in our Legal language class, the Congreso de los Diputados is one of two “cámaras” in Spain’s legislative body. It contains 350 diputados, or representatives, and has more backing in its decisions than those of the Senate, o “Senado”.

While we also glimpsed sights such as the Ayuntamiento de Madrid and the Palacio Real, what really stuck with me were the cultural observations that emanated from every block. While in Plaza del Sol, basically the heart of Madrid, we learned that Spaniards are rather quiet when the clock finally strikes on January 1^st to mark the New Year because they’re busy stuffing their mouths with grapes. In Plaza Mayor, it surprised me to learn that all the balconies surrounding the open courtyard were once public property. If one were empty, anyone could simply knock on the apartment door and be led out to the balcony for a spectacular view. It’s so strange to me that you can own your apartment but not the balcony right outside.

With all of these cultural differences, it was nice to notice at least one similarity in the form of Madrid’s own walk of fame. On our walk to a picnic in the park, we passed a movie theater with about a block’s worth of stars in front. Between directors and actors, I only recognized the names of Almodóvar and Penelope Cruz. It was just nice to see a little reminder of home here in Madrid, me being from Los Angeles, California. Once at the picnic, I was again caught off guard when a “latero” came around with a bag of beers for 1 euro each. It’s so cool that because cervezas are a natural edition to any meal, you don’t have to look very far to buy one. Overall, I really enjoyed the tour and feel that it’s nice to have pictures to fit the descriptions we’ll be studying in our Legal language class.

LS ON A BIKE

By Virginia Burke

University of Mississippi

CIEE did not wait long to take our group to the streets of Madrid in a very memorable bike tour. While I’m sure our large group of bicyclists was a sight to behold, our tour was very eye opening and beneficial for all of those involved (especially me since I hadn’t been on a bicycle in probably ten years haha).

Our tour guide, Professor Cristina Ruiz, did a fabulous job of highlighting various famous places and areas in Madrid many of which were relevant to legal studies.  The tour began at El Congreso de los Diputados and I somehow managed to narrowly miss at least ten different people on the way there. At this site we learned about the two different houses of the legislature, which make laws and amend the Constitution. El Congreso de los Diputados is considered the lower house and the representatives are elected directly. El Senado is the upper house, which is partially elected and partially appointed. This was particularly interesting for me since this differs greatly from the legislative system in the United States where all representatives are directly elected.

After gaining some confidence in my bike riding skills we arrived at la Plaza de la Villa de Paris where three of the most important courts in Spain are located. First, we learned about La Audiencia Nacional. This is one of the highest courts in Spain that can rule on many different types of cases from criminal to constitutional conflicts. Next, we saw El Tribunal Supremo, which differs greatly from the Supreme Court of the United States in that it is the highest court that can rule on non-constitutional matters. Finally, we heard about the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid which rules in matters of civil, criminal, and social law.

By the end of the bike tour I was actually starting to get the hang of riding a bike again. After seeing the sede del Partido Popular or seat of the popular party and Tribunal de Cuentas or fiscal court, we returned our bikes and began a walking tour. Overall the bike tour was a great way for us to see a large cross section of the city and Cristina did a great job of giving us an overview of many of the important government buildings in Spain.

LAS INSTITUCIONES EUROPEAS

Nuestro primer día en Bruselas estuvo dedicado a visitar algunas de las (muchas) instituciones que la Unión Europea tiene en la capital belga.

Nada más llegar a la zona donde están situadas, nos encontramos con la Comisión Europea, un enorme edificio donde se elaboran las nuevas propuestas de ley de la UE presentadas ante el Parlamento y el Consejo. La Comisión europea es un organismo independiente de los gobiernos nacionales y actúa como brazo ejecutivo de la UE, o lo que es lo mismo, aplica las decisiones del Parlamento y del Consejo.

En nuestro viaje hacia la visita al Parlamento, nos encontramos con numerosas dificultades para acceder a los distintos caminos que conducían al mismo. Fuesémos donde fuésemos parecía tarea imposible acercarse al Parlamento Europeo. Finalmente, y tras conseguir nuestro objetivo, nos enteramos que distintos líderes europeos (incluído el Presidente español Rodríguez Zapatero) se encontraban en ese momento en Bruselas, llevando a cabo una serie de reuniones en el Consejo.

La visita al Parlamento fue muy interesante en cuanto que pudimos conocer la distribución de escaños y cómo se trabaja en un ámbito multiligüe y multicultural. Fue un privilegio poder acceder al hemiciclo parlamentario y poder concocer in situ el lugar de trabajo de los eurodiputados.

Junto al Parlamento, se encuentra el Comité de las Regiones. Allí nos esperaba Dña. María José López Francha, miembro del Comité y encargada de temas de desarrollo sostenible. Junto a ella, tuvimos el privilegio de recorrer el edificio e ir conociendo la forma de trabajo de una institución que tiene una función consultiva. Durante el recorrido pudimos acceder a a una de las secciones en las que se trataban temas de Relaciones Internacionales. Fue muy interesante observar al forma de trabajo y la conocer la composición de

de la Sección, ofreciéndosenos la oportunidad de tener acceso a una actividad, generalmente, cerrada al público. Durante nuestra visita al Comité de las Regiones, tuvimos la oportunidad de conocer a Doña Margarita Lopez Armendáriz, miembro de la Sección de Relaciones Internacionales y Presidenta de la Cámara de Comercio de la ciudad de Melilla. Con ella pudimos conocer los pormenores de trabajo en la Comisión y la dinámica política que encierra el edificio.

Junto a los edificios pudimos disfrutar de una escultura dedicada al Premio Sajarov, que reconoce la Libertad de Conciencia desde 1985 y que ha premiado, desde entonces,a personalidades tan imporantes como Nelson Mandela, Aun Sang Suu Kyi, Guillermo Fariñas, la Plataforma Basta Ya o las Naciones Unidas.

THE UE INSTITUTIONS

Text by Charlotte Green

Case Western Reverse University

We spent our first full day in Brussels learning about the European Union and its unique system of organization and government.  Our visit to the European Union Parliament was interesting and informative.  Due to the language barrier, instead of having a guide, we had a video player which told us about the building, the chamber, and the organization of Parliament.  One thing I found to be very interesting was the large amount of translators needed for every session.  The European Union has many different languages; for this reason, translators are essential to the functioning of the meetings.  I also enjoyed learning about the different political parties in Parliament.  With so many different cultures and ideologies, it's difficult to imagine so many people coming to an agreement on issues.  There are a few large parties, but also many smaller political parties which form factions. 

                Our group then visited the European Union Committee of the Regions.  I greatly enjoyed this visit.  We had a very nice guide who took us on "behind-the -scenes" tour; rather than simply looking at empty rooms, we actually looked in on a session!  We also go to speak with a representative from Spain for a short time; she had no idea that we were American, which was actually really cool! The importance of translators was apparent again, as even in a smaller meeting, there were a great number of translators.  After our tour, we had lunch in the cafeteria at the Committee; it was by far the nicest cafeteria I have ever eaten in.

               

 Our discussion about EU laws covered a broad range of topics- prostitution, marijuana usage, euthanasia and other controversial issues.  It was very interesting to see how the different countries of the European Union each have vastly different individual laws.  A common issue with the countries is the authority of national laws versus those of the European Union.  I also noticed that European countries all have much more liberal laws than the United States .  After our seminar, we met with Michelangelo, the coordinator for CIEE Brussels.  He took us to the elite chocolate boutiques, where I sampled the most expensive candy I've ever seen.  They were delicious, and you could definitely tell that Belgians take their chocolate seriously.  Brussels was an amazing experience and it was wonderful to have someone who knows it so well show us different places.