Sacrilege in England. The iconic statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, opposite the Palace of Westminster in central London, has been vandalized again. The Metropolitan Police have arrested a 38-year-old man on suspicion of criminal damage with racial aggravating circumstances, after he painted pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist graffiti on the bronze monument that stands in the heart of Westminster's political center.

Despite a life stained by cruel colonial military and political episodes, as well as the ignominious indirect support for Franco during and after the Spanish Civil War, today a politician like Winston Churchill would have many reasons to stand as the European of order, capable of curbing the histrionic, chaotic, and superficial rhetoric. He was a staunch defender of liberal democracy, a tenacious fighter, and a political beast who knew how to skillfully choose his enemies. He would be the leader we lack in the face of the urgent need to save Europe from the humiliating authoritarian pincer movement of Trump and Putin—the Europe that is a refuge of essential freedom.

It's no secret that the geopolitical status quo we've been living with for the past few generations is the one forged 80 years ago at the Yalta Conference, when the three major powers on the verge of victory in World War II met to lay the foundations for what the world would be like in the following decades. Present were Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, representing the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, respectively. But the American delegation also included a much lesser-known man, albeit one accustomed to moving within the machinery of diplomacy: businessman and politician Averell Harriman.

Conservatives believe that order comes first, so that justice and freedom can follow. Without the first, second, and third, order are impossible. Churchill expressed this in the 1930s. The political void and disorder from 1914 to 1918 made war inevitable in 1939.

The best thing about writing is that it forces you to read more. I'm fortunate that architect Marta Cervelló, author of important books and publications and Josep Lluís Mateo's right-hand woman for many years, left me a wonderful little book she bought in London, which has allowed me to learn a story I'll use to address an important architectural dilemma.

As an example of the type of decisions a statesman must make, the Coventry dilemma is often cited, which affects, of course, Winston Churchill. Although the story itself is false, it is interesting to tell it and see what relationship it may have with Spanish politics.