The capital city effect explains part of why the State invested more than twice as much in Madrid as in Catalonia last year. The other part is because the actual spending on works is lower in the Catalan community than in the one that hosts the capital.
Returns in Central and Northern Europe the susceptibility to the ‘well-being’ of the South
The goal by Ferran Torres gave a moment of euphoria to more than 2,000 Palestinians in Ramallah, in occupied West Bank; a place where collective joy is an extremely scarce commodity. Good news is fleeting in this land. Barely three minutes later, as the crowd held its breath before the imminent victory of the Spanish team, the broadcast of the match stopped.
In the mixed zone, from which the Argentine players fled stealthily and treacherously after losing the final, demonstrating their nonexistent greatness in defeat, a Brazilian journalist was summarizing what was seen in the longest World Cup in history: “Football finally won.”
From Johannesburg to New Jersey. From eight world champions in 2010 to another eight in 2026. From Andrés Iniesta’s goal to Ferran Torres’. The two stars that the Spanish national team wears on its jersey have a strong Barça accent. Within a squad full of excellent footballers without a big reputation, except for the bright Lamine Yamal and despite having a Ballon d’Or winner like Rodrigo Hernández, Barça has once again left its mark on a Spanish team that has earned admiration throughout the 38 days of the World Cup.
The fire declared last Thursday in La Mierla, in the Sierra Norte of Guadalajara, has devastated 26,000 hectares and has forced the evacuation of 34 towns and inhabited areas, with more than 1,200 people having to leave their homes. It is the most significant fire of the summer and the largest area ever recorded in the Castilla-La Mancha community.
If there is a day when it is legitimate to compare politics with football, it is today. England has not won the world championship since 1966, and it has not had a good prime minister for decades. If you ask the Conservatives, since Margaret Thatcher in the eighties. If you ask the centrist Labour, since Tony Blair in the nineties. And if you ask the left-wing Labour, you have to go much further back, to Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, or even Clement Attlee, creator of the welfare state.
In recent weeks there had been a tense calm in the Plus Ultra case. Since José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero testified as the alleged leader of an influence peddling scheme on June 17, things began to move. He denied everything, distanced himself from any management in favor of the airline. He left the responsibility, in any case, to Julio Martínez Martínez. The businessman’s position was compromised and he had two options: to acknowledge his dealings with Plus Ultra, the creation of an offshore company in Dubai, and that his relationship with Zapatero was limited to paying him for consulting, as the former president claimed; or to follow the path of the corrupter in the Mask case, Víctor de Aldama, admit the facts, at least in part, and let the big catch fall.
The Spanish national football team has excited not only for having won the World Cup, but also for how they achieved it. To the undeniable talent of the players has been added the exaltation of teamwork, humility, and the importance of the culture of effort….
After almost a week away from their homes, the favorable evolution of the Orés fire, stabilized yesterday after burning about 15,000 hectares in the Cinco Villas region of Zaragoza, has led them to start returning to their homes gradually this Monday.