A 'red-yellow' eclipse

Even the Sun, which is several million kilometers away from Earth since long before humans started drawing borders on maps, is susceptible to being incorporated into the narrative as a political element the day the Moon gives a momentary respite to its perpetual daytime exhibitionism. When Abc headlines "And we all looked at the sky" one must ask who this "all" is. Well, in this headline it refers to Spaniards, united by celestial fascination regardless of particularities... but Spaniards. Or La Razón: "And Spain melted into black". Fortunately, they accompany it with an image of yesterday's eclipse, because they could put this cover on any issue related to Sánchez, day in, day out. I also note that La Vanguardia and El Periódico, despite selling the vast majority of their copies in Catalonia, have opted for poetic titles but political subtitles, with a national mental framework: "Millions of people followed the historic solar eclipse throughout Spain" and "The eclipse paralyzes Spain for a minute", respectively. On the other hand, in El Periódico de Aragón – which has not lost its surname – the subtitle refers to the specific coverage in that community. El Periódico Mediterráneo also focuses on Castellón, from where it is published.

And then there are the inevitable digs at the government, even at the expense of the astronomical spectacle. "The government wanted to flex its muscles so that the eclipse of the century would hide everything else", says the subtitle of Abc, with a comical "everything else" that they don't even bother to specify anymore. On the other hand, OK diario presents a very different image of Pedro Sánchez's cabinet: "The government's eclipse: four ministers at a VIP party for 72,358 euros with uninterrupted catering in Guadalajara". Perhaps the muscle that Abc mentioned is the biceps brachii, essential for holding a good, cold glass of beer and being able to bring it from the bar to your mouth, between goose barnacles and foie gras croquettes. In any case, not a day of truce.