The United States Central Command (Centcom) reported late this Friday that its forces shot down four Iranian drones launched towards the Strait of Hormuz, considering they represented an immediate threat to commercial navigation in the area.
The political and diplomatic friendship between Spain and France could suffer a serious deterioration in the coming weeks. What happens when a country’s Parliament rejects twice the validation of a new friendship treaty with its main neighboring country? That is what could happen in the coming weeks between France and Spain. There is a possibility that the Congress of Deputies will reject for the second time the official ratification of the new treaty of friendship and cooperation with France signed on January 19, 2023, in Montjuïc, under the title Treaty of Barcelona.
The unusual image of the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil entering, under the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Balas, the force’s headquarters to request documentation of confidential information has created great commotion, and enormous discomfort, internally.
On the flight bringing him to Madrid from Rome, Pope Leo XIV was asked by journalists if he preferred Real Madrid or Barcelona, a classic question. The Pontiff had no qualms about answering: “This is easy…The Pope belongs to everyone, but Prevost is a Real Madrid fan.” Robert Francis Prevost is the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church.
The Pope has already arrived in Madrid. Around 10:30 AM, his plane landed at Adolfo Suárez Madrid -Barajas airport, where he was awaited by the King and Queen of Spain and other authorities, such as the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the Mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez Almeida, the Government Delegate, Francisco Martín, and the highest authorities of the Church, led by Cardinal José Cobo.
Barcelona aspires to play in the first division of global monumental tourism. And if it has those aspirations, it’s because last February, the Sagrada Família crowned the 172.5-meter Jesus tower, the tallest of the temple that Antoni Gaudí began to build in 1882 and which, one hundred years after his death, has become one of Barcelona’s great economic and cultural drivers. “I don’t know if we are fully aware, but we now have a global icon on par with the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, or the pyramids of Egypt,” reflects the director of Turisme de Barcelona, Mateu Hernández.
The agenda of Pope Leo XIV on his visit to Spain kicked off this Saturday in Madrid with his meeting with the Kings and the vigil in Plaza Lima. For the significant occasion, the Kings showcased their respect for institutional protocol through appropriate and coherent styling for the event.
Pope Leo XIV is already in Spain, after landing in Madrid past 10 AM, for his seven-day official visit which will include the Spanish capital, Barcelona (where he will visit the Sagrada Familia and bless the Jesus Tower) and the Canary Islands.
The first true mass gathering of Leo XIV in Madrid took place at night, with the vigil organized in Lima square, in the shadow of the Santiago Bernabéu. The National Police estimated the attendance at around 500,000 people who arrived from different parts of Spain. Among them, chants echoed that seemed rescued from other eras: “This is the Pope’s youth!”
Pope Leo XIV remarked this Saturday, during his first day in Madrid, that “charity admits no delays” and warned of the “risk” involved when certain political and economic positions lead to deception and indifference in the face of unjust situations.