Spain

From Haro to Tehran, Festivals Stage Power and Belief

From Spain's wine battle to Tehran's funeral pageantry and Trump's July 4, public ritual is where belief, identity and power perform themselves most visibly in 2026.

Hantavirus Panic Revives Pandemic Lies

The MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak has done something the virus itself cannot: it has reactivated the full Covid-era misinformation machine, and the results arrived faster this time.

Homer in a Mummy Rewrites Cultural Borders

This week's discovery of Homer's Iliad inside an Egyptian mummy has reopened an old truth: classical culture was never as neatly Greek as modern Europe likes to pretend.

Valencia Draws a Hard Line on Tourist Rentals

Valencia set a 2% cap on holiday rentals this week. Paris has been tightening rules for years and still will not draw the same line.

Bad Bunny’s Zara Shirt Becomes €30,000 Commodity

One performance. One jersey. Thirty thousand euros on resale sites by Tuesday.

Popular

Super Intelligence: The Datacentre Is the New Science Lab

As Europe funds brilliant laboratories, are datacentre owners harvesting the discoveries?

Strasbourg Naked Golden Trump Trolls the Monument Tradition

A naked golden Trump in Strasbourg shows how statues, once made to flatter rulers, now serve to roast them.

Hanning Affair Hurts German Intel Cred

Germany's ex-spymaster undermined allied confidence and gave Moscow-friendly politicians a talking point.

Rubio Cherry-Picks Ancient Greece to Sell Modern Nationalism

Rubio urged the West to copy ancient Greek loyalty, yet ancient Athens thrived on argument, dissent and noisy assemblies.

Young Voters Could Decide France’s Next President

Hate-speech allegations bruise Bardella and energise Mélenchon, but household finances and young-voter turnout will determine who wins France's presidency.