English in Madrid

  Source: Simone Savoldi on Unsplash Benedict: The Pope who resigned from the papacy Benedict XVI was already 78 when he became Pope in 2005. Age and ill health quickly took their toll , prompting his resignation less than eight years later. No other pope had stepped down since Gregory XII in 1415 and Benedict was the first to do so voluntarily since Celestine V in 1294. When he became 265th Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church it was the culmination of the rapid, and highly controversial , rise of Joseph Ratzinger. Supporters portrayed him as a highly intellectual man who laboured to protect the spiritual inheritance bequeathed to him by Pope John Paul II. To his critics he was the ultimate exponent and guardian of the Church's dogmatic approach to issues like abortion and contraception. The outrage he sometimes caused seemed typical of a man who was never afraid of upsetting people - if he believed something had to be said or done. Joseph Aloysius Ratzinger was born ...

Coat of arms of Felipe de Marichalar, Grandee of Spain and Knight of the Solar de Tejada Source: Wikipedia (Heralder)    King Felipe of Spain’s scandal- plagued nephew under investigation over nightclub knife brawl   The incident is just the latest controversy for the young royal and his family Police are investigating Felipe Juan Froilan de Marichalar y Borbon, nephew of Spain’s King Felipe VI, over his alleged involvement in a fight involving dozens of people – some armed with knives – in a Madrid nightclub, it has been reported.  The brawl is just the latest issue for the 24-year-old, one of the most controversial figures of a royal family that has often been plagued by scandal.  Several of the young royal’s entourage were injured   in the incident outside high-end venue Vandido on 25 November, according to Spanish newspaper El Confidencial. If charged , he could face a prison sentence of up to a year if convicted.  Mr Froilan’s nocturnal...

  Source: You Tube (The Royal Family Channel) I am standing here in this exquisite Chapel of St George at Windsor Castle, so clo se to where my beloved mother, the late Queen, is laid to rest with my dear father. I am reminded   of the deeply touching letters, cards and messages which so many of you have sent my wife and myself and I cannot thank you enough for the love and sympathy you have shown our whole family. Christmas is a particularly poig nant time for all of us who have lost loved ones. We feel their absence at every familiar turn of the season and remember them in each cherished tradition. In the much -loved carol O Little Town Of Bethlehem we sing of how “in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light”. My mother’s bel ief in the power of that light was an essential part of her faith in God, but also her faith in people and it is one which I share with my whole heart. It is a belief in the extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodnes...

    Source: dylan nolte on Unsplash   Spain’s El Gordo lottery dishes out Christmas joy with €2.5bn pot Unemployed mother of two is among winners as world’s biggest lottery hands out prizes of up to €325,000 A Gambian man who crossed from the Mediterranean by boat and an unemployed mother of two were among those rejoicing after the world’s biggest lottery sprayed money across Spain. On Thursday, the country celebrated the Christmas lottery known as El Gordo, or the Fat One, which dished out €2.5bn (£2.2bn) in prize money. The most sought-after ticket – worth €325,000 after taxes – was sold in cities across the country, setting off raucous celebrations that spanned from the north-western city of A Coruña to Almería in the south. As the numbers were called out in Madrid’s Teatro Real theatre, the audience erupted into wild cheers as they realised a member of the audience was among the lucky ones holding a winning ticket. Perla Gavidia, originally from P...