A few weeks ago, while having tea in a Berlin café, a German sinologist was telling me with concern about the decline of her country's economy. Germany's industry, which years ago it was one of the most powerful in the world, now it's in deep water to resist Chinese competition. The strongest shock is in the automotive sector, the main economic engine of Germany – and also of Europe. China has risen as the world leader in electric vehicles, while the German combustion engine is increasingly a museum piece. Volkswagen has announced it will cut 100,000 jobs worldwide. Each month are lost 10,000 industrial jobs in Germany, a good part of them in the Mittelstand, the country's network of medium and small exporting companies. In part, this industrial decline in Germany is caused by China. Chinese industrial companies now manufacture the complex, expensive, and advanced products that were previously only manufactured by Western industry. The Chinese government has provided subsidies, devalued the yuan, and extracted technological transfers from European companies investing in China. But it has also been strongly innovative and foresighted at a technological level. Faced with this, the German government wants the European Union to impose more restrictions and conditions on Chinese products and companies arriving in the EU, in order to protect its industrial fabric.Stopping China, however, will not make the German economy flourish again. The main problem with Berlin's economic model is internal. Germany does not have a Google, an Nvidia, or a Huawei: the vast majority of its current large companies were created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For decades, there has been a complacent attitude among the German political class and population, believing that these large companies would eternally drive the economy and innovation. But the result has been the opposite: more focused on paying dividends to shareholders than on investing in R&D, large German companies have lost key races like the electric car. The German economy is poorly digitized and highly bureaucratized, an environment where new technology companies have difficulty finding their place. Berlin demands restrictions

Germany should have reacted sooner. Until recently, German companies lobbied to keep the Chinese market open for their exports; now, a good part of them are calling for restrictions on Beijing. Berlin is now calling for measures to be taken against Chinese industrial power, but when this affected the economies of Southern Europe in the 2000s, the German response was that they had to adapt to globalization.The German position may seem opportunistic to us. But the consequences of the European Union's leading economy entering a crisis would be very real and detrimental to all of Europe. The German-dominated automotive sector continues to be the continent's main industrial engine. 10% of Spanish exports go to the German market. An economic downturn would have political consequences. Germany's far-right has grown in the country's most depressed areas, and a process of deindustrialization would give it even more strength. If the AfD were to gain power, this would generate a wave that would radiate to the rest of the European Union states. Like it or not, our future is closely tied to Germany's.

]]>

When the Irish writer Audrey Magee (Enniskerry, 1966) was 18 years old, she went to live in Germany for a few months. "I had grown up with a very simplistic Anglo-American view of the war and of Germans: the idea that everything that had happened was because 'they were German,' as if it were an inherent condition and not the result of a political structure," she explains. It was the beginning of an idea she would mull over until she wrote her first novel, The undertaking, which has been translated into Catalan by Josefina Caball and published under the title El compromís (Periscopi / Sexto Piso). Living among Germans dismantled her prejudices: “I realized that they were extremely kind people, who had no horns or devil's tail.” It was the 80s and there were things that the author of La colònia (Periscopi) recognized because they were shared. "There was the silence that I understood perfectly because I had grown up with it, and the silent reproach of children who had inherited the legacy of the Holocaust," she says.

]]>

Netflix has already released a film that went rather unnoticed in cinemas and is worth recovering if you didn't see it. September 5, directed by Tim Fehlbaum, recounts the kidnapping of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. It does so, however, from a very unique point of view: everything is explained from the control room of the American network ABC, which was there to broadcast the major sporting event. The film, therefore, does not aim to be a simple recreation of the kidnapping, but to explain how a tragedy with political and historical implications was covered on television.What the film proposes is a very interesting narrative exercise, because it combines the real images of ABC's broadcast from fifty-four years ago with recreations of the inner workings of television coverage. Practically the entire film takes place in the control room: a dark workspace, full of monitors and occupied by journalists, producers, and technicians specialized in sports broadcasts. Reality, however, forced them all to adapt to the dilemmas and informational difficulties of a much more dramatic event. It was about explaining what was happening inside the Olympic Village while the competitions were still ongoing.One of Fehlbaum's obsessions was rigor and fidelity to events, and therefore the work regarding editing is extremely meticulous. A large part of the images we see through the monitors in the control room are actual footage, which requires extraordinary synchronization with the entire recreation that is built around it. Even the real images of the broadcast with the iconic presenter Jim McKay, who broadcast the events on screen, have been respected. The performances and editing achieve constant interaction and dialogue between reality and fiction.But September 5 goes beyond the hijacking, which becomes the background motor. That broadcast marked a turning point in live retellings of tragedies. The film portrays the social context surrounding the events, with a conflicted Germany that still didn't know how to manage its past. And it also raises the television dilemmas inherent in a broadcast of this nature: the balance between information and spectacle, media responsibility in the face of tragedy and the pain of the protagonists, the medium's own influence on the course of events, and the technical intricacies that had to be overcome at a time when live satellite broadcasts were still incipient. It's fascinating to see how ingenuity compensated for everything technology has since made available to us. And how, despite the passage of years, the most difficult journalistic decisions remain the same.September 5 provokes the unease of a thriller and the emotion provided by the account of real events. A good film that reminds us that the world may have changed less than we think.

]]>

"This is what happens at Sachsenring, you win and it's normal." This was said by Marc Márquez after winning Saturday's sprint race, and he can say it again this Sunday. The rider from Cervera – who is the king of Sachsenring, with ten victories at this circuit – has had no rival at the German Grand Prix and makes a statement in the MotoGP World Championship. Marc Márquez is now third in the general standings, with only eighteen points separating him from the leader, Jorge Martín, who finished fifth. The Japanese rider Ai Ogura – second in Germany – occupies second place in the general standings, fourteen points behind the rider from Madrid.

]]>

Riot police have clashed with protesters demonstrating against the congress of the far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), in the streets of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Police reported that 20,000 protesters were demonstrating in this city in eastern Germany, where Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla have been re-elected co-chairs of the party before decisive regional elections, in which the AfD could come to state power for the first time.

]]>

Colonial SFL, until now focused on the office markets of Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris, has overcome one of its pending tasks: setting foot in Berlin. For some time now, the top executives of the Catalan real estate company, Juan José Brugera (president) and Pere Viñolas (CEO) had expressed interest to bring its business model to the German capital.

]]>

Throughout its history, Germany had only missed a single penalty in a World Cup shootout, way back in 1982. In five minutes, they missed three in Boston on the day Paraguay surprised by eliminating Julian Nagelsmann's team. And Orlando Gill (San Lorenzo, Paraguay, 2000) saved two of the penalties. A goalkeeper until recently unknown. A man who, five years ago, when he became a father, even sold the equipment his club gave him to pay for medical treatment for his baby. Five years later, he has become one of the best goalkeepers in the World Cup.

]]>

The round of 16 of the World Cup has seen two of the tournament's biggest surprises with the eliminations of Germany and the Netherlands. Paraguay has beaten the mannschaft on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes of play between regulation time and extra time, and Morocco also forced extra time with a goal in added time against the Dutch and also ended up winning from eleven meters, which unleashed euphoria among North African fans.

]]>

At least six people, all adults, died yesterday, Monday, in a shooting that took place at a youth care center in the city of Stade, in the German state of Lower Saxony. Several more people were injured, some seriously. The police arrested the alleged perpetrator of the shots, a 45-year-old man who was in a full dispute over the custody of his three-month-old daughter. According to the authorities, this could be the motive for the serious incident. Five of the victims, four of whom are women, died at the scene. The sixth, a man, died in the hospital as a result of his injuries.

]]>

The Commercial Court number 2 of Palma has forgiven a debt of 57,269 euros to a couple who had emigrated to Germany to "rebuild their lives", after applying the Second Chance Law.

]]>

France and Germany have definitively buried a project that foresaw the development and joint manufacturing of a next-generation combat aircraft. It was one of Europe's most ambitious defense programs, valued at 100 billion euros, but discrepancies between the two main partners, Airbus and Dassault, have derailed the project, according to the German newspaper Der Spiegel and the agencies AFP and Reuters, which cite sources from the German government.

]]>

Berlin is a city that the more you visit it, the more it enchants you. It is diverse and open-minded. Full of nooks and crannies where it reveals its character, making it a kind of bubble in the middle of Germany. That is why it has been the chosen place for people who came from much more conservative regions to build a home there. This is explained to me by the cook René Frank, chef of the renowned restaurant Coda. A restaurant "that could only be in Berlin". Thanks to his knowledge of the city and that of the people who are part of the Coda team, we are about to visit places to subsequently make a list of the most recommendable ones. From cafes, cocktail bars, pastry shops, and, of course, where to eat a good René Frank, chef of the renowned restaurant Coda. A restaurant "that could only be in Berlin". Thanks to his knowledge of the city and that of the people who are part of the Coda team, we are about to visit places to subsequently make a list of the most recommendable ones. From cafes, cocktail bars, pastry shops, and, of course, where to eat a good currywurst or a kebab, two of the most representative and popular dishes.

]]>

From the historic German protest slogan “Ami, go home!” (Yankee, go home!) against the presence of American troops in Germany, to the “Ami goes home” (the Yankee goes home), the new phrase coined by the German press to refer to the partial withdrawal of American troops announced this week by Washington. In German, “Ami” is a colloquial and abbreviated way of saying “Amerikaner”, American.

]]>

On Friday, May 8, in the midst of the commemoration of the 81st anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, it was evident that Germany will soon be the main European military power again. Next year its defense spending will be equivalent to that of France and Great Britain combined, and the plan is for it to be considerably higher by 2030. The declared objective of the German government is to have "the most powerful conventional army in Europe." It is true that France and Great Britain have nuclear weapons, but this means less money for other defense materials. Therefore, the question is not "will this come true?"; if there are no unforeseen events, it will come true. The question, especially on this solemn anniversary, is: "How can we ensure that, this time, the growth of German military power is positive for all of Europe?"

]]>

A bank robbery in Sinzing, in western Germany, has forced a major police deployment in the town center, according to media outlets such as the newspaper Bild and the news portal T-Online. The robbers have taken several hostages, including a cash transport driver, German police assure.

]]>

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz marks his first year at the head of the federal government this Wednesday. More than a celebration, it will be a bitter anniversary. His first year in the Chancellery has been marked by his strong unpopularity, constant tensions within the governing coalition with the Social Democrats, criticism of his own party, the rise of the far-right, and his confrontation with US President Donald Trump. Added to this is a slight slowdown in the German economy due to the war in Iran and the announcement of welfare state cuts.

]]>

The German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, does not believe that German-American relations are in crisis, following the announcement by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, that he will withdraw 5,000 soldiers from Germany. Washington made this decision on Friday amid a public dispute between Trump and the chancellor over the United States and Israel's war against Iran. “Perhaps it is being exaggerated a bit, but [the withdrawal of soldiers] is nothing new”, Merz stated on Sunday night in an interview with the public broadcaster ARD, one year after his arrival at the chancellery and the content of which was anticipated by the German press.

]]>

The war in the Middle East and the new world disorder driven from the White House by Donald Trump has losers. The biggest losers are the populations suffering bombardments and embargoes and blockades. But there are also those who win. And by a lot. Some are those who play on event prediction platforms, as is the case with Polymarket. And also those who bet on markets based on the unpredictable statements of the US President, Donald Trump. More than one has fattened their portfolio with these plays with a certain aroma of insider information.

]]>

Portuguese fado, a European music, recurrently speaks of a feeling that now makes us think of Europe's political moment with the United States: an old love, which has turned into pain, into mistreatment, but which is hard to let go of. In essence, geopolitics is also a story of loves and dislikes and, therefore, of divorces.

]]>

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has personally experienced that disagreeing with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, or criticizing his decisions can have consequences. The hyperactive Trump has announced that he will withdraw 5,000 soldiers from his military bases in Germany, a NATO ally country, as announced by the Pentagon. Washington had already threatened to withdraw troops after Merz criticized the war of the United States and Israel against Iran, which has infuriated the Republican, who has since focused his recurring contempt for European allies on Berlin, although also on Madrid and Rome.

]]>