Spain's Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia went to the opera at the Gran Teatre
del Liceu in Barcelona recently. This is how 'warmly' they were received.
Showing posts with label Prince of Asturias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prince of Asturias. Show all posts
Monday, June 10, 2013
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Annus horribilis for the Spanish Royal Family
I don't believe the Spanish Royal Family has been in the news this much since 2004, the year Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia got married . Unfortunately, this year it's been mostly bad news. The latest - Princess Elena has separated from her husband, Duke Jaime de Marichalar. This is the first official separation of a royal couple in Spanish history.
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The bad news began early in the year with Prince Felipe's sister-in-law committing suicide in February. In July, Felipe and Letiza's became the brunt of jokes when the satirical magazine El Jueves put a cartoon of the royal couple having sex on its front cover. In October a few Catalan nationalists who want independence from Spain burned the King's photograph at a public rally in the town of Girona during a royal visit. Then in early November, Morocco temporarily recalled its ambassador from Madrid to protest the King and Queen's trip to Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish possessions (usually referred to as "enclaves") on the North African coast.
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Of course, the biggest headlines were caused by King Juan Carlos' telling President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, "Why don't you shut up?!" at the recent Ibero-American Summit -- and the resulting tension between Spain and Venezuela continues to make news over a week later. I think the Economist described the incident well in an article entitled, "The king was not amused":
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"It is a routine. Every time that Latin American leaders get together at a regional summit, the headlines are stolen by Venezuela's outspoken leftist leader, Hugo Chávez. But at the Ibero-American summit in Chile's capital, Santiago, Mr Chávez got some help from an unusual quarter, Spain's King Juan Carlos."
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The YouTube video of the incident became immensely popular in Spain. Within a day or so there were novelty songs playing on the radio, t-shirts emblazoned with the quote and mobile phones ringing out with loops of the king shouting, "¿Por qué no te callas?"..."¿Por qué no te callas?"..."¿Por qué no te callas?" Apparently there is even a paso doble version!
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The bad news began early in the year with Prince Felipe's sister-in-law committing suicide in February. In July, Felipe and Letiza's became the brunt of jokes when the satirical magazine El Jueves put a cartoon of the royal couple having sex on its front cover. In October a few Catalan nationalists who want independence from Spain burned the King's photograph at a public rally in the town of Girona during a royal visit. Then in early November, Morocco temporarily recalled its ambassador from Madrid to protest the King and Queen's trip to Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish possessions (usually referred to as "enclaves") on the North African coast.
.
Of course, the biggest headlines were caused by King Juan Carlos' telling President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, "Why don't you shut up?!" at the recent Ibero-American Summit -- and the resulting tension between Spain and Venezuela continues to make news over a week later. I think the Economist described the incident well in an article entitled, "The king was not amused":
.
"It is a routine. Every time that Latin American leaders get together at a regional summit, the headlines are stolen by Venezuela's outspoken leftist leader, Hugo Chávez. But at the Ibero-American summit in Chile's capital, Santiago, Mr Chávez got some help from an unusual quarter, Spain's King Juan Carlos."
.
The YouTube video of the incident became immensely popular in Spain. Within a day or so there were novelty songs playing on the radio, t-shirts emblazoned with the quote and mobile phones ringing out with loops of the king shouting, "¿Por qué no te callas?"..."¿Por qué no te callas?"..."¿Por qué no te callas?" Apparently there is even a paso doble version!
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Over a week later the incident is still making news and a ripple effect is being felt. To paraphrase the Los Angeles Times, the king's words seem to have started a battle royal.
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The funny thing is that this violation of protocol by the usually calm and controlled king may have actually increased his popularity at home. Initially the Spanish press generally supported him. With the diplomatic tension continuing and Chavez threatening to review Spanish businesses operating in Venezuela, more editorials are reflecting on the possible costs of the king's words. Still, from what I can tell many Spaniards seem to believe that, as impolitic as it may have been, the king was simply standing up to a boorish demagogue and probably expressing what many of the summit's attendees wanted to say.
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There is still a month and a half to go until 2008, so who knows what else may befall the Spanish royal family before the end of the year. Whatever else happens, I think the king's annual Christmas speech may be a little more interesting than usual. I'll definitely tune in for it.
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz
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The funny thing is that this violation of protocol by the usually calm and controlled king may have actually increased his popularity at home. Initially the Spanish press generally supported him. With the diplomatic tension continuing and Chavez threatening to review Spanish businesses operating in Venezuela, more editorials are reflecting on the possible costs of the king's words. Still, from what I can tell many Spaniards seem to believe that, as impolitic as it may have been, the king was simply standing up to a boorish demagogue and probably expressing what many of the summit's attendees wanted to say.
.
There is still a month and a half to go until 2008, so who knows what else may befall the Spanish royal family before the end of the year. Whatever else happens, I think the king's annual Christmas speech may be a little more interesting than usual. I'll definitely tune in for it.
.
Chao amig@s,
.
Carloz
Monday, July 9, 2007
Spain's Monday News: Goya and the Great Canarian Telescope ; Woody Allen & Scarlett Johansson in Barceloneta ; Spain is number 1 in...
Star Gazing with the Great Canarian Telescope - El Gran Telescopio Canarias will give a star gazing preview this Friday at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma. Although only partially complete, enough of it has been assembled to allow telescope operators to make initial test runs. So, at 10 p.m. Canary Island time Crown Prince Felipe will fix the telescope on Polaris, the North Star, for a “first light” ceremonial observation.
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The rest of the telescope will be completed over the next year, with a grand opening presided over by King Juan Carlos I next summer. At that point the installation will be fully operational.
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One of the its first projects will be an investigation into the origin of galaxies. A team of 40 astronomers from Spain, France, the UK and the US, referred to collectively as the Galaxy Origins and Young Assembly, or GOYA, will conduct the study.
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The facilitywill have taken 7 years to build and will be the largest segmented mirror telescope in the world. The lens alone will weigh almost 17 tons and measure 10.4 meters (34.1 feet) across. It will reportedly have vision equivalent to four million human eyes.
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Star Gazing in Barceloneta - Today Woody Allen started filming his new movie in my neighborhood. Security was strong to keep him and Scarlett Johansson away from curious folks like me. Apparently Johansson plays a tourist in the film. Well, they're definitely in the right neighborhood! Click here for a photo and article.
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Spain is Number 1 - when speaking of cosmetic surgery in Europe, that is.
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Spain has more "esthetic interventions" annually than any other European country, with some 400,000 last year at an average cost of 2,000 euros. And the number in increasing between 8 and 10% each year, according to the Sociedad Española de Cirugía Plástica, Reparadora y Estética. (SECPRE - the Spanish Society for Plastic, Reparatory and Esthetic Surgery.)
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As a matter of fact, plastic surgery has become a common enough expense in the family budget to be included in Spain's official Consumer Price Index, which is used to calculate inflation!
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SECPRE reports that men, who make up 20% of patients, most often have surgery on the eyelids, abdomen and liposuction. Breast augmentation and liposuction are the most popular procedures for women.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Friday's News in Spain: The Prince, Nature & Science; Zapatero and his ministers; local audience lacking for Spanish cinema
Prince of Asturias Foundation awards Communications prize to 'Nature' and 'Science': British and American publications ‘Science’ and ‘Nature’ have jointly received the 2007 Prince of Asturias Communications Prize. Other nominees this year included the BBC and Google. The prestigious award includes 50,000 € ($67,000 and a Joan Miró designed statuette.
This is the fifth of the Prince of Asturias awards to be announced so far this year. Other winners in 2007 have been Al Gore (the International award), Bob Dylan (Arts), Amos Oz (Literature) and Ginés Morata and Peter Lawrence (Science). Later this month the Social Science award will be announced, followed by the Sports and Concorde awards in September.
'Science' magazine is a US weekly that was first published in New York in 1880. The British journal 'Nature' dates back to 1869.
The Prince of Asturias Foundation, headed by Spanish Crown Prince Filipe, awards eight prizes every year. It was founded in 1980 with the objectives of, "strengthening the links between the Principality of Asturias and its Prince and of contributing to upholding and promoting all those scientific, cultural and humanistic values that form the heritage of humanity."
Zapatero makes cabinet changes ahead of election: Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has announced a cabinet reshuffle, including the dismissal of three ministers -- Jordi Sevilla (Public Administration), Carmen Calvo (Culture) and María Antonia Trujillo (Housing).
Elena Salgado will move from Health to Public Administration. Cesar Antonio Molina of the Cervantes Institute becomes Culture Minister, molecular biology investigator, Bernat Soria, becomes Health Minister and parliament vice-president, Carmen Chacón, becomes Housing Minister. Chacón, at 36, is the youngest minister in the government and arguably has the most difficult portfolio in that Spanish citizens are experiencing a housing "shortage" while a corruption and speculation support a real estate boom in tourist areas.
Opposition Popular Party (PP) leader, Mariano Rajoy reacted to the changes by saying: "There is no crisis. This is simply a cosmetic operation which can't disguise the fact that this government lacks any credibility."
Reportedly Zapatero had decided a few weeks ago on making the changes and that he would announce them after the State of the Nation debate.
An election is due to be called by net spring. Polls show Zapatero's socialist PSOE party as more popular than the PP.
Top 25 movies in Spain -- not 1 Spanish: El Mundo reported that so far in 2007 there has not been a Spanish movie in the top 25 films at the Spanish box office! Out of a total of 45.8 million movie tickets sold in Spain since January, only 3.7 million were for films from Spain.
This is the fifth of the Prince of Asturias awards to be announced so far this year. Other winners in 2007 have been Al Gore (the International award), Bob Dylan (Arts), Amos Oz (Literature) and Ginés Morata and Peter Lawrence (Science). Later this month the Social Science award will be announced, followed by the Sports and Concorde awards in September.
'Science' magazine is a US weekly that was first published in New York in 1880. The British journal 'Nature' dates back to 1869.
The Prince of Asturias Foundation, headed by Spanish Crown Prince Filipe, awards eight prizes every year. It was founded in 1980 with the objectives of, "strengthening the links between the Principality of Asturias and its Prince and of contributing to upholding and promoting all those scientific, cultural and humanistic values that form the heritage of humanity."
Zapatero makes cabinet changes ahead of election: Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has announced a cabinet reshuffle, including the dismissal of three ministers -- Jordi Sevilla (Public Administration), Carmen Calvo (Culture) and María Antonia Trujillo (Housing).
Elena Salgado will move from Health to Public Administration. Cesar Antonio Molina of the Cervantes Institute becomes Culture Minister, molecular biology investigator, Bernat Soria, becomes Health Minister and parliament vice-president, Carmen Chacón, becomes Housing Minister. Chacón, at 36, is the youngest minister in the government and arguably has the most difficult portfolio in that Spanish citizens are experiencing a housing "shortage" while a corruption and speculation support a real estate boom in tourist areas.
Opposition Popular Party (PP) leader, Mariano Rajoy reacted to the changes by saying: "There is no crisis. This is simply a cosmetic operation which can't disguise the fact that this government lacks any credibility."
Reportedly Zapatero had decided a few weeks ago on making the changes and that he would announce them after the State of the Nation debate.
An election is due to be called by net spring. Polls show Zapatero's socialist PSOE party as more popular than the PP.
Top 25 movies in Spain -- not 1 Spanish: El Mundo reported that so far in 2007 there has not been a Spanish movie in the top 25 films at the Spanish box office! Out of a total of 45.8 million movie tickets sold in Spain since January, only 3.7 million were for films from Spain.
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