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Roberto Polo and 'Otelo', his whippet, inside their home in Brussels.
ART

In bed with Roberto Polo

Roberto Polo is not easily defined. The owner of a vast art collection, some of which is being shipped to Toledo and Cuenca, he was friends with artists, bankers and celebrities in 1980s New York. He also did jail time, had a close call with death, and was born again. This larger-than-life character has a motto: “Only mediocre men never have problems”

The exorcism of ‘Charlie Hebdo’ survivor Philippe Lançon
EL PAÍS SEMANAL IN ENGLISH

The exorcism of ‘Charlie Hebdo’ survivor Philippe Lançon

On January 7, 2015, the Kouachi brothers burst into the offices of the satirical publication ‘Charlie Hebdo’ in Paris, armed with assault rifles. Shouting, “Allah is great!” they killed 12 people. The writer and journalist Philippe Lançon suffered terrible injuries to his face and subsequently spent nine months in hospital, undergoing surgery 17 – going on 18 – times. He then returned to ‘normal life’, which is, of course, far from ‘normal’. “It’s not the same because I am no longer me,” he explains. His book ‘Le Lambeau,’ which received critical acclaim in France, has acted as a kind of exorcism

“Verrugas,” one of the famous “big heads” at Sanfermines.
THE RUNNING OF THE BULLS

Sanfermines: The best fiestas in the world

On July 6, a rocket known as the chupinazo kicked off the mother of all Spanish fiestas. A million people from all over the planet come to Pamplona every year for the Sanfermines, an orgy of sound and color that lasts nine days and nights, and where no one is looking at their watch. This year San Fermín is looking to catch its breath in the wake of ‘La Manada’ sexual assault case. Here is how the biggest party in the world gets going

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