There are arguments for and against holding the Olympic Games in Madrid in 2020. During its four-day visit this week, a nine-member International Olympic Committee inspection team was regaled mostly with arguments for (though a Madrid Metro strike and an anti-Games demonstration helped make the case against). The positive arguments are persuasive. The nearly €2.5 billion required to run the Games will be paid for entirely from ticket sales and sponsorship (with the cheapest tickets to be kept under €40). The €1.67 billion budgeted for additional operating costs and infrastructure will be divided among the central government, the Madrid region and the city, representing, as Madrid Mayor … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Capital games
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Disability and Spain’s low-key Paralympics
On September 9, London bid a fond farewell to this year's Paralympic Games. A fact which, if you live in Spain, may well have escaped your notice. As fireworks exploded over the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, the closing ceremony of this major international sporting event was not covered by any of Spain's major TV stations. In a departure from previous years the 2012 Games did, however, receive comprehensive coverage on Teledeportes (although Spain's national sports channel, aimed at broadcasting news across the country, changed frequency in June 2011, and I doubt ours is the only household which still does not receive it.) A quick search for Paralympic news in the national and local … [Read more...] about Disability and Spain’s low-key Paralympics