As the days go by, the resources to describe a situation that has been repeated since more than 70,000 people irregularly entered Ceuta from Morocco through the El Tarajal beach on July 30 are running out.
For weeks, Germany has closely followed the story of a humpback whale trapped in shallow waters of the Baltic Sea. This Saturday, that story reached its most awaited moment: the animal, nicknamed “Timmy” or “Hope,” was finally released into the North Sea in a complex operation that combined technique, private funding, and remarkable public anticipation.
“Dying didn’t matter to me, but stopping making violins…”. The phrase perfectly defines its author, David Bagué (Barcelona, 1964), considered one of the best luthiers in Spain and with the greatest international projection. Beyond having a Creu de Sant Jordi, which is no small thing, the Vienna Philharmonic has three of his instruments (two violins and a cello) and Leonidas Kavakos, one of the best violinists in the world, owns between four and five of his violins. However, at the age of 28 (now he is 61), Bagué began a ordeal that almost took away what he loves most in this life and which is his reason for being: making violins. He was diagnosed with Wegener’s granulomatosis, a rare disease from the group of systemic vasculitis, which recently had its world day.
The judge in Madrid who will try Alberto González Amador, partner of the Madrid president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, for tax fraud has communicated that given the “overload and circumstances weighing on the Court” the date for the trial is still pending, once the opening of the oral trial was already agreed upon for September 2025.
Alternativa para Alemania (AfD) was established as an anti-euro party in 2013. With the migration crisis of 2015, and the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, it transformed into a basically anti-immigration party. AfD shares a program with other European far-right parties, but offers nuances that make it very particular and unsettling.
Spain has requested this Friday the activation of the European response mechanism, asking for 4 fixed-wing aerial firefighting assets, Cadena Ser has reported and La Vanguardia has been able to confirm. Greece has accepted the request, offering two Canadair CL-415 aircraft, and a preparatory meeting for the deployment is scheduled for the morning.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo has traveled to Melilla to celebrate the Autonomous City Day, a new way to show his support and commitment to the territory bordering Morocco at a delicate time following the massive entry of more than 70,000 immigrants into Ceuta. In this regard, he has warned that, if he comes to power, he will defend “the Spanishness of Ceuta and Melilla at all costs” and has said that, unlike Pedro Sánchez, he will not have a “subordinate” relationship with Rabat: “I have no secrets with Morocco.”
The Film Academy announced this Thursday the three Spanish films that begin the race towards the Oscar. Los domingos, by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa; El ser querido, by Rodrigo Sorogoyen; and La bola negra, by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, are the three preselected films for the major film awards given in Hollywood. Pedro Almodóvar, who released Amarga Navidad this year, has been left out.
The hustle and bustle of concrete mixers in Vallbona is incessant. Vehicles constantly cross the neighborhood to fill the sinkhole that swallowed a large crane during the Montcada undergrounding works. It is the emergency measure being applied by the Railway Infrastructure Administrator (Adif) after the ground unexpectedly opened up on Wednesday at noon without causing any injuries, but setting off all alarms.
Only a few days remain until Pope Leo XIV’s historic visit to Barcelona, and the preparations are already palpable in the air. The signage for the Popemobile’s route, the placement of flags on balconies, and the anticipation of a public eager to sing the visit’s anthem, Alza la mirada. Even the pontiff himself, it is said, has already mastered his blessing in Catalan.
