The longest-serving film character is a secret agent: “Bond, James Bond”. From 1962 to the present day, the MI6 member created by Ian Fleming has not only changed his skin, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, but has adapted to the
All posts by Carmen Gomaro
Why don't people go to see Barça?
The forced transfer to Montjuïc due to the Camp Nou works is not a dish that the majority of Barça fans are savoring to their liking.. The fact that last summer the figure of 27,000 subscribers that the entity chaired by Joan Laporta had set out to reach has already left a clear sign of this. Not in vain, it was a third of the 81,000 members who, each year, religiously took out their subscription in their old home, whether or not they later attended all the games.
Almost at the last minute, with a final acceleration, 17,000 tickets were sold. The audience record, of course, was recorded in the classic: some 50,000 fans in the stands. Against Atlético, on the other hand, with everything at stake, the figure was the lowest so far: 34,568 spectators.
Compared to Camp Nou, Montjuïc is a venue that is much more isolated from the rest of the city. Access by car to the surroundings of the stadium is also restricted only to buses that have a parking space, which is very limited.. As for motorcycles, followers have 3,500 seats, located on Paseo del Migdia and Doctor Font i Quer street.. In the first case, the squares are quite far away, while in the second they would be somewhat closer.
Half an hour on public transport
The recommendations of Barcelona City Council, of course, are to access the surroundings of the venue, on match days, either by taking advantage of one of the available shuttle buses or some of the city buses that leave relatively close, using the funicular, although the The distance to travel from there is also not negligible, by bicycle or on foot, using some of the escalators that can begin to be used on Avenida de Maria Cristina, very close to the Plaza de España.
Going from the center of Barcelona to Montjuïc, on foot, takes about 46 minutes, taking into account that the path is uphill.. By public transport, in the best of cases, it takes about half an hour, while by bicycle it takes about 20 minutes.
Access to the stadium can be done in a more or less staggered manner. The exit, on the other hand, usually presents more problems. It is not at all unusual to see long lines of fans waiting to get on some of the shuttles that go to the Plaza de España or to see a veritable flood of people preparing to make that journey on foot or, again, using the escalators. .
No fixed seat
As for the assistance itself, Xavi did not hesitate to point out two perhaps somewhat hackneyed, but very real, factors.. “I guess the time and the cold also count. We need them and those who have come have been 10. Next Sunday we also need them, because we will face another team that, surprisingly, is a direct rival. We are four points behind Girona,” said the coach.
The location of the Olímpic, without buildings around it, means that the thermal sensation experienced in the stands is much lower than in much of the city of Barcelona.. Something that, furthermore, is accentuated as the day passes. The system of distributing tickets among subscribers did not seem to be very convincing either.. Despite having paid to access an area, there is no fixed seat. Subscribers who are going to attend must confirm their presence six days before the match. If they do not do so, the club can freely dispose of the location that they would be assigned.
Street markets, mulled wine and tradition: the annual pilgrimage of the Spanish in Bruges
Who. Spanish tourists, generally very common on the streets of the large Belgian cities, become the absolute majority on the December long weekend.
That. It has become a tradition, almost a pilgrimage, for the fairy-tale beauty of Bruges, the Christmas decorations or the markets in the large squares, with mulled wine. Not even the skyrocketing prices of flights, which have tripled in two years, seem to stop it.
Just as Muslims have to go to Mecca once in their lives, Spaniards have to make a pilgrimage at least one bridge to Belgium. The similarities speak for themselves. The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam that guides its faithful, should be done, as far as possible, preferably in the last month of its calendar, and specifically between the 8th and 12th.. Upon reaching the holy city, Tawaf is performed, which consists of walking around the Kaaba seven times.
Spaniards have to go, at least once in their lives, to Brussels, Bruges and Ghent, in that order. Preferably on the December long weekend, the last month of the calendar. Upon arrival, confused, the usual thing is to walk around the Grand Place at least seven times in search of the Manneken Pis, because expecting a real statue, something memorable, they are unable to find that thing in the area.. Look if we have it so engrained in our DNA (the Duke of Alba would be proud) that in 2017, many thousands of Catalan independence supporters took advantage of the holiday to come on a walking trip to Brussels in support of Puigdemont.
If in general there are many tourists in the center of the Belgian capital strolling along the water or in the fairy-tale beguinage of Bruges, the influx skyrockets on the Constitution Bridge. Five out of three walkers speak Spanish, looking for restaurants open at 3:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. and making comparisons with Obradoiro, Grano, Spain in Seville…. The majority do not go through Antwerp, that great unknown, or one of the little gems, and they usually end up disappointed in Brussels. But, in general, they return satisfied. They are not dying to repeat.
It's perfectly understandable. The Belgian nights in December (and it is night from shortly after Spanish lunchtime) are very beautiful. Dark, cold, with some snow if you're lucky and one of those rare Noël blanc falls. With decorations, an urbanism that awakens the Charles V that we all have inside. And markets with their stalls, ferris wheels and mulled wine. Winter Pleasures are called the capital's, because Christmas is no longer acceptable.
The dates are also unbeatable. On the 5th or 6th (depending on whether it is Flanders or Wallonia), Saint Nicholas arrives at all the houses (Sinterklaas, Sint-Nicolaas) just to his disturbing companion Père Fouettard / Zwarte Piet (more controversial every year), who distributes the children tangerines, chocolate and some toys. And the funny thing is that the saint, the local equivalent of Santa Claus, lives in Spain with his pages, and makes a visit almost like a pilgrimage.
Tourists don't want to miss the rest of the traditional locals either, of course.. Among them, my favorite (sic) is undoubtedly the Christmas bonus, something ancient but that has been modernized.. Police, firefighters, postal workers or garbage collectors pass through the houses these weeks in search of one of their own.. Since you can't trust anyone anymore, a few days before they leave a piece of paper in your mailbox wishing happy holidays in three languages and with a photo of the face of the workers who usually come across your street.. The genius is that since there are five or six types of garbage, and six types of colors in the bags, they all pass, one after the other. There is nothing more Belgian than asking for a tip with carols and joy in some of the dirtiest and most abandoned streets on the continent.
The strange second visit this year to Beijing by the Belarusian Lukashenko: "Cooperation is determined by the unity of our ideologies"
With the long waiting list of world leaders who have wanted to visit Beijing after the closure of the pandemic restrictions, which in the Asian giant lasted more than three years, it is not common for there to be those who repeat a solo trip without the pretext of some international summit or forum. It was the president of Belarus himself, Aleksander Lukashenko, who has boasted that Xi has made room for him in his busy schedule.. for the second time so far this year.
“We know that he has recently had a large number of international meetings, not to mention domestic political issues in China itself.. Reflecting on this thesis, I thought: well, this is the burden of one of the leaders of our planet. So I am very grateful to him for this meeting,” the Belarusian said as soon as their meeting began in Beijing.
Disowned by much of the West and immovable in office since 1994, Lukashenko has been one of Vladimir Putin's faithful squires during the invasion of Ukraine, having allowed his country to be used by Russian troops during the initial attack last year.. And since Moscow boasts of having its great ally in Beijing, the Belarusian leader seems to want to join the team and get as close as he can to the Asian superpower..
But the fact that China opens its arms widely to Lukashenko, to the point of receiving him up to two times in its home in the last nine months, is an issue that is not completely understood in some diplomatic circles, such as those of the European Union delegation. in Beijing, also taking into account that this week Xi Jinping holds an important summit with EU leaders.
“Belarus was, is and will be a reliable partner for China. “I am happy to discuss current issues of cooperation in a friendly atmosphere,” Lukashenko said in his meeting with Xi according to statements collected by the Belarusian state agency BelTA.. “Strategic cooperation between Belarus and China is determined by the unity of our ideologies and the logic we share regarding current international events.”
According to the reading of the talk offered by the Chinese agency Xinhua, Xi Jinping said that his country is willing to continue strengthening this “strategic cooperation” and that Beijing will improve coordination with Minks in international organizations such as the UN. Xi also pledged to strengthen economic relations, which translates into an increase in Chinese investment in large infrastructure projects in Belarus..
Eight years ago, Xi, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, made his first visit to Belarus to inspect the Great Stone industrial park outside Minsk, the largest joint project between both countries, with a strong presence of Chinese companies.. Belarus, due to its privileged geographical location as a gateway to Europe, is an important enclave of the new Silk Road promoted by the Chinese leader.
Publicly, both countries always give each other good words and praise each other's cooperation.. But the diplomatic relationship cooled, and also the economic one, after the political crisis in Minsk – after the rigged presidential elections of 2020 – and the Lukashenko regime's repression of mass protests.
China also kept its distance in the subsequent migration crisis created by Belarus, as well as after the sanctions imposed by the European Union.. However, during the pandemic, after Lukashenko renounced allowing Western-made vaccines to enter his country, the Xi government came to the rescue by sending around five million doses of its serums to Belarus.. Since then, Beijing and Minsk have taken several steps to strengthen relations.
In August, former Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu visited the Belarusian capital and met with Lukashenko, with whom he pledged to increase military cooperation.. A couple of months earlier, three Belarusian ministers (of Economy, Agriculture and Transport) traveled to Beijing to sign several trade agreements.
China, taking advantage of Western sanctions over Lukashenko's aid to Putin and his war against Ukraine, has increased imports of different types of wood and potassium fertilizers. For its part, Minsk buys mainly mechanical equipment. Bilateral trade reached $5.08 billion in 2022, up 33% year-on-year. Transactions between both countries are being carried out in yuan, following the de-dollarization of trade that Beijing has been seeking for some time.
The drop in November unemployment does not account for 114,000 discontinued workers who stopped working
Unemployment fell in the country by 24,573 people in November, which was the second largest drop in unemployment for this month without counting the pandemic, but this evolution is distorted because, after the labor reform, all workers with a discontinuous permanent contract who become inactive and even begin to collect a benefit, are not counted as unemployed. In November, a total of 114,000 were unemployed but they are not counted as such, so unemployment would have grown by around 90,000 people if they had been taken into account.
This is clear from the affiliation and unemployment data published yesterday by the ministries of Social Security and Labor, according to which although 115,500 salaried jobs in the hospitality industry were destroyed due to the end of the tourist season, these were not counted in the unemployment.. The reason is that all of them were permanent, discontinuous workers.
Given that the registered unemployment data are, for this reason, not reliable, it is advisable to analyze the affiliation data.. These show that employment in the country fell by 11,583 people in November, a much lower decline than that traditionally recorded this month (23,219 jobs between 2014 and 2019), which reflects that the labor market slows down due to the environment. of economic uncertainty but continues to grow. The hospitality industry was the sector most affected by seasonality, but its layoffs were offset by hiring in education and commerce, given the arrival of Christmas shopping.
“Social Security affiliation surprised on the rise,” said BBVA Research. “The number of Social Security contributors fell by 11,600 (2.6% year-on-year) due to seasonal causes, to a lesser extent than expected (BBVA Research had predicted a drop of 37,200 people). The gross evolution of membership was somewhat worse than that recorded in the months of November since 2020, but better than the median of the last decade. Discounting the seasonal component, BBVA Research estimates indicate that the number of affiliates would have grown by 25,000, 2,500 more than in October.”
From Funcas they have pointed out that “employment growth continues to moderate”, since “Social Security lost 11,583 affiliates in November, a lower decrease than usual in that month, which in seasonally adjusted terms is equivalent to an increase of about 10,350. This figure is around the average of the previous three months, but is lower than the nearly 75,000 new monthly net affiliates in the first half of the year.”.
The energy companies activate their lawyers before the transfer of taxes to the PNV: "It collides with the CJEU, the distortion would be brutal"
The lawyers of some of the largest Spanish energy companies closely analyze the political agreement between PSOE and PNV. The pact to support the investiture of Pedro Sánchez sealed with the formation led by Andoni Ortuzar includes, not only the transfer to the provincial treasuries of the minimum taxation of 15% in the corporate tax, but also returning to the scope of their execution the collection of the tax on banking and energy.
The idea of an involvement of the PNV – a party openly opposed to a tax that Ortuzar himself considers “damaged goods” – in the management of the tax has generated relief in giants such as Repsol and Iberdrola, strongly linked to the Basque territory and which, due to their structure corporate could benefit from possible deductions that could be approved at the regional level.
The euphoria has translated into anger in other companies (also within the banking sector) that, given that they store the majority of their income in other regions of the country, such as Andalusia, Madrid, Galicia or the Castiles; They would barely notice the possible adjustments made at the regional level.
“The distortion would be brutal, it would further aggravate the distortions generated by a tax that already suffers from inequity,” legal sources point out.. Lawyers have searched for antecedents likely to support the defense of energy companies in European Justice. And they have found them.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in a ruling in October 2012 in the framework of an infringement procedure against France, declared that the French country had breached its obligations by having kept the price of electricity a “tax regionalization” that could have generated disparities between different areas of the national territory.
The aforementioned fiscal transfer would require a reformulation of the income tax, as EL MUNDO advanced at the beginning of November, since this was not approved as a tax, but as a non-tax property benefit.. The Government is already preparing the ground to alleviate this fiscal siege on financial and energy entities.. The Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, gave the green light to the future readjustment this weekend, when she admitted that, given the changes in the global energy panorama, the Executive is going to look for “the reasonable threshold to maintain the tax.” statements made only after Brussels released a report in which it recognized that electricity and oil companies no longer benefit from the “extraordinary” profits of 2022.
Legal sources close to the electric Ibex doubt, in conversations with this medium, that the Government will radically transform the tax: “Changing it now would mean recognizing that it was poorly designed at the time, something that would harm the Executive on the legal front that opened the sector for this issue”.
What they do trust on the business front is that the Treasury will execute some adjustment that will alleviate the impact of the measure on their accounts, given the pressure exerted by Europe, where they have also always opted for a tax model on profits and not on sales, like Spanish. Although the Government has begun to tone down its fiscal crusade against the large energy companies, the giants of the sector continue working on putting together their defense to win the fight against the Executive in the courts.
Page assures that he would have "resigned his record" at Sánchez's investiture and believes that the legislature will be in danger when Puigdemont returns
The internal drip of criticism continues in the PSOE of Pedro Sánchez's political roadmap and the amnesty agreed with separatism. The president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, revealed yesterday that, if he had been a national deputy, he would have “abandoned” his act rather than invest Sánchez for a legislature in which the coalition government depends completely on the pro-independence formations in Congress.
The Castilian-La Mancha socialist leader, the main critical voice of Sánchez, framed this position in his “particular” criteria to precisely defend that the parliamentarians of Castilla-La Mancha did not break voting discipline in the investiture session held two weeks ago in the Lower House.
“A deputy can disagree with an opinion in the parliamentary group, but if the group decides by majority, democratically, a position must be accepted.”. “You have to be a democrat before being left-wing or right-wing,” he explained in an interview given to the LaSexta program Salvados, in which he developed his position regarding the amnesty just one day after the PSOE met with Junts in Geneva secretly and agreed upon the figure of a Salvadoran mediator expert in guerrillas, Francisco Galindo.
Page predicted that the legislature will not last four years, and analyzed that there will be two different stages for the Government: “Until Puigdemont crosses La Junquera [border with France] there will be one legislature, and from there another”. And he defended that both the independence movement and Vox will gain muscle after the Government's “concessions” to separatism, contrary to what was defended in the electoral program, which is what he said he remained faithful to: “If we have gone to ask millions of Spaniards to vote to do one thing and we do the opposite, who do we lack loyalty to?” asked the socialist territorial baron, who ruled out in any case running to lead the formation and succeeding Pedro Sánchez, whom he disfigured for his “changes in opinion from one day to the next”. “It is more honest to recognize that votes are needed and that where I have said I say I say Diego.”
Regarding the future, Page was “skeptical” about the amnesty's ability to reconcile Catalan society, and asserted that his critical position can give an image of “loneliness” on the public level, “but not deep down.”. He acknowledged that in the last socialist Federal Committee in which the amnesty and pacts with formations such as ERC or Junts were addressed “the air was cut with a knife” and the atmosphere was “hostile” and he stressed his intention to “appeal in advance “any referendum that is held that does not have to do with the reform of the Constitution. Even so, he explained, he is convinced by what was signed with Junts that no type of consultation on independence will be held.
Asked about his relationship with Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Emiliano García-Page gave him a 5. When asked the same question regarding Pedro Sánchez, he responded with an 8 in social policies and a 2 in the territorial sphere and in the relationship with nationalism.
Joao Félix's friction with his former teammates and with the red and white fans: "I have nothing against them. I get along very well with almost everyone"
Joao Félix continues to accumulate merits to permanently leave Atlético next summer. Both leaving flashes of quality in the Barcelona ranks and starring in multiple clashes with the red and white players, in a clash with many yellow cards.. After coming off the hook this week with some statements about style that must not have sat too well with those who were his teammates in the locker room last year, given what was seen, he celebrated the 1-0 without leaving anything inside. “It was a spontaneous reaction to the heat of the game,” he explained after the crash.
With a gesture common to the Real Madrid player Bellingham and previously signed by Leo Messi himself during his time as a Barça player, he climbed one of the fences located next to Oblak's goal, located in the first 45 minutes in the area closest to the colchoneros fans and gave free rein to their joy. He gave them an ironic kiss when they sang “Joao, stay,” according to what the television cameras caught him.
The Atlético players, meanwhile, were much less understanding of the Portuguese. Throughout the first 45 minutes, Joao Félix had several clashes with those who were his teammates until the very start of this campaign. “I have nothing against them. “I get along very well with almost everyone and I hope they do very well, except against us,” the Portuguese striker also commented.
Knee scare
He even complained about a stomp by Hermoso inside the red and white area that, although it caused Sánchez Martínez to momentarily stop the game to inquire about his condition, was not considered a punishable action by either the referee or the VAR.. Things did not improve at all after the break, with a strong tackle by Azpilicueta that caused, for a moment, the blood to freeze in the veins of the Barcelona fans.. For a moment, it looked like his knee was going to play tricks on him.. Everything, however, remained just a scare.
With the goal against Atlético, Joao Félix broke a drought in the League that had lasted since September 16. Then, in his first game as a starter under Xavi, he was in charge of opening the way to a more than overwhelming victory against Betis (5-0). Joao Félix was also named MVP of the match and ended up seeing his name hailed in Montjuic.. “I'm happy that the fans are chanting my name,” he said.
Simeone's silence
For his part, Diego Simeone once again dodged questions about the Portuguese and declined to talk about a player who was not on his team.. Likewise, Marcos Llorente expressed that he was neither bothered nor noticed the Portuguese's effusive celebration after the goal.
On the Blaugrana side, Ronald Araujo went through the flash interview and expressed that he saw Joao “calm”. “I wanted to show, score goals, give assists. The important thing is that he is happy,” he commented.. The Blaugrana coach was also very happy with his performance and revealed that he asked him for “calm” because “extra motivation accelerates”.
“I haven't seen the celebration but the goal is from someone who makes a difference for the team and has emptied himself on the field,” Xavi praised him.. The coach has not been able to confirm the Blaugrana club's intentions regarding the continuity of the Portuguese next year, who would like to remain in the Blaugrana discipline.
The Mendes plot at Barça, Joao Félix's 'win-win' and Xavi's misgivings about "sociological guardiolism"
The longest-serving film character is a secret agent: “Bond, James Bond”. From 1962 to the present day, the MI6 member created by Ian Fleming has not only changed his skin, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, but has adapted to the
Only the VAR loosens Diego Alonso's rope, the worst shock in the history of Sevilla
Diego Alonso is already the worst disruptor in the history of Sevilla and only a providential appearance of the VAR kept him in office yesterday. Prieto Iglesias' call to Díaz de Mera, which only they themselves could justify, truncated Ben Brereton's goal, due to the Chilean's previous foul on Kike Salas. After six league games without victory, the coach's future seems more delicate every day at the Sánchez-Pizjuán. [Narrative and statistics (1-1)]
The joy had lasted a minute, which took Villarreal to take the center and José Luis Morales to take advantage of an indecision by Marko Dmitrovic. For one minute the fans were able to celebrate Kike Salas' goal, with a fabulous header, because Sevilla fell apart again for their fourth consecutive draw at home in the League. And Alonso was still able to thank the courtesy of Villarreal, cautious and functional, without the greed that would have opened, this time, Pandora's box in Nervión.
After a turbulent afternoon, full of alternatives and errors, Alonso rounded off a record that does not need further comment. Sevilla's last victory in the League dates back to September 17 (1-0 against Las Palmas), with the only respite being 0-3 in the Copa del Rey against Quintanar de la Orden, from the sixth category.. A victory for Alonso in 10 games. Demolition Man.
On the line of 99-00
Because after 90 minutes in which he never tired of encouraging his men from the technical area, the former Celeste coach looks into the abyss. The poor balance of his team, with 13 points, only five before the break, already has too many parallels with that of last year. And what is worse, with that disastrous 1999-2000 season, the one of relegation at the hands of Betis and Real Oviedo.
The pieces seem to be the same, although Alonso yesterday repeated the lineup that had committed suicide against PSV, with the exceptions of Juanlu and Nianzou in place of Jesús Navas and Sergio Ramos, who were sanctioned.. You feel so much electricity, so much drama, that Sevilla seems every minute on the verge of a nervous breakdown..
And the tension, which poisons everything, also comes from outside the green. While waiting for today's General Shareholders' Meeting, security measures had to be multiplied yesterday to avoid another unfortunate episode like the one experienced on Wednesday, with graffiti against José Castro and Carolina Alés, reported by José María del Nido Carrasco for crimes of incitement to hate. The increase in private security personnel and the placement of fences, increasingly removed from the team's access doors, also measure the temperature of the club.
Shouts and banners
Upon arrival at the stadium, Erik Lamela turned against a fan who had lied to his mother. When the stadium lights were turned on, the team was received amid divisions of opinion.. Two Biris Norte banners against the leadership reflected the tension: “No money, no transparency, no stability”; “Base camp in mediocrity”. The vast majority of the 33,898 spectators continued to cheer, at least while the ball was rolling. But the moment Díaz de Mera stopped the game, the proclamations left no room for doubt: “Directive, resign.”
Just before half-time Youssef En-Nesyri and Lucas Ocampos were able to score, with a double chance saved under the crossbar. As soon as he returned from the locker room, Dmitrovic saved a clear chance from Álex Baena and shortly after, Dodi Lukebakio missed a resounding chance at goalmouth. The exchange of blows mattered little, because that could not end well for Sevilla. At least the VAR loosened the noose around Alonso's neck.