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
UK
Rosales paints a masterpiece of family grief
Fresh from its premier in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar at this year’s rain-soaked Cannes, Sueño y silencio was originally going to be a very different film. Or rather, a very traditional one. Catalan filmmaker Jaime Rosales planned to shoot in colour, with professional actors and a conventional script. But as he prepared the film, all that fell away, leaving us with grungy, grainy black and white, non-actors, no script and a series of fragmentary scenes that sketch out, with aching and rare authenticity, a family in terrible crisis. Oriol, an architect, and his wife Yolanda, a Spanish teacher, live in Paris with their two daughters. Their lives are comfortable and unremarkable. In … [Read more...] about Rosales paints a masterpiece of family grief
Pound slips on surprise UK GDP downturn
UK sterling has given up almost a cent against the euro this week, as the ONS (Office for National Statistics) tells us Britain contracted -0.1% more than previously thought in Q4, to a total –0.3%. Obviously enough, this has stoked concerns the UK might re-enter recession in 2012, and in fact the OECD (those cheery fellows!) have already made this prediction. Bright side for Britain Fortunately, on the flip-side there are plenty of economists who accuse the OECD of doom-mongering here, and indeed UK performance in 2012 has been pretty solid so far. Both the manufacturing and services sectors expanded these past 3 months, while exports also enjoyed a solid increase. This suggests the UK … [Read more...] about Pound slips on surprise UK GDP downturn
Latest ‘[REC]’ instalment offers schlock over terror
REC3 Genesis, the latest movie in Spain’s celebrated zombie franchise, invites viewers to the swank marriage of cooing lovebirds Koldo and Clara. And the nuptial backdrop is a canny move. Director Paco Plaza has rightly realised that weddings - stuffed with religious symbolism, overrun with staggering inebriates and blinded by gaudy dance-floor lights - are a little like a horror movie anyway. Once the guests start eating each other, what’s the difference? The first two films in the series, shot à la The Blair Witch Project with first-person perspective and handheld cameras, played out in a cursed, zombie-infested Barcelona apartment block. The second instalment took up where the … [Read more...] about Latest ‘[REC]’ instalment offers schlock over terror
UK pound to euro exchange rate stable as outlook darkens
The UK pound kept close to the 1.20 mark against the euro this week, as economic data in both the UK and eurozone points to a difficult road for 2012. In particular, in the UK retail sales dropped a precipitous –0.8% last month, signalling that consumers are no more confident in their prospects, while the coalition government borrowed more than twice as much as forecast. In Europe meanwhile, attention has turned to Spain and Italy, where crucial labour reforms are being debated, while spluttering manufacturing output points to a deepening recession. UK retailers on the back foot UK retail sales declined double the expected rate last month, falling –0.8% compared to the -0.4% forecast. … [Read more...] about UK pound to euro exchange rate stable as outlook darkens
Pepe Reina’s “racist” blunder: a question of black and white?
Liverpool FC recently found themselves embroiled in a racism controversy for the second time in the last few months. Their goalie, Spanish national squad player Pepe Reina, came under fire from British anti-racism group Operation Black Vote for starring in a TV ad which they deemed to be racially offensive. The advert - for insurance company Groupama – depicts Reina meeting with the “king” of an African tribe who decides to take the goalie for his “queen”, a joke on his surname. Following complaints lodged by OBV, the campaign was pulled from Spanish television. Unfortunately for Reina and Liverpool, the ad in question came right on the tail of huge controversy caused by their … [Read more...] about Pepe Reina’s “racist” blunder: a question of black and white?
Anarchy in the UK, headed Spain’s way soon
A number of commentators in the Spanish media have pointed out the differences between Spain’s indignados and the young people involved in the looting in London and other British cities. In doing so most point out the similarities between Spain and Britain: both countries are in the midst of recession, subject to severe public spending cuts, have high youth unemployment rates, and where the mainstream parties are widely regarded as out of touch with, or powerless to do anything about, the situation. “So what do the English do,” asks John Carlin in El País, “they go out and steal flat-screen televisions and trainers… and the Spanish? Well, what the indignados have done,” is to stage … [Read more...] about Anarchy in the UK, headed Spain’s way soon