The next night, Isla and her friends, including the one she had told about Valente, were at a bar. The friend spotted him. “I said: ‘Oh my God – it’s the boy on the bike,'” says Isla. “It was a strange coincidence. I was really excited. And I was a bit drunk as well.”
The writer, who was born in San Sebastián but has lived in Germany since the mid-1980s, initially wondered what another book could say about 40 years of bloodshed. And besides, he told the Guardian, “bad books can come out of good sentiments; in fact, that’s something that happens quite often”.
Rifkin’s Festival was backed by Spanish media giant Mediapro (which has participated in Allen films including Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris) as Allen has become increasingly shunned in the US after Farrow’s allegations against him, which he denies. Publication of his memoir Apropos of Nothing was cancelled by Hachette after staff protests, and it was rapidly picked up by another publisher, Arcade. Film-maker Spike Lee issued an apology after defending Allen in a radio interview, writing on social media “My words were WRONG.”
At the beginning of lockdown, Craig had said something to me that resonated as we navigated an uneasy period of time when we were concerned work opportunities would decrease because of our inability to travel and the downtime in the industry: “This is our time. While most industries are shutting down and trying to figure out how to work from home – working from home is what we do best. Don’t let fear immobilise your voice and talent.” From my days of starting my fashion blog Style Bubble back in 2006, being flexible and adaptable has been paramount to moving with audiences as they shifted their content consumption from the web to Twitter and Instagram and now to Tik Tok (I haven’t been brave enough to attempt a dance trend video, which is probably for the best). Although I’ve always focused on show coverage and spotlighting young designers, lockdown has also given me the opportunity to explore facets of my life that aren’t necessarily fashion-centric. Now that shows have taken on a digital form, I’d like to see them as an opportunity to create a more immediate sort of content.
One of the things she likes about Valente, she says, is that “he just gets up and goes. If Valente says he’s going to do something, he does it, usually straight away. He’s really creative and funny. I just feel really comfortable around him, that I can say and do anything. I really feel that I’m myself with him.”
Starring Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel and Gina Gershon, Rifkin’s Festival was shot in and around the city in 2019, and according to the plot synopsis takes place during the festival itself. “It tells the story of a married American couple who go to the San Sebastián festival and get caught up in the magic of the event, the beauty and charm of the city and the fantasy of movies. She has an affair with a brilliant French movie director, and he falls in love with a beautiful Spanish woman who lives there.”
It was such a chance meeting, says Isla. “The window of opportunity in which we met was really a few seconds. If the light had been green, we probably wouldn’t be here.” Valente must be pleased to have decided to catch up with her once she sped off, I say. He smiles and says: “On her birthday, I gave her a new bicycle.”
Isla’s contract with the school finished in August, but she stayed on in Mexico because of Valente. They moved in together about a year ago. “We’re not really sure what’s going to happen,” she says. “We’re going to go back to stay with my family in Sussex in November for a few months, then Valente has to come back to Mexico because he’s part of a dance company and they’re doing a tour. We don’t know what’s going to happen; we don’t really talk about it because every time we do it’s a bit stressful.”
Saavedra and his friends raised money to set up a seed project, United We Dream. “I moved to Washington DC, travelling 20 days a month, organising. We trained thousands of people. In 2010 we pushed the US legislation all the way to the senate, but we lost by just five votes.”
* London office prices could fall by 20% over two to three years, similar to the decline following the 2008 financial crash.
Negotiations with the EU are about to enter the final few weeks, and while May has said an agreement is 95% complete, crucial areas, including the fate of the Northern Ireland border, remain unresolved.
A no-deal Brexit would shorten the odds on a long UK recession Read moreA demand by EU negotiator Michel Barnier for a backstop that would keep the Irish border open to trade, even if that meant separating the province from the mainland and creating a border in the Irish sea, has been rejected by the prime minister.
The impasse has fuelled doubts that a deal can ever be agreed in what time is left before each side must seek ratification.
S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Paul Watters, loba negra pdf said: “Our base-case scenario is that the UK and the EU will agree and ratify a Brexit deal, leading to a transition phase lasting through 2020, followed by a free trade agreement.
“But we believe the risk of no deal has increased sufficiently to become a relevant rating consideration. This reflects the inability thus far of the UK and EU to reach agreement on the Northern Irish border issue, the critical outstanding component of the proposed withdrawal treaty.”
Coming only a day after the chancellor said the failure to secure a deal would force him to hold an emergency budget, S&P’s analysis joins a welter of independent reports that forecast that a split from the EU without a deal will deala serious blow to the prospects of the UK economy. Last month rival agency Moody’s said the risks to the British economy had “risen materially” in recent months.
Failure to agree a deal with Brussels would lead to a sharp fall in the value of the pound, triggering higher inflation and a squeeze on real wages lasting for as long as three years, it warned.
Adding to the weight of opinion, the International Monetary Fund and and the OECD have also said that crashing out of the EU without a deal was a material risk to the UK, the EU and the global economy.
Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDeskThe warnings are likely to be dismissed by leading Brexiteers as an extension of the Treasury’s “project fear”, which predicted steep falls in household incomes, house prices and inflation.
Jacob Rees-Mogg and Iain Duncan Smith told the chancellor ahead of the budget that he was being too gloomy about Britain’s economic prospects outside the EU, even if it meant coping with trade barriers at EU border posts.
Rees-Mogg argued that Britain’s economy would be set free by leaving the EU, and though he preferred a deal to secure frictionless trade, this would be counterproductive if it tied the UK to EU rules for many years.
But Britain’s national income has already grown more slowly this year than expected prior to the EU referendum, with GDP growth below its previous trend of 2% to 2.5% and with wages only just inching ahead of inflation this year.
S&P said leaving the EU without a deal would make matters much worse, pushing the UK into a moderate recession lasting between a year and 15 months, with GDP contracting by 1.2% in 2019 and 1.5% in 2020. After that, the economy would return to growth, it said, though the pace of growth would be moderate.
“By 2021, economic output would still be 5.5% less than what would have been achieved in a scenario with an orderly exit and transition period for the UK,” it said in its report, Countdown To Brexit: No Deal Moving Into Sight.
S&P said high street banks would be caught up in the downturn, though efforts to shore up their reserves over the last eight years would provide protection against rising corporate insolvencies and weaker house price values.
Housing associations would also come under financial pressure from a fall in house values. Meanwhile, insurers would need to plan for a downgrade in the UK’s credit rating, which would increase their borrowing costs.
