CaixaBank’s CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, is aware of the enormous uncertainty generated by the war in Iran and the consequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, but he is confident in the “resilience” of the Spanish economy to overcome the blow.
The long journey of Leo XIV has ended. An extensive 11-day tour, which touched four countries and had begun with the weight of the very serious accusations directed by Donald Trump against the American Pope for his anti-war positions. A burden from which the Pontiff tried to free himself immediately, responding to the president: “I am not afraid of the Trump administration,” but making it clear that he did not want to “debate” with him. A request reiterated in the following days to journalists who had interpreted some of his speeches as messages directed at the White House.
The Lebanese government attends the meeting with Israel’s negotiating team at the White House, with Donald Trump present in the room, to close an improbable deal that would end the war with Hezbollah. After two months of conflict against the Shiite militia – which is not part of the negotiations – Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon, where they have established a so-called ‘yellow line’, a replica of the military division that splits the Gaza Strip in two.
Comics do not take center stage at Sant Jordi, but there are places where they do set the pace. At Arc de Triomf, among the stalls that stretch towards Passeig de Lluís Companys and the beginning of Passeig de Sant Joan, one of those spaces is concentrated where the type of books and the profile of the public draw a different scene within the traditional April 23rd celebration in Barcelona.
The instructions to get a copy signed by Nobel laureate Han Kang were clear: she was only going to do one signing session, at La Central del Raval, and would sign one hundred copies, one per reader. The monumental queue that formed on Tuesday at the CCCB, where the author held a Sant Jordi Dialogue, foreshadowed that it would not be easy.
They started as favorites on the starting grid and the predictions came true. Eduardo Mendoza and Regina Rodríguez Sirvent were yesterday’s best-selling fiction authors, in Spanish and Catalan, for Sant Jordi. That Crispetes de matinada (La Campana / Suma) would receive this recognition was known by publishers and booksellers, who saw the piles of books by the Puigcerdà author disappearing by the moment. In Mendoza’s case and La intriga del funeral inconveniente (Seix Barral), some had their doubts after the writer made some statements that caused some controversy, in which he recommended calling this day Book Day instead of Sant Jordi, because “Sant Jordi was an animal abuser and probably couldn’t read”. Statements that he quickly said were a joke and that he was sorry if they had been taken badly. So much so, that on the lapel of his jacket he wore a dragon with a rose, as a nod.
Spain will have to make a “final effort” in the next four months to be able to make the most of the transfers from the Recovery Plan. This was the term used this Thursday by the First Vice-President and Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, to refer to the challenge for administrations to deploy all direct and non-reimbursable aid from the European Commission before the end of August. At this moment, there are 13 billion euros at stake, although some items are already earmarked.
Vladimir Putin justified this Thursday the recent restrictions on mobile internet in Russia for security reasons. However, although the measures help prevent attacks against Russian territory, the Kremlin chief asked in a teleconference meeting with the Government that the interests of citizens be taken into account.
Many years ago, at least twenty, the then editor-in-chief of this section fired at the journalist in charge of writing the chronicle of Sant Jordi’s day with a question as brief as the subsequent answer was:
On Sant Jordi, anecdotes emerge naturally. “I don’t know what to tell, nothing special has happened,” many authors say when approached by cameras, microphones, and recorders. But you don’t have to dig too deep to realize that things do happen, yes. And many. For example, Albert Sánchez Piñol signed books for the first time on April 23rd, as incredible as it may seem. And despite being a bestseller, it wasn’t until the publication of his latest novel, Després del naufragi (Univers), that he dared to face this marathon day. And while this is an exciting day, it must be said that it’s not always easy to cope with the crowds.