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The 2008 crisis put an end, among other things, to the promise of national happiness established during Spain’s Transition to democracy. Much has been analyzed about the collapse of the economy and the precipice to which the state apparatus was driven, but a third element was missing: the breakdown of Spain’s official culture. This cultural framework—composed of the national anthem and flag, bullfighting, Catholic holidays, folklore, and October 12th—once seemed the domain of conservative forces until it became public property through the queer reappropriation carried out by artists from “weird” Spain.

Rosalía, C. Tangana, Niño de Elche, Rodrigo Cuevas, Samantha Hudson, Los Javis, María Arnal, and Palomo Spain are some of the creators who have waged a symbolic battle to expand the notion of community and make the Spanish imagination far more diverse. In these pages, Daniel Valtueña draws a map of the social effervescence of those years while offering a critique of the 15M movement, for having positioned itself at the center of a sentimental and ideological memory that has overshadowed other cultural phenomena. He goes on to assert the power of culture—both in its most perverse and most transgressive forms: on one hand, its immense utility as a smokescreen in the hands of officialdom; on the other, its ability to tear through that same curtain, take the measure of power, and expose its miserable condition.

Daniel Valtueña (Madrid, 1994) holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from The Graduate Center | City University of New York. He is a cultural project consultant and professor. His research areas include Spanish cultural history, contemporary stage and performance creation, contemporary art history, and queer theory. In 2021, he co-founded the LGTBIQ+ Studies Seminar at the Complutense University of Madrid, and in 2022, he received the UCM Alumni Researcher Award from the same institution.

As a cultural professional, he has worked nationally and internationally for institutions such as the Queens Council on the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Madrid City Council. As a professor, he teaches humanities and cultural management at CIEE Madrid and IE University, where he also directs the Arts & Culture Lab.