The Bronze Age of science in Spain

In 2008, the Spanish government promised a new Silver Age of science that would comprise the creation of a new Ministry of Science together with major, long‐awaited investments in research and development (Editorial, 2008). Un‐fortunately, those expectations have not translated into reality. The recently tabled 2010 national budget proposes that funding for the Ministry of Science should be cut by more than 15%, thus returning to 2006 levels. In fact, the situation will be even more serious given that the new Ministry also comprises the Health Institutes, which were previously the oversight of the Ministry of Health. Only the funding of fellowships for education at all levels will be retained. Unlike the somewhat positive outlook that Michela Bertero described in her recent EMBO reports article about science in Spain (Bertero, 2009), the reality is likely to be rather different, at least for the next few years. The Ministry of Science is the main …