It's not very often you see Spain talked about in foreign magazines, specially
Time, which is the one I subscribe to. So it's kind of saddening to see that what they publish is
a news in the Dashboard about an artifact called "Spanish straitjacket":
LEGAL RESTRAINTS Illegal immigrants who physically resist deportation from Spain will now have to wear straitjackets, ostensibly to prevent them from self-harm.
NEW MEASURES The Spanish Interior Ministry wrote the new guidelines after the June death of a Nigerian immigrant who was handcuffed and gagged.
HUMAN RIGHTS Experts say the design of the jackets is very important. "Europe limits restraint used on immigrants," say officials at Human Rights Watch. "We don't have details about how far the straitjackets restrict breathing--those are the details we need."
Monster and Critics, another online magazine, gives a bit of more information, and cites the daily El Pais as a source. I haven't been able to find the article (maybe it was only in the print edition), but I have found
several mainly Latin American journals which criticize the measure (with reason), and add the fact that hte protocol to deal with deported inmigrants will also include a helmet.
This article (in Spanish) digs out the causes and several other articles on the subject; in general, there are very few articles articles in Spanish traditional media on the subject (if any). It's even caused a
Jay Leno joke!
Back again to the beginning, it's sad to read about Spain being featured only when it can be mocked and criticized; but it's even sadder to check that I've only known about this (sad) fact by reading international websites...
