Alisher Usmanov, an oligarch with "particularly close ties to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin", appears in third place on the blacklist drawn up by the European Union. He is considered, in fact, "President Putin's front man" and is one of the men who "solved his business problems". The EU also considers that Usmanov "will actively provide material or financial support to Russian politicians responsible for the annexation of Crimea". On Thursday, this powerful Russian oligarch saw German authorities obeying EU directives and confiscating the Dilbar, his luxury yacht which was moored in the Port of Hamburg. Two other yachts, owned by other oligarchs, have also been immobilised in the operation. The Dilbar, one of the largest in the world and valued at $600m, had been moored at the Port of Barcelona, where Usmanov, through different companies, owns a mooring.

A white tarpaulin covers one of the accesses to the Marina Barcelona 92 jetty. It wasn't there a few days ago, and you could clearly see the stern of a massive yacht. Now, the plastic spoils the photographs of the few tourists who come to see Barcelona's luxury. They are lucky if they can take out their cell phones without a watchman pointing his finger at a sign right next to them: no photos allowed. The yacht, which is protected at all costs, is called My Solaris, in homage to the novel by Lviv writer Stanislaw Lem. It flies a Cayman Islands flag, but it belongs to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea FC and worth $13bn, according to Forbes Forbes. It is 140 meters long and is about as big as Buckingham Palace. A few meters away lies the Valerie, another yacht which, despite its imposing 85 meters in length, is hidden by the shadow of My Solaris. It flies a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines flag, but the owner is another Russian tycoon: Serguei Chemezov, former KGB agent and CEO of Rostec (handpicked by Vladimir Putin, with whom he shared a posting in the eighties), a state corporation for industrial products. Abramovich and Chemezov have several things in common, among them money, luxury and being oligarchs close to Putin.