Politics

One In Three Spaniards Say Their Area Suffers From Over-Tourism

A YouGov survey highlighted how the sting of over-tourism is being felt by as many as one in three people in Spain. 

As Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, this figure grows even higher when looking at certain regions, with 48 percent of respondents living in Catalonia saying that there are too many international tourists in the local area. 

You will find more infographics at Statista

The polling company found that where 45 percent of respondents in Spain had an unfavorable view of the holiday rental properties industry, only 21 percent held the same view of the hotel industry.

Looking at Spain’s neighbor, 18 percent of respondents in France said they thought there were too many international tourists there. 

However, a higher share of French respondents said that there were about the right number of international tourists (44 percent) or even that there were not enough (24 percent).

In Britain, Denmark and Sweden, very few held the view that overtourism was a local issue.

As one response to the housing crisis in Spain, the government proposed last month a 100 percent tax on the value of properties bought by non-residents from outside of the EU, including the UK.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 03/01/2025 – 07:35…

Escobar: Baltic/Black Sea Power-Games & Red-Lines Intersect In A “Strange War”

Authored by Pepe Escobar,

No one ever lost money betting on the batshit crazy “policies” of the ferociously yapping Baltic chihuahuas. Their latest power play of sorts is a drive to turn the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake.

The notion that a bunch of Russophobic sub-entities have what it takes to expel the Russian superpower from the Baltic Sea and pose a threat to St. Petersburg does not even qualify as cartoonish. Yet that is indeed part and parcel of NATO’s re-configured obsessions, as their warmongering “vanguard” has been relocated to a London-Warsaw-Baltic chihuahuas-Ukraine axis.

What kind of black hole rump “Ukraine” will turn out to be after the end of the war – which may not even happen in 2025 – remains to be seen. What’s certain is that in the case of a Ukraine exit – whatever the modalities – enter Romania.

The whole electoral farce in Romania – complete with the demonization of election front-runner Calin Georgescu – revolves around the upgrading of the Mihail Kogalniceanu base, which will become the largest NATO military base in Europe.

So, once again, this is all about the Black Sea. NATO wreaking havoc in the Black Sea carries way more savory prospects than NATO via chihuahuas monopolizing the Baltic Sea.

Ilya Fabrichnikov, a member of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, has published a remarkable essay essentially focusing on the Black Sea (this is a short version on the Kommersant daily).

Fabrichnikov convincingly argues that from an European – UE/NATO – angle, what really mattered in Ukraine was “to move its borders, along with its military, political and economic infrastructure, close to Russia’s, to put under full control the strategic Black Sea trade corridor – which easily stretches further north along the Odessa-Gdansk route – in order to more conveniently and quickly explore the economic spaces of Asia and North Africa, and to begin dictating its terms to Russian supplies of oil, gas and other resources needed by the European economy.”

As this focused power play instrumentalizing Ukraine is unravelling in real time, a replacement is needed – even as warmongering Eurocrats keep peddling their Orwellian “peace is war” dementia non-stop, complete with a non-stop tsunami of sanctions and renewed promises of avalanches of weapons to Kiev.

This is a classic Brussels vassals affair – even as the toxic Medusa von der Lugen as head of the EC and Rutti-Frutti as the new head of NATO were essentially appointed by Washington and London. Collectively, Europe has pumped way more military-political funds into black hole Ukraine than the Americans.

The reason is simple. For Europe there’s no Plan B apart from that mirific “strategic defeat” of Russia.

The EU/NATO Black Sea power play would make it even more imperative for Russia to connect with Transnistria. The only one who can answer whether this is part of the current planning is of course President Putin.

Neo-nazis go pipeline bombing

Russian intel is very much aware that the Europeans have to some extent already…

How Long Do Muslims Fast For Ramadan Around The World?

This year’s Ramadan is expected to start on the night of Friday, February 28, with the first day of fasting on Saturday, March 1. 

As Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, the holy month is based on the Islamic lunar calendar which is 11 days shorter than the Gregorian solar year, and so its start shifts earlier each year. While the number of days of Ramadan are equal for all Muslims observing it around the world, the length of the daily fast is not.

You will find more infographics at Statista

During Ramadan, observers vow to abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual activities through daylight hours. 

This means that those living further north have to fast for much longer than their counterparts living closer to the equator or even to those in the Southern hemisphere, which is currently tilted away from the sun. 

The chart above, based on data from website islamicfinder.com, shows that Muslims fasting for Ramadan in Reykjavík, Island, will have to fast for up to 16 hours and 29 minutes, which is the time between sunrise and sunset on March 29, the last and longest day of fasting this year. 

Meanwhile Muslims living in Melbourne, Australia, will only need to fast for a maximum of 13 hours and 16 minutes.

With the dates of Ramadan moving, there can be a significant difference in the length of fasting depending on the year.

For example, in 2013, Ramadan took place during the peak of summer for the Northern Hemisphere, with countries such as Norway experiencing sundown for only around three hours at night. 

This meant practicing communities faced fasts lasting upwards of 20 hours. 

To counterbalance this, Muslims may also observe Ramadan using the timetable of Mecca (13 hours and 35 minutes in 2025) or their nearest Muslim city.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 02/28/2025 – 18:00…