Spain Notes, Oct 5: World Cup 2030
Videos appear from inside the nightclub in Murcia just after the start of the fire.
1/ FIFA announced that Spain will (mostly) host the World Cup in 2030 along with Portugal and Morocco, and that there will also be matches in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. This seems like a complex plan. How many fans will want to try to travel to all of those countries to see their teams play at different stages of the tournament?
2/ Fifteen Spanish stadiums would like a World Cup match or matches played at their grounds. 10 will be chosen (four in Morocco, three in Portugal). Madrid and Barcelona want it, of course, but also Vigo, La Coruña, Gijón, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Murcia, Sevilla and others.
3/ While we’re on the subject of Spanish football stadiums, Getafe (Madrid) has renamed its stadium to “Coliseum” after the former Real Madrid and Barça player it was named after for 25 years, Alfonso Pérez, said female players “must know their place and what they are worth. They can’t complain about the current state of female football. It has evolved but they must have their feet on the ground and know that they cannot equal male football players in any way”.
4/ Pérez reacted to the name change last night by saying that he had a mum and a daughter, “I have nothing against women” and that his daughter plays football but the male football world works like it does and “it will never be comparable” for women.
5/ Vox, predictably, didn’t like the fact that FIFA had decided to sully Spain’s good name by including Morocco in the top host countries. MEP Tertsch tweeted: “Spain organised a World Cup by herself. Then it was going to be Iberian, with a sister country, Portugal. Now it will be an African World Cup when they put Morocco in with Spain and Portugal. Morocco wins and Spain loses”.
6/ Zelensky is in Spain for an EU summit that is being held in Granada (Andalusia): “Our joint goal is to ensure the security and stability of our common European home […] This should be a productive day for Ukraine and Europe as a whole”.
7/ Sánchez began formal, public talks with Yolanda Díaz (Sumar) over their new coalition government. Many weeks of such political theatre now await the country. The PSOE has named a small negotiating team to deal with Puigdemont, which is what this is all really about. Puigdemont said that Illa (PSOE, former Health Minister during the pandemic) “can never be a valid negotiator to generate trust”.
8/ In Murcia, City Hall suspended public workers involved in the failed inspection process of the nightclubs involved in the fire at the weekend. City Hall did not announce the resignation of any politicians…
9/ Local TV published brief video footage (here and here) of the moments just after the start of the fire inside the Teatre nightclub. Small flames can be seen at several spots high up towards the ceiling or rafters, as people inside start to become aware of the immediate danger. Some try to use fire extinguishers to put out the flames.
10/ Here’s a nice photo of Gibraltar from space.
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