Ignacio Sotelo
Born in 1936, Ignacio Sotelo is a noted writer, teacher of sociology, and political analyst. Having graduated in Philosophy and Literary Studies at the Complutense University of Madrid, he went on to study philosophy and sociology at the University of Cologne, Germany. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and his column on international politics has been a regular feature in the Madrid daily El País since its launch in 1976.
Launched on 13 July 2008 in Paris, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is basically a remodelling of the Barcelona Process that Spain helped get off the ground back in 1995. There was really no need to go to all that trouble, but Nicolas Sarkozy originally had something very different in mind when he initiated this second phase.