El Pais thinks the crazy pollution levels we are experiencing in Madrid this week are responsible for skies like these. The government still optimistically blames Saharan dust and, against the risk of the entire city suffering collective asthmatic collapse, continues to tell us that under no circumstances should we attempt to take any physical exercise outdoors. Lovely. We are probably far better off in Madrid’s smoggy, smoke-filled bars.
About the bus: I once heard that the British are not allowed to donate blood in Spain as we are all potentially walking around full of Mad Cow Disease. Nice to know there’s still something in store if the Madrid air doesn’t polish us off first!
Andrew
1 Feb 08 at 8:31 pm
Wow, terrific photo. I have experienced the Saharan dust but it very much seems the wrong time of year for it.
Tom
1 Feb 08 at 8:56 pm
That damned African dust! Coming over here, stealing our skies, our women etc etc…
TomC
1 Feb 08 at 11:21 pm
My wife can’t donate blood here in the US because she’s from spain and apparently also full of mad cow disease.
jomik746
1 Feb 08 at 11:25 pm
Amazing photo.
On another note, Spain doesn’t want your blood and neither does the US. Haha. My friend and I went to a blood drive the other day (it was his first time) but they turned him away because he lived in Britain for about 8 months when he was 3 years old. Now that I think of it, he does look very bovine.
Katie
2 Feb 08 at 1:40 am
wonderful. what an opportune photo.
Edith
2 Feb 08 at 4:00 am
Beautiful! It almost looks like aurora borealis.
Stuart
2 Feb 08 at 4:48 am
Isn’t Marina worried that any future child of yours may be an infected mutant?
Jonk
2 Feb 08 at 8:28 am
Yeh every time you donate blood in Aus you get asked about possible time spent in Britain because of mad cow disease.
It’s great.
Ben
2 Feb 08 at 10:06 am
@stuart – that’s the least of her worries
Frank
2 Feb 08 at 12:56 pm
Both Spain and USA have had “vaca loca”, plus a load of other countries around the world, so really they should not be eating any beef!
Plus I think the UK has received more HIV and Hepatitis C infected blood from the States then anywhere. Nearly 2,000 died as a result.
“Haemophiliac Haydn Lewis and his wife Gaynor became infected with HIV after Mr Lewis was given contaminated blood products to improve his blood’s ability to clot, made by an American pharmaceutical company.
More than 1,700 patients died as a result of being given the contaminated treatment – distributed widely in the 1970s and ’80s and made using powdered blood proteins taken from donors’ plasma cells.
Initially, scientists discovered the treatment had exposed patients to Hepatitis C. But in 1981, they also discovered that the plasma products were infected with HIV.
“A number of large American pharmaceutical companies were found to have supplied the treatment to the NHS over the 10-year period before the contamination risk was discovered.
HereWeGoAgain
2 Feb 08 at 3:05 pm
From pollution in Madrid to Mad Cow disease in the U.K. to tainted blood plasma cells donated almost 30 to 40 years ago. Talk about going off on a tangent! What does that have to do with Spain? And why do commentators always revert to posting some variation of the “U.S. sucks” in blogs about Spain? It’s like a broken record. Enough already.
Frank
2 Feb 08 at 4:20 pm
“From pollution in Madrid”
“What does that have to do with Spain?”
Em? Last time I looked, Madrid was the capital of Spain!
Whatever is Ben doing talking about that? If you have a problem with the posts, don’t read them. ¡Es así de simple!
Parubin
4 Feb 08 at 9:26 am
@ HereWeGoAgain :
I also missed the point in Frank’s post. After the load of data provided I was left with a ‘so-what?’ expression in my face.
@ Ben :
I find the picture beautiful yet apocalypthical (not sure if this word is correct).
People leaving a medical bus parked by some leafless trees and marching onto an unreal looking pink sunset covering the horizon.
Woow !!
Graham Tappenden
4 Feb 08 at 4:21 pm
Everyone seems to be photographing sunsets this week (see: http://tinyurl.com/yvcdsm).
Germany also doensn’t allow people who spent a long time in the UK to donate blood. I’ve forgotten the exact rules, but after I went the first time and was turned away by a doctor the German Red Cross even wrote to me asking me politely not to come again, but also saying that they’d let me know if the situation ever changes.
Jon Hundt
7 Feb 08 at 6:38 pm
I would like to point out the beautiful sunset. Why are “they” trying to diminish that beauty by saying someting so beautiful is caused by pollution? I say – look at a beautiful sunset, enjoy it, and call it what it is.
And if someone doesn’t want your blood for one crazy reason or the other – OK, fine! Don’t give ‘em any!
Cascade
8 Feb 08 at 3:02 am
Here in the US if you have spent more than 6 months in Europe over the last ten years you are not allowed to donate blood… the mad cow thing of course.
Marie-Claude Lynch
10 Feb 08 at 5:38 pm
and the same in France. I live in England but spend 3 months in France each summer. We tried to give blood and were not allowed because we lived in England. We said we were regular donors but of no avail. Sad!
Maria S.
10 Feb 08 at 8:19 pm
What an opportune moment for such a shot with this “bloody” bus in the front of the sunset. Interesting match.
Next look out for a rainbow ending on top of a bank
felipe
12 Feb 08 at 1:06 am
You are not able to donate blood in Australia if you were in Britain during the mad cow period. Whether you are British or Australian or whatever.
Lyn
18 Feb 08 at 8:00 pm
Pollution or dust – it’s still a pretty picture.
I miss Madrid. Don’t miss the pollution though. And I don’t miss the scooters either. Blame the scooters for the pollution. Whomever had the bright idea of taking the engine out of a lawnmower and merging it with a bicycle to create the scooter really deserves a kick in the pants.