Finding a rental apartment in Mollet del Vallès seems like a treasure hunt. No sign of offers in the windows of the real estate offices in the city center. Inside, there is no better luck either. “To rent, sign up on the waiting list,” they explain in one of them. Among the information they request are marital status, salary, or possible guarantors.
Ramon Espadaler faces one of the decisive moments of his term, in the midst of the implementation of the Efficiency law. Major changes in justice, he says, require time, resources, dialogue, and full institutional respect.
This has to start with a confession: only one of the journalists who make up the sanctuary of the ‘Living’ section of ‘La Vanguardia’ has climbed to the viewpoint of the Columbus monument in Barcelona, and it was just a few days ago, precisely for the report you are reading. The statue is largely unknown to the local public despite being one of the most recognizable figures in the city. It is, as things stand, and although the views are great from its 50 meters of height, a tourist attraction with little rooting. Although it does not lack emotion and feeling for that reason. A couple of years ago, Oriol Espuny, one of the attraction’s reporters, proposed placing a guestbook at the small reception so that people could write or draw whatever they wanted. They have already filled three volumes and the idea, he says, has become a “wonderful analog Instagram.”
He was one of the first to be born: on January 1, 2008. In the last winter transfer window, he became the first Egyptian footballer in the history of FC Barcelona. And now Hamza Abdelkarim continues to write a career as early as it is promising. Without having yet passed through the reserve team and after debuting with the Egyptian senior national team in the World Cup, where he replaced none other than Mohamed Salah, he became the youngest Egyptian international in history and also the youngest Arab footballer to play in a World Cup.
Gianni Infantino (Switzerland, 1970) appeared in the newspapers a few days after he was born. And his parents were by no means famous. Originally from Calabria (Italy), they emigrated to the Swiss country for a better future. He worked on a railway line and she had a newsstand. And Gianni was born on March 23 with a health problem that required an urgent blood transfusion. His blood type was uncommon (RH null), so only a few dozen people in the world could help him. The hospital obtained the willingness of an Englishman and a Yugoslav, Milica Mucalica, whom Infantino, 46 years later, located to thank her for the vital gesture. That extraordinary chapter combines two of the qualities that have led him to preside over FIFA: coincidences and his cosmopolitan nature. The others are boldness and his obsession with growing the business.
At telephoto distance, the only visible movement in the houses on the hill was that of two military vehicles and an excavator. “I do not recommend that you get close. They have expelled all the families from the surroundings and there are snipers in the windows,” a neighbor warned the journalists who had just arrived in Tell, a town of 7,000 inhabitants south of Nablus and the epicenter of the latest outbreak of violence in the West Bank.
Heat is starting to change social habits. Faced with rising temperatures, which seem to lead us to a cyclical situation of heat waves, many people are beginning to change their routines as a self-regulation measure, consciously or unconsciously. Going out at 1 p.m. to do the shopping or going for a run early in the afternoon are unthinkable activities during the hours of greatest sun exposure. Especially in the streets of cities that, in the best case, have some trees that prevent the asphalt from radiating temperatures of 40 degrees to their pedestrians.
The proposal repeatedly put forward by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to reach a State pact for the climate emergency has been met with outright rejection from the Popular Party. Despite the outcry from experts and the unanimous demand of social organizations, the chances of an agreement are fading, largely because the end of the parliamentary term is approaching.
The political trench is also polarizing the analysis of the Spanish economic situation. No nuances: either everything is going very well or absolutely very badly. Despite the positive data, the latest two days ago, an annual growth rate of 2.7% in the second quarter, the decline in unemployment and the increase in employment, the debate has focused on the theoretical artificiality of that dynamic, which would derive exclusively from the simple accumulation of more immigrant workers, without any real improvement in the economy, especially regarding citizens’ income. No model changes either, always centered on tourism and low-value services.
As the backdrop to the current migration crisis is the 2030 FIFA World Cup, a competition that will be jointly organized by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. More specifically, the final of that World Cup, the main point of contention to be decided. Because that tournament, which could bring together up to 64 teams if FIFA’s plans proceed, will start in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay with the first three matches, in commemoration of the centenary of the competition. That is, the opening matches will no longer be held in the host countries. This fact gives even more importance to who will get the final match. The rules of FIFA’s preliminary report are clear: the stadium hosting the title match must have a minimum capacity close to 80,000 spectators.