This article appeared today in Spanish in El Mundo I write, in the week Scotland votes for or against independence, as the son of a Scotsman and a Spanish mother who spends most of the year between his homes in London and Sitges (Catalunya) . I have worked and enjoyed enduring friendships over thirty years of life as an author and journalist throughout the UK and Spain. Because I am not a British citizen resident in Scotland , I am not entitled to vote in the Scottish referendum but the …
On the death of Ian Paisley
I remember Ian Paisley personally and professionally. I covered his politics as a journalist during some of the worst and some of the better days in Northern Irland. I reported on the public man before having the chance to meet the private man.It was in the early 1990’s that I encountered the private and the public man for the first time. During a flight from London to Belfast we sat next to each other. It was still a difficult time in Northern Ireland. The IRA were engaged in a new …
The day before La Diada
I write these lines , looking out at the Mediterranean from my hillside home. I am in Sitges, Catalunya, Spain. I chose a house here because of the town, the region, and the country. Sitges is a hugely cultural and tolerant town, just a short train trip south of Barcelona, and a slightly longer train trip from Madrid. France is about an hour away . The Basque country a little further away as is Cantabria and Galicia. But I can embrace it all,including Aragon-in a day. Spain’s beauty lies …
The Jijadist & The Player
I share in the widespread sense of horror at the summarily execution-murder- of James Foley, a fellow journalist whose only alleged crime was that he was a US citizen reporting on the brutal reality of the Middle East. We are told that his Jihadist murderer spoke with an English accent, suggesting he might have been educated and brought up in London’s multicultural East End. If and when he is killed or captured by his enemy, or some relative or friend spills the beans, further details of the personal history of …
A family war remembrance
This evening at ten o’clock local time , on this day marking the centenary of the beginning of the First World War, lights will dim in the city where I am now London , in streets and homes, and candles will burn in remembrance… of those who died. I share with you the remembrance of my uncle who was killed long before any of us were born- 2Lt David Chambers Burns, Black Watch Regiment- educated at the Jesuit Stonyhurst College. “He was killed in Flanders during the Third battle of …
World Cup 2014: when Messi was not Diego
While writing Hand of God, my biography of Maradona , I recall Carlos Bilardo , telling me about the World Cup in Mexico 1986: “There was Diego, and then there was the rest of the team.” Bilardo considered Maradona an exceptional creative talent that required a completely different and indeed very privileged handling to any other member of the squad. Bilardo’s indulgence included allowing Maradona to stay up later than others, be surrounded by his own clan of friends , hangers on, and relatives and deal with his own personal …
A World Cup lacking a World Leader
I didn’t take long for commentators to conclude that Spain’s early exit from this World Cup marked not just a disastrous premature end in a group stage but the end of an era for a national team that had retained their European and World Cup crown over a period of six years. I argued that while a tragedy to see Spain humiliated in such a way,their early exit did not signify the end of an era, and nothing I have seen so far in this World Cup has altered …
Luis Suarez y el Barca
Cualquiera que sea el resultado de la debacle de Luis Suárez, una cosa es cierta. Es muy poco probable que quiera quedarse en Inglaterra y, de hecho los ingleses no le quieren . También es mas que probable que su valor comercial puede haber disminuido en los últimos días ya que los propietarios estadounidenses de Liverpool y sus patrocinadores corren a esconderse. Así que deja la pregunta, ¿qué futuro para Suarez? En el supuesto de que no va a montarse en un avión a las Cataratas del Iguazú para lanzarse …
Suarez and FC Barcelona
Whatever might be the outcome of the Luis Suarez debacle, one thing is certain. He is very unlikely to want to stay in England and indeed he is less than wanted there now anyway.One can also presume that his asset value may have declined in recent days as the US owners of Liverpool and his sponsors run for cover making him a target for non-English clubs. So that leaves the question , what next for Suarez? On the assumption that he will not next catch a plane to the Iguazu …
Messi y la memoria de Dallas
Hace diez años la carrera internacional de Maradona terminó de repente y de manera espectacular en la Copa Mundial de EE.UU. cuando dio positivo a una prueba de drogas en un partido del grupo inicial jugando Argentina contra Nigeria. Hoya Messi saltara al campo en Port Alegre con Argentina para jugar contra el mismo país, un jugador decidido a demostrar en esta Copa del Mundo del gran rival Brasil que él no solamente es el mejor, pero es mejor que Maradona. Brasil ha sido invadido por los hinchas argentinos que …
