The Times - UK (2021-12-21)

the times | Tuesday December 21 2021 37

Wo r l d

A protest group claims to have sabo-
taged Christmas lights in Madrid
because families in the capital cannot
afford to pay for electricity.
The Corta Cables — Wire Cutters —
posted a video on Twitter of cables
being cut over the weekend and says
that 13 per cent of households suffer
power poverty. “We hope that having
seen the lights go out that citizens think
of other people who can’t have theirs
turned on at home,” they said.
“The mayor’s office and government
of Madrid clearly have enough budget
to cover the lighting and heating needs
of all of the population but
decide to waste it on decorations for the
richest neighbourhoods instead of
helping families who need it most.”

Spain
Charlie Devereux Madrid

KIRILL RUDENKO, SLAVKO SEREDA/GETTY IMAGES

A sleek glass bridge spanning the
Grand Canal in Venice is to have its
see-through steps replaced by stone
after too many pedestrians came a
cropper on the slippery surface.
Built in 2008 by Santiago Calatrava,
the avant-garde Spanish architect, the
Constitution Bridge is a rare example of
modern architecture in Venice and its
shimmering transparency was praised
for adapting well to the city’s baroque
backdrop.
However, the footbridge, which is
close to Venice’s train station, has been
beset by problems, starting with the icy
slick accumulating on the glass steps in
the winter, which regularly sends locals
and tourists flying.
“Calatrava loves glass but there have
been frequent falls and people are suing
us,” Francesca Zaccariotto, Venice’s
public works chief, said. Officials tried

Bilbao due to its slipperiness,”

Zaccariotto said.

The cost of the Venice bridge doubled

from €6 million to €12 million during

construction. Lacking a ramp for

wheelchair access, officials installed an

egg-shaped cabin in 2013 which slid

along the exterior of the bridge.

“It cost €1.2 million but got very hot

inside because there was no air

conditioning and no windows, and

Constitution Bridge has been beset by problems since it was built in 2008; the glass can get slippery in wintry conditions, and locals and tourists are often sent flying

Venice bridge of slides given stone

steps to reduce the number of falls

coating the glass steps with a

rough, transparent resin but this

wore off in ten days because of the

large number of tourists using the

bridge.

“We then tried adhesive strips

which provide grip but they fell off

pretty quickly,” Zaccariotto said.

In 2018 the city spent €160,000

to replace the glass in some of the

most dangerous steps with tra-

chyte, a light-coloured volcanic

stone. “That worked, and now we

have budgeted another €500,000

to replace all the glass steps with

trachyte,” Zaccariotto said.

Calatrava’s buildings and bridges are

often sleek and eye-catching but they

have been criticised for falling short on

practicalities. His City of Arts and

Sciences complex in Valencia, which

features an opera house and planetari-

um, has a leaking roof.

“We understand a carpet has been

laid across the glass bridge he built in

wheelchair users could not easily

access it because it was poorly

aligned with the pavement,”

Zaccariotto said. “In the end we got

rid of it and offered the disabled free

access to water buses to cross the

canal, which is much simpler.”

The next problem was

vibrations which were making the

bridge shift position slightly.

“We’ve spent €200,000 on that,”

she added.

Permission will be sought from

the city’s architectural authority to put

the stone steps in. Zaccariotto claimed

that approval would also be sought

from Calatrava but hinted that the

work might go ahead whatever the ar-

chitect said.

“If he says no, we will still have an

obligation to make it safe,” she said. “We

can build beautiful things, but they

need to work. In the case of a bridge it

needs to help people get from one side

to the other.”

Italy
Tom Kington Rome

Power protest cuts Madrid’s Christmas lights

The group highlighted the plight of

4,000 people in Cañada Real, on the

outskirts of Madrid, that

some claim is Europe’s

biggest shanty town.

The community,

mainly of Romany

gypsies and Mo-

roccan immi-

grants, hasn’t

had electricity

since 2020 after

supplies were

cut. Engineers

soon turned the

lights back on, and

police are investi-

gating. The price of

electricity in the wholesale market,

which influences the price for consum-

ers, rose to €339.84 per mega-

watt hour yesterday, an all-

time record. That com-

pares with about €40

per megawatt hour a

year ago.

Gas prices have

climbed because of

rising demand and

EU carbon taxes.

Spanish cities are

said to have spent

€19 million this year

on lights in a battle for

bragging rights. Abel

Caballero, mayor of Vigo

in the northwest, claimed im-

probably that the International

Space Station had hovered over the city

to admire its display.

Elena Ferrante, the novelist, has called

for Italy to grant citizenship to an Egyp-

tian man who said her books kept up his

spirits through 22 months in jail.

Ferrante, who writes under a pseudo-

nym, said that the incarceration of

Patrick Zaki proved that “literature

makes you stronger, more resistant”.

The release this month of Zaki, a stu-

dent at Bologna University, followed an

Italian campaign. It had been feared

that he would suffer the same fate as

Giulio Regeni, the Cambridge student

who was jailed, tortured and murdered.

On his release, Zaki, 30, thanked his

Italian backers and said that while in jail

he had read Ferrante’s four novels

about the lives of two Naples girls. “It

Novelist calls for Italians to

protect jailed Egyptian fan

was really beautiful,” he said. “The best

Italian literature I have ever read.”

Ferrante, 78, told La Repubblica news-

paper: “I am happy the story of my two

girls was helpful. A book can boost the

desire for survival.”

Zaki, who was accused of spreading

false news after writing about the plight

of Christians in Egypt, could be re-

turned to jail next year after another

court hearing. Ferrante called for him

to be granted Italian citizenship.

She said: “The atrocious end for

Giulio Regeni has made the nearly two

years of prison for Zaki an unbearable

wound for our consciences. These two

boys have suffered the injustices and

the dangers that our children are

exposed to by merely studying... and

freely trying to understand the world.”

Tom Kington Rome

ith Bilb d

w a a Z r a c v b “ s

thec

Cruelty claim

as world’s first

octopus farm

poised to open

Charlie Devereux

A company in Spain is planning to pro-

duce the world’s first farmed octopus,

which it says will contribute to sustain-

ing marine biodiversity but which has

led to allegations of cruelty.

Nueva Pescanova, in Galicia, on the

Atlantic coast of northwest Spain,

hopes to start selling farm-reared

octopus by next summer. The company

has invested €7.5 million in a research

and development centre near Ponte-

vedra, where 40 investigators will

develop techniques in aquaculture.

The company has already overcome

the challenge of breeding octopuses in

captivity, given that the larvae eat only

live food and need a carefully con-

trolled environment.

Nueva Pescanova argues that farmed

octoptus can replace those captured in

the wild, therefore helping to maintain

marine biodiversity. In Spain, where

octopus is a popular dish, the majority

comes from Morocco because overfish-

ing has depleted stocks in Galicia.

Scientists and conservationists say

that rearing octopuses in tanks is cruel,

given growing evidence of their intelli-

gence and capacity for feelings.

A study by the London School of

Economics found that octopuses were

sentient beings. Its report said:

“Octopuses are solitary animals that

are often aggressive towards each other

in confined spaces. We are convinced

that high-welfare octopus farming is

impossible.” It recommended that the

British government ban imported

farmed octopus and announce a pre-

emptive ban on octopus farms in the

UK.

Farming in the sea is a fast-growing

area of food production, and is expect-

ed to be worth about £185 billion by

2027. It is an industry with plenty of
      room to expand — of an estimated
      250,000 species only 560 have been
      produced through aquaculture.
      Nueva Pescanova already owns sea
      farms producing turbot in Galicia and
      giant prawns in Nicaragua, Ecuador
      and Guatemala.

Cities, notably Madrid, try to

outdo one other with displays

of lighting at Christmas time

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