At the end of 2023, different institutions in different countries published their words of the year. The one chosen in Spain, by a foundation ran by the Royal Spanish Academy and the EFE news agency, was polarización, meaning polarization... A word that reflects the highly political election year we just got through. In Germany, krisenmodus, meaning crisis mode was the word of the year, after a year of crises such as wars, climate change and inflation. In Japan, the kanji chosen through popular vote was tax. In Australia, the word chosen was cozzie livs, meaning cost of living. But one of the words of the year that made headlines worldwide was the word chosen by the Publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary. Rizz, a slang term that emerged on the internet and gaming platforms, and which the Oxford Dictionary describes as "a colloquial word, defined as style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner". Oxford University Press describes their search for the word of the year as a quest to seek “a word or expression that reflects the past twelve months in some way, having potential as a term of lasting cultural significance or providing a snapshot of social history.”In today's broadcast we take the oportunity to talk linguistics with an English philologist, Miguel Delgado. We'll discuss Oxford Dictionary's 2023 word of the year and how words come to be... And then, we'll talk about how the Spanish language is influenced by English.

Epiphany, known in Spain as el Día de los Reyes Magos (the Day of the Three Kings) is celebrated with parades all over the country every year on the fifth of January. The stars of these parades are the three kings, known also as the three wise men who brought the newborn Jesus Christ gifts of gold, incense and mehrr: Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthasar. However, these parades find themselves embroiled in controversy year after year, for one of these Three Wise Men (Balthasar) is depicted as a black man. Yet he is not always portrayed by a black man but rather a white man in facepaint. After the newscast, we'll be talking to the Coordinator of the Pro-Human Rights Association of Andalucía, Diego Boza, about the persistent use of blackface in local parades all over Spain.

We are joined on today's broadcast by political scientist Alberto Spektorowski, to talk about South Africa launching genocide proceedings at the International Court of Justice over Israel's military operation in Gaza: a military operation that began in retaliation of the October 7th attacks, in which Hamas killed over 1000 Israelis and took 240 hostages ; a military operation that has so far killed over 20.000 Palestinians and wounded over 57.000 , according to Gazan authorities. In the year 2000, Alberto Spektorowski worked alongside Israel's then-Minister of Foreign Affairs Shlomo Ben Ami during the Camp David Summit, an effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Spektorowski tells us why he thinks the two-state solution has failed to come to fruition in the past, and also weighs in on what we might expect as the conflict continues. On the sixth of January, Spain celebrates el día de los Reyes Magos, known in English as Epiphany, and this is a festivity that comes with its own special treat. Later on in the broadcast, we talk with Paloma Silvestrin of the bakery Doble Uve Obrador, the winners of second place in this year's Best Artesenal Roscón de Reyes Competition in Madrid about this particular food.

A robot and a dog become best friends... Behind such a simple premise we find a profound and unique story of love, friendship, loneliness and companionship with very special moments told through delighful animation and musical numbers. Robot Dreams was originally a graphic novel by Sara Varon, and it has now been brough to cinema screens by Spanish director, Pablo Berger, in the form of an animated musical without dialogues. Pablo Berger joins us in this broadcast to discuss the film, winner of Best Animated Feature Film at the European Film Awards and Goya nominee. After that, we learn about what is now considered the worst drought in the history of Catalonia and the measures being taken to preserve water with Samuel Reyes, director of the Catalan Water Agency.

In just a few days, the Puerta del Sol clock will, once again, welcome Spaniards to the new year. In Spain it is traditional to visit the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid on the last day of the year and eat 12 grapes while listening to the 12 strikes of the bell. Everything has to be ready for that moment, security protocols, transport, emergency services, cameras and media... But probably the most important element of that night is the clock located in the tower of the Royal House of the Post Office. Since 1996 the workshop in charge of the maintenance of the Puerta del Sol clock on this day and throughout the year is the Relojeria Losada. On this broadast, we visit the "Relojeria" to learn all about the preparations for this year's celebration with Pedro Ortiz Rey, one of their watchmakers.

Christmas is a time of fun and enjoyment, a time to spend with loved ones and remember what we are grateful for, but we cannot forget that it is also a time of solidarity, compassion and sympathy with the people who need it the most. The NGO Cooperacion Internacional knows this and this year, once again, they organized the campaign "Una sonrisa por navidad" which aims to bring presents to children in disadvantaged situations. To learn more about it we visited the headquarters of Cooperación Internacional in Madrid and spoke with María Mompó, coordinator of the project. And at the end of the broadcast, we bring you another thing that is typical of this time: Christmas concerts. Last week, we attended the Banda de Música Villa de Madrid's Christmas concert "Una navidad de película" and spoke with some of the musicians from this local band.

In a previous broadcast we told you about the extravagant Christmas display in the north-western city of Vigo, which includes a 44 meter-tall Christmas tree. But did you know that the tallest Christmas tree in Spain is located in the city of Cartes, in the region of Cantabria? It's 65 meters tall, and goes to show how much competition there is between Spain's many town halls to have the tallest tree for the season. However, a few citizens of a Galician town have tired of this competition, and want to remember the real meaning of Christmas, which is found in the smallest things. Neighbours of Vilagarcia de Arousa gathered together to put up what is now the smallest Christmas tree in Spain. On this broadcast we tell you all about this tiny tree with Pedro Falcón, member of the board of the Neighours Association Breogán de O Piñeiriño. We also bring you another story about a small Christmas tree that went viral a few years ago and has secured its place in one of the most important squares of the city of Ávila and in the local's hearts: "el árbol chico del chico". Later, we tell you about a very original twist on a typical Spanish tradition: the nativity scene, but made with Playmobil. And we finish this broadcast revisiting another Christmas tradition: the yearly Christmas lotery.

It's been 12 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone, the first movie from the Harry Potter Saga, was released in Spain, and it quickly became a huge phenomenon everywhere in the country. More than six million people watched it and it became one of the highest grossing films in Spain. The magic of Harry Potter has accompanied Spaniards since the first book came out back in 1997 and now an exhibition just arrived in Barcelona to immerse us once again in the wizarding world. To tell us about it, we spoke withTom Zaller, founder and CEO of Imagine Exhibitions, the company behind "Harry Potter: the exhibition".

On Monday 11th, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) published their yearly report on the state of democracy in the world. IDEA is an Institute that works to protect democracy, and this year's report turned in troubling results: off the top, it states that half of all countries saw declines in democracy over the past five years. The report was presented here in Madrid by IDEA's Secretary General, Kevin Casas. We spoke with him about the growing trends and challenges faced by democracy now and in the upcoming year.

The town of Vigo in the northwest of Spain has made name for itself in recent years thanks to its Christmas decorations: more specifically, its lights, which this year were turned on on the 24th of November, a whole month before Christmas. To learn all about this Christmas wonderland, we speak with Vigo's mayor, Abel Caballero. But not all that glitters is gold. An association of neighbors in the surrounding area complain about the noise, rubbish, light pollution and even safety hazards the extragavant display has brought into their lives. Álvaro Herrera, spokesman for the Neighbors of Vigo's Central Area Association, tells us about their struggles.