Pablo Álvarez: Rioja waits under an umbrella

But denying that the sector is quite broken is quite useless at this point. That there is a crisis in wine consumption worldwide is evident, and that Rioja is reacting regularly, too. The problem is one of diagnosis and, therefore, of treatment. If this is a structural issue, significant measures will have to be taken. If it’s just a temporary storm, just take out your umbrella.

For now the option is clearly the second: we shrug our shoulders and, at the same time, ask for and obtain the most flowery things. For example, we maintain a production that is not sold, because it is better not to talk about removing vines, since that is a French thing. And not only that, but we also continue to water the vineyard more and more, so that the clusters come out plump. As there is plenty of what is not written, we resort to throwing away the grapes but, yes, let Tito Capellan pay for it, vulgar all of us. In other words, we do everything possible to produce for free and we all pay for the rest. And then, since there will still be leftovers because we sell less than in the pandemic (if that is not a red flag, I don’t know) the wineries will pay at a knockdown price. And meanwhile we continue to allow table wine to run through the region’s wineries.

This does not last for many years, of course. The recourse to everyone’s pocket cannot be indefinite, no matter how important the sector is. Let’s see if from waiting so much under the umbrella we are going to end up drowned by the flood.

That Minister Puente has a mouth unworthy of a Spanish minister is something that everyone recognizes at this point. It seems incredible to have to remember that someone in his position does not gratuitously insult the president of another country, but that’s where we are.

On the other hand, Puente has come to clash with another who has the same problem as him but corrected and increased through the filter of populist far-rightism. Mr. Puente, what can I tell you: watching you in an insult race with Milei is like watching me play tennis with Djokovic. Ridiculous and with predictable results.

From there, the Argentine’s reaction is even greater nonsense, inexcusable, lying, fallacious and quarrelsome. Typical of a flock of politicians who can take the world to hell through the sinkhole of hatred, racism, and the most absurd populism that is furthest from reality. Puente will be a fool’s errand, but Milei is something else. Between one and the other, the choice should be clear.

My colleague Javi Campos tells you a little further that Logroño is reconsidering whether or not it is necessary to build the cataplada of buildings that is planned next to the underground. They should consider it, yes: that was planned when, in the middle of the bubble, people were thinking about land plots to cover the cost. But that work has already been paid for (the people of Logroño, at a low price) and now it’s time to ask what the city needs. How much building, what density, what uses. We can afford to build less, if we want. Let’s think.