The Chinese name for 2022 was ‘Year of the Tiger’. Is it because it bites and shreds, wreaking havoc if released in public? Other appropriate names would have been “Year of Warthog” or “Year of La Locura”.
There has never been a “boring” moment in the year we have just split from political chaos to war, riots, drought, floods and social media squabbles.
Olive Press collects the most important news and events, some of which we prefer to forget.
the world is reopening
The most positive aspect of 2022 was the removal of Covid restrictions. Making it easier to visit our relatives EnglandThe British government removed the pesky passenger search forms in March, while Spain stopped asking for Covid vaccination certificates in October.
In Spain, our beloved town fiestas are back and “very screw social”.
Residents of China had the biggest “gain” on Covid in early December. After rising up against their governments’ brutal restrictions, the policy of “zero COVID tolerance” changed to “go crazy”, leaving other countries to worry about new variants flying into their airports. But for now, Covid is supposedly in the background.
political turmoil
Unless you live in a cave with no WiFi, you will realize that the UK has had a turbulent year in politics. As the country enters January, when Covid infections are still high, the Tory’s handling of the health crisis has been shaken by the “Partygate” scandal.
While normal citizens were not allowed to visit their dying relatives, Boris and his cabinet exaggerated this at “business meetings” that included wine, cheese and cake. Boris was investigated for 12 illegal meetings and later fined by the Metropolitan Police.
Only Trump and his attempted January 6 uprising on Capitol Hill rivaled this political scandal. Here, some Cosmic Rightists tried to launch a coup, including a distinctive “Qanon bison.” They were arrested and Joe Biden successfully took office on January 20. This has haunted Trump ever since.
Now that Trump is no longer a world leader, will the messy-haired Boris be next? The UK political bubble burst in July, after some additional sexual harassment scandals and the stir of his former adviser Dominic Cummings. More than 50 ministers resigned from the cabinet, forcing Boris to resign.
Lizz Truss won a very boring leadership contest. He created an infamous “mini-budget” that imposed a “student economy” on the UK, causing the city to lose confidence and the Pound to plummet. The British in Spain looked at the exchange rate with concern.
In one of the funniest moments of 2022, a “Lettuce Vs Liz” contest was broadcast live by the Daily Star. Who will last the longest? Surprisingly, lettuce won.
Liz was in office for just 50 days – Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister. Jeremy Hunt was brought in as Chancellor to save the economy and the GPB EUR exchange rate recovered. We soon saw Rishi Sunak as the third Prime Minister of the year, which resulted in a lot of eye roll.
The British royal family and the death of the Queen
A major global event occurred when Queen Elizabeth died on September 8 at the age of 96. He was Britain’s longest-serving monarch and was revered she. Britain declared 10 days of official mourning, which not everyone appreciated.
A notable event was “The Queue,” where the British waited for over 24 hours to pass the Queen, who was lying within the state in her coffin at Westminster Hall, to bid her farewell. Some eccentric types left marmalade sandwiches in public because the Queen loved Paddington Bear.
Prince Andrew caused controversy by attending the Queen’s funeral after paying Virginia Giuffre in March for his dirty Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell affair. He was dressed in civilian clothes, not the infamous royal military uniform.
The Queen’s death coincided with Gibraltar International Day, turning the annual celebration planned at “The Rock” into a tranquil event.
King Charles III became the ruling monarch. The coronation takes place in May 2023. The BBC’s Christmas Day speech attracted unrivaled viewership.
2022 was also the year ex-royal couple Harry and Meghan made a Netflix documentary about the paparazzi and their problems with the “corporate” (Bucking Palace). It was the streaming service’s most-watched series of 2022.
war in ukraine
The biggest crisis of 2022, which affected the whole world, was the war in Ukraine, which started on February 24 and is now on its 401th day.
It was clear that Vladimir Putin expected to exceed his target in a few weeks, but he was misled. Ukraine’s little-known president Volodymyr Zelensky has become popular around the world and remains patient with the Russians. The occupying forces engaged in risky behavior around civilian atrocities, threats of chemical warfare, and nuclear power. Zelensky says his country will “hold through the winter” despite all the destruction.
Since the war began, Spain has hosted 150,000 refugees from Ukraine. The Spanish government enacts laws to help immigrants and asylum seekers join society. That’s better than the UK’s approach to refugees, leaving them wandering around London in flip-flops or catching dysentery at Manston detention centre.
cost of living crisis
Our reliance on oil, gas and grain from Russia and Ukraine is smack dab. Supply problems quickly caused a cost-of-living crisis.
Price carbonates Pumps in Spain rose above 2e per liter, causing truck drivers to strike in March. The Spanish government subsidized the fuel at 20 cents per liter. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez recently announced the end of the fuel subsidy, but is cutting VAT on vital foods.
cost lol It reached historic heights in England and Spain. National supplier Endesa introduced daytime tariff bands with higher costs during peak hours. People chose to do the laundry at home at midnight and tried to sleep with them. sink shaking, some people in the UK choose to ‘heat or eat’.
With inflation soaring, 2022 saw wage and conditions strikes hitting transport, airlines and other industries.
The Ryanair and Easyjet summer strikes affected some people’s travel plans, but the Spanish government insisted that staff maintain minimum service levels. Ryanair, Vueling and Air Nostrum now enter January 2023.
The Covid-free travel period may not be as “fun” as it seems…
The “benefits” of Brexit
Brexit is a gift that keeps on giving. Exports from the UK are falling and it is the only G7 country whose economy is smaller than before the pandemic.
All year long, expats complained of “excessive” customs duties on parcels from the UK. Because there is no customs union, many items get stuck in the Madrid customs center – probably never to be seen again.
Some Brits have seen their vacation plans ruined because they didn’t have six months left in their British passports – a new rule after Brexit – and were denied boarding.
British drivers residing in Spain for more than six months were also affected. The lack of government agreement on replacing UK driver’s licenses with Spanish licenses has resulted in many expats being banned from the wheel from 1 May. Olive Press started a campaign to help them.
climate change
2022 has been another year in which the world burns with widespread heatwaves and wildfires. Granada suffered the worst fire in the decade that destroyed 5,000 hectares near Las Guajares. Spain’s firefighting force INFOCA was kept busy.
Climate change summit COP27 took place in Egypt in early November. 35,000 people attended, including 100 heads of state. Rishi Sunak from England created a stir when Boris visited in his personal capacity on a budget flight, hesitating to attend. Delegates agreed to assist developing countries.
Brazil’s right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, was thankfully impeached in October before he could cut down any more rainforest. On a less fortunate note, the UK is attempting to open a coal mine in Cumbria.
After months of drought in Almeria that drained Spain’s reservoirs, with some falling to 7%, the biblical rain fell in the week following 12 December, causing widespread flooding. 2023 is the ‘Year of the Water Bunny’, so let’s hope it lives up to its name.
While Spain was enjoying spring temperatures on Christmas 2022, parts of the Americas had snowstorms severe enough to kill people. Trump predictably appeared to say “what happened to global warming”?
women’s rights
We are leaving behind a difficult year for human rights. The June rejection of the US ‘Roe v Wade’ bill that guaranteed America’s abortion rights enraged women everywhere. These were soon abolished in 13 states and restricted in others. Reminds you of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’?
Iran and Afghanistan have been criticized for their approach to women.
Meanwhile, Spainonly si es si”A change in the law aimed at making the punishment for sexual assault harder. Instead, he saw some rapists get early release from prison, including a member of the notorious mana (wolf pack). There is now a debate over whether Spain’s equality minister, Irene Montero, presided over a poorly worded bill, or whether Spain’s judges (half of whom are women) are matchmakers. Watch this space.
World Cup
At the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar, human rights issues sometimes overshadowed football. Common themes were Qatar’s mistreatment of women, the LGBT population, and migrant workers, of whom 6,500 died. FIFA reportedly received bribes from Qatari officials.
During the event, the Iranian team refused to sing their national anthem over the treatment of women at home.
Riots broke out in France after the match against Morocco as an ugly final.
Despite the distractions, millions of people turned to real sports. Many gathered in Spanish bars to watch big-screen TV matches – but Spain was knocked out by Morocco.
Social media and television
The popular social network Twitter “got into seed” when it was acquired by Elon Musk in late October. He fired 80% of the staff, including content moderators. He then placed beds in the headquarters so that the remaining workers could be “hard”. He threatened to reinstate Trump (fortunately, he refused). Unfortunately, conspiracy theorists hail Musk as their new hero. Twitter users recently voted that someone else should run the platform.
“Wordle” was the most searched term on Google in 2022. Johnny Depp was the most wanted celebrity after a court case with Amber Heard was settled.
A former kickboxing champion named Andrew Tate, an armed, cigar-smoking friend of far-right extras, has become famous on TikTok. matchmaker behaviour. He was arrested for human trafficking at the end of December. This came just after an unfortunate argument with Greta Thunberg, who got her down. More on that soon.
Passive-aggressive – or simply aggressive – Will Smith spanking Chris Rock at the Oscars was a remarkable moment in terms of “fun.”
A big broadcast success of the year was “The White Lotus” on HBO Max. A great concept in a murder mystery, it gave viewers a welcome escape for a few hours from the alarming things happening around the world. And who could hold them accountable!
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