Comments on: NFS Flickr Group Spain Photo of the Month – June

By: Jonk

Jonk — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:47:32 +0000

Erm sorry about that ^ this computer is stuffing up. I meant to say that the photo is great and does what good photos should do, and that is make you wish you were there.

By: Jonk

Jonk — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:46:57 +0000

Totally in agreement with Bill, Ben! Bill Bryson’s book “Australia” went gangbusters here.. everyone had to read it to find out what he said.

Everyone loved it and more and more people bought it because the book was funny and he loved his trip a lot, which self-validated us

Judging by the Spaniards who reply here I reckon they would love reading something like that.

By: Adam Winogrodzki

Adam Winogrodzki — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:33:28 +0000

Funny pic! Shows what Madrid really is like!

By: Edith

Edith — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:58:50 +0000

I like the composition of the picture! It reminds me of some seventeenth-century painters.

By: Ray

Ray — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:29:39 +0000

@Tom – I know it was a naí¯ve argument, at best. Although Texas sometimes pretends it’s a separate nation, and has to be put back in its place.

(And there was that whole Civil War thing, too.)

By: luke

luke — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:20:34 +0000

Some of that article does ring true but it does mention that Spain is competing head to head with todays global stars of among other things, art. But then it doesn’t mention any artists. I’ve talked to many Spanish artists and curators who live in London and they all agree that the art scene is pretty lacklustre in Spain. There are a few contemporary artists high on the international scene like Santiago Serra but unfortunately Spain’s contribution to current art is fairly disappointing. Spain’s architectural advances are much more exciting.

By: StarHound

StarHound — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:23:30 +0000

“That comprehensive piece in The Independent for example (referenced above) only appeared yesterday AFTER the huge win – tho’ with 8 different reporters contributing to it – it had obviously been in-the-works and ready to print for awhile.2

I dont think that this is the case at all.

I have a funny feeling that the Independent article is the result of a round-robin in the office after an editorial meeting where they decided that Spain was topical. I think they just set about dredging up anything they could could come up with as they have clearly done, just re-hashed old articles to fill space and badly edited them with the minmium of padding.

There is certainly no analysis of the complexities of the political situation, just a travelog style broad brush.

By: hellothere

hellothere — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:49:59 +0000

I do not understand where the Independent is heading at with this strangely exhuberant piece. What is its aim, exactly?
In any case, I guess it is nice to be reminded of some of the positive assets and achievements in Spain.

On the Eurocup, of course people must be really thrilled right now.
But I do not know how much influence it can have on people’s mood and behaviour in the long run.

Two years ago, after the World Cup, there was a mini baby-boom in Germany: they were the host country and even though they had not won, they did win the “losers’ final” (sorry if this sounds really bad, it is not intended to, my knowledge of football is very limited).
The World Cup has had positive and lasting side effects in the German population: for instance, they are no longer ashamed of being proud of their nation, as shown by a massive display of flags that people would not have dreamt of before.

However, and I may be completely wrong here, but I think the situation was different, as Germany was getting out of a crisis and Spain has just got in.

By: ValenciaSon

ValenciaSon — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:12:58 +0000

Well I hope the victory provides a source of inspiration to others to exceed beyond the conventional expectations, which Spain appears to be doing in style and with grace and not just in football. Spain has earned it. As Thomas Edison said “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:17:16 +0000

Ray – I don’t want to get into the whole argument for/against separatism but I think that some Catalans and Basques would argue that they’re not from ‘regions’ but ‘nations’ trapped inside the Spanish state, and that they want to be given a chance for their countries to make them proud too.

Do many people from California or D.C. deny that they’re even American?