English in Madrid

Source: Duncan Kidd en Unsplash World War Two spy's row with wife 'almost ruined D-Day' A row between a spy and his wife almost compromised World War Two D-Day operations, secret MI5 files show. Juan Pujol , who was codenamed Agent Garbo, had helped to convince the Nazis the landings would not take place in Normandy but in the Pas-de-Calais. But after being confined to their London house to protect his identity, his wife threatened to go to the Spanish embassy in a row in June 1943. She said she would tell all unless she was allowed to visit her mother. Homesick The family was based in Harrow, north-west London, where Agent Garbo had a network of sub-agents sending false intelligence reports to his German spymasters. His feedback of false information to the Nazis diverted them away from the scene of the actual D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. Mrs Pujol not only struggled to cope with the pressure of the family's double life but also beca...

Source: Wikipedia (George Biard) Angelina Jolie to divorce Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, the actress's lawyer has confirmed. Robert Offer said she filed for "dissolution of marriage" on Monday, adding the "decision was made for the health of the family". "She will not be commenting, and asks that the family be given its privacy at this time," Offer added in the statement . The couple have been together since 2004 but only married in August 2014. It was Pitt's second marriage, having previously wed Friends star Jennifer Aniston, and Jolie's third after Billy Bob Thornton and Jonny Lee Miller. According to US entertainment website TMZ, Jolie cited "irreconcilable differences" in the divorce papers and listed the date of separation of 15 September. It is understood she is asking for physical custody of the couple's six children and is asking the judge to give Pitt visitation rights. ...

Moobs and YOLO among new words in Oxford English Dictionary   Moobs and YOLO are among hundreds of new words to be added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Moobs earns its listing as a slang term for a man's prominent breasts, and YOLO is an acronym for "you only live once". New words and phrases are usually added to the dictionary once editors have enough evidence to demonstrate continued historical use. Other entries focus on the centenary of Roald Dahl's birth, with additions such as Oompa Loompa and witching hour. Words related to food, speech, media and retail also feature . The OED is a historical dictionary and a definitive guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of almost 830,000 past and present words, senses, and compounds from across the English-speaking world. It differs from the online Oxford dictionary, which lists current definitions of English words, and has a lower threshold for accepting new entries to its list of words. N...

Source: PACMA (Wikipedia) Has the time come for animal rights politics in Spain? Growing support for the Pacma party could reflect greater awareness about plight of fauna Spain's burgeoning animal rights movement staged an impressive display of force on Saturday, when thousands of people filled Madrid’s Puerta del Sol central square to demand an end to all fiestas that goad or kill bulls. The demonstrators were also celebrating their recent victory over the so-called Toro de la Vega, a controversial bull run held for centuries in the woodlands outside the town of Tordesillas, and which, yeilding to mounting public pressure and hostile international media coverage, the regional government of Castilla y León has banned this year. “The past is Tordesillas. The future belongs to all of you who defend animals rights!” said Silvia Barquero, president of the animal rights party Pacma, addressing the crowd. She then laid out her party's next set of goal...

All the following sentences contain a phrasal with the verb "put".  Match the phrasal to its meaning. A. He's very good at putt ing his ideas across . What a mess! Can you put all these papers away , please? Don't leave the book there. Put it back on the shelf. The policeman told the man to put the knife down . The meeting was put off due to the pilots' strike. You are eating chocolate cake now?! It'll put you off your dinner.       a. to return stg to where it was before it was moved       b. to delay an event until another date or time       c. to express       d. to discourage sb from doing sth       e. to put sth in its usual place       f. to put sth you are holding onto the floor B. Can you put the light on ? I can't see a thing. I put on a lot of weight over the holidays. It took the fire brigade ten hours to put the fire out . Can you put me t...

Source: Kyle Head on Unsplash   Italian teenagers to receive €500 'cultural bonus' from government Italian school leavers may face the dismal prospect of 40 per cent youth unemployment , but at least they have one thing to look forward to – a €500 “culture bonus”, courtesy of the government. From next month, every 18-year-old will be entitled to claim the money and spend it on culturally enriching pursuits such as going to theatres, concerts and museums, visiting archaeological sites, and buying books. The scheme, which starts on Sept 15, will benefit 575,000 teenagers, at a cost to the government of €290 million (£250 million). Young people who turn 18 this year will be able to register online and then spend the money through a special app, called 18app.it, which can be downloaded on a smart phone, tablet or computer. They will have until the end of next year to spend all the credit. They will be spoilt for choice – the country that gave the world Mich...

 For Spaniards, the summer holiday is still a beach, but with WiFi Nine out of 10 like to spend their holidays on the Spanish coast, armed with technology and enjoying the luxury of a hotel Ninety percent of Spaniards prefer to stay local during the summer holidays, according to the Spanish Holiday Habits survey , carried out by Madison Market Research for Cerveceros of Spain. Half of those interviewed, irrespective of their age, said that the beach was their favorite destination. A third of Spaniards also rated discovering new cities and sampling the cuisine during the summer months. The weather, the beach and the food are Spain’s main attractions and the reason that little has changed in terms of holiday preferences among Spaniards in the past 40 years, according to the Madison Market research which was investigating the evolution of the country’s holiday habits. One thing that has changed, however, is the choice of accommodation. From interviews with 2,000 ...

Source: Marc-Olivier Jodoin en Unsplas h Spanish parents fight for right to name their son 'Wolf'  New parents Ignacio and Maria are furious after be ing told that "Lobo" - meaning Wolf – was not an appropriate name for their newborn son.  Like many new parents, Ignacio and Maria, from the Madrid suburb of Fuenlabrada had already chosen a name for their first son before he made an appearance in the world on July 12. “We decided some months ago to call him Lobo, because of our love for this beautiful animal and because as a name it is unique and full of character. We want to bring   our son up  with values such as respect, love, equality, love of animals and nature, justice, kindness,” the baby’s father explained. But he was informed by the Birth registry in Fuenlabrada that he could not officially name his son Lobo because it “was offensive to the child”. “After ten days arguing with officials we were then told that it is because Lobo is a common s...

Why the heat puts us in a bad mood   Research points to links between hot weather and irritability, anxiety, and even wars We’ve all heard that sunny days get your spirits up , that they create a sense of wellbeing , that life is better in warm countries such as Spain… But what happens when the temperature is so high that you can’t even set foot outside your house, or sleep at night? What happens when you are so overpowered by the heat that you don’t feel like do ing anything at all? Spain has gone through 80 heat waves in the last 40 years, according to a report released a few weeks ago by the Spanish National Meteorological Agency. The worst one on record took place in July and August 2003. It is a well-known fact that the human body suffers in these conditions. In the fourth century BC, Hippocrates described how the wind can affect people, and suggested that epidemics could be linked to weather conditions. The normal temperature of a human body at rest...

Source: Photo by Artem Makarov on Unsplash Spanish courts challenge law that forces parents to provide financial support to their unemployed adult children The vast majority of young adults in Spain live with their parents In a victory for parents struggling to support burdensome adult children, Spanish courts have upheld appeals against a civil code requiring divorced parents to support their grown-up offspring .  Known as  Ninis , from  ni estudia ni trabaja  (not studying or in work), some older children in Spain  lived extensively off their parents for many years while not studying or searching for a job. As people attempting to claim benefits in Spain must have worked for at least six months, many Ninis are not entitled to them, leaving the burden on their parents.  The country has the second-highest  youth unemployment rate in Europe at 45 per cent, second only to Greece. Like Greece, Spain has been hard-hit...