He struck again at the weekend, scoring the winner, his 10th league goal of the season on match day nine and sending fans into raptures in the Spanish capital. He has done it time and time again this season, carrying his teammates on his back if needs be, turning a game with his individual brilliance and a seemingly insatiable appetite for goals. He has carried his side all the way to the top of the league in joint place with Barcelona on 25 points from a possible 27 and his name is being touted as a possible FIFA Ballon d’Or winner. But what is most astonishing about the man in question, is that he does not play decked in white, he plies his trade for the other team in the city, Atlético … [Read more...] about La Liga: Falcao firepower lets Atlético dream
Archives for October 2012
A necessary crisis for Spain’s Socialists
As the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) digests its disastrous performance in recent Galician and Basque elections, struggles to find a coherent and convincing response to the upsurge in Catalan nationalist sentiment, and its powerful Andalusian faction mulls overthrowing national leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, it’s hard not to look back to February of this year. The Socialists had confirmed Rubalcaba’s appointment as party leader in the wake of the 2011 general election disaster. His only serious challenger, Carme Chacón, watched as he made his acceptance speech and she wept. According to many, they were tears of anger and disappointment at how the party old guard had blocked … [Read more...] about A necessary crisis for Spain’s Socialists
Pound hits three week high as UK expands 1.0% in Q3
Welcome to the Pure FX account of changes in the euro exchange rate, covering the 19th to 26th of October 2012. This is intended as a brief guide to movements in the euro this week, to put you in the best position for when you exchange currencies. Latest exchange rate changes Pound to euro: Last week: 1.2276 Today: 1.2457 Increase: +1.474% Pound to US dollar: Last week: 1.6038 Today: 1.6108 Increase: +0.436% Euro to US dollar: Last week: 1.306 Today: 1.2925 Decrease: –1.034% The UK pound reversed a four-month decline against the euro this week, gaining almost two cents against the common currency. This takes sterling back to a level we last saw in early October, when … [Read more...] about Pound hits three week high as UK expands 1.0% in Q3
Juan Luis Cebrián: last man standing?
In November 2010, Juan Luis Cebrián, the founding editor of El País, and CEO of the Prisa Group, the media empire to which the newspaper belongs, announced the sale of 70 percent of Prisa for €900 million to a New York-based investment group The reason for the sale was a €4.7-billion debt he had created after an expensive foray into pay-TV was followed by the financial crisis and a downturn in advertising. At the time of the sale, Prisa’s debt was more than 12 times its withered stock market value. The sale spelled the end of Cebrián and the Polanco family’s control of Spain’s leading media group, which had been founded on the success of El País over more than three decades. "Better 30 … [Read more...] about Juan Luis Cebrián: last man standing?
The wisdom of doubt: Álvaro Siza
This year’s Venice Biennale of Architecture, called Common Ground has drawn attention not only through its various exhibits but also in regards to the critical writings surrounding the show. Exhibition director and British architect David Chipperfield had chosen the title Common Ground as a means of addressing the “apparent lack of understanding that exists between the profession and society.” Even with a broad-based title, this latest Biennale may mark a turning point after a period of exhibitions focusing on celebrated designers and showpiece buildings. Furthermore, the decision to award Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira its lifetime achievement award could be pointing to a … [Read more...] about The wisdom of doubt: Álvaro Siza
La Liga: Early-season form leaves Málaga relishing Milan visit
“There is nothing that can distract us,” said Manuel Pellegrini before the weekend’s liga game, reassuring fans that his side would be focusing solely on the visit of Real Valladolid to La Rosaleda and not the impending visit of AC Milan in the Champions League in midweek. But the coach's words almost fell on deaf ears as Los Boquerones found themselves in danger of dropping points until the final minutes of the match. They got off to a bad start when Valladolid’s Manucho Gonçalves fired the visitors into a surprising lead just nine minutes in, but midfielder Francisco Román “Isco” Alarcón levelled the scores eight minutes before the break with an accurate low finish from an Eliseu … [Read more...] about La Liga: Early-season form leaves Málaga relishing Milan visit
Has Rajoy turned the corner? Of course he hasn’t
In the lead-up to the weekend’s elections in Galicia and the Basque Country, it was striking how much attention was focused on the former. The Galician vote, we were repeatedly told by both the international and Spanish media, will reflect widespread discontent at Mariano Rajoy’s economic policy. But the result saw Rajoy’s Partido Popular (PP) maintain its majority and increase its share of seats. What are we to make of this if we believe the previews that presented Galicia as a faithful representation of Spain as a whole? Is Rajoy bouncing back? Of course he isn’t. The central government in Madrid is still in as much difficulty as it was before the Galician election and Rajoy’s … [Read more...] about Has Rajoy turned the corner? Of course he hasn’t
Bittersweet celebration for Basques a year after end of ETA’s violence
During a visit to Gipuzkoa recently, it was hard at first to gauge how important the Basque regional elections are to people there. Today marks a year to the day since ETA announced the “definitive” end of its campaign of violence and Sunday’s vote will be the first without the terrorist group’s shadow looming large. And yet, when I talked to locals about what all this historic fact meant to them, many replied that rather than celebrating the peace, they were fretting about the economy. The Basque Country has weathered Spain’s crisis better than most, but it still has a jobless rate of 15 percent. “People are thinking so much about how to make ends meet that the other stuff doesn’t … [Read more...] about Bittersweet celebration for Basques a year after end of ETA’s violence
Euro gains as Rajoy’s waiting game pays off
Welcome to the Pure FX account of changes in the euro exchange rate, covering the 12th to 19th of October 2012. This is intended as a brief guide to movements in the euro this week, to put you in the best position for when you exchange currencies. Latest exchange rate changes Pound to euro: 1.2398 to 1.2276 Pound to US dollar: 1.6036 to 1.6038 Euro to US dollar: 1.2936 to 1.306 Who would have thought it? The euro continued its slow ascent against the pound and US dollar this week, bouncing back ever since its July nadir of 1.20 against the greenback. This is chiefly as Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy’s strategy of simply waiting out the markets pays off, and events turn in … [Read more...] about Euro gains as Rajoy’s waiting game pays off
Jesús Eguiguren: the last negotiator
One film conspicuous by its absence at this year's San Sebastián festival was Ángel Amigo's 80-minute documentary, Memorias de un conspirador (or ‘Memoirs of a Conspirator’), about incumbent Basque Socialist Party President Jesús Eguiguren. In the film, due for release this autumn, the leader of the Basque Socialist Party (PSE) offers a personal perspective on his more than 30-year career in politics, in particular his dealings with ETA. It was talks instigated “off the record” by Eguiguren and former Batasuna spokesman, Arnaldo Otegi in 2002 that eventually paved the way for the 2006 negotiations between ETA and Zapatero's government. Memorias director Amigo was nonchalant about the … [Read more...] about Jesús Eguiguren: the last negotiator