The countries of the Middle East had not faced such a critical economic situation in decades. Some of them, never. The double blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has plunged their oil and gas exports to multi-year lows, slashing their revenues, forcing them to seek external aid—from the same country, the United States, which, along with Israel, has once again turned the region into a tinderbox—and to desperately search for alternatives to sell their fossil fuel production. Without these exports, they can barely hold out for many more weeks without the financial damage worsening.

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In recent years, Saudi Arabia has established itself as one of the world’s most active and ambitious investors. From financing the futuristic city of Neom on coast of the Red Sea to signing Cristiano Ronaldo for Al-Nassr and hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix in Jeddah, not forgetting its investments in Western companies like SoftBank, Uber and Telefónica, Riyadh’s financial resources have left virtually no sector unexplored.

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Ana Viladomiu has been a ‘privileged’ resident of the once derided, now revered Barcelona apartment building for almost 40 years

Imagine that you live in an enormous, beautiful apartment designed by one of the world’s most admired architects in the most expensive street in Spain and for which you pay a derisory rent, with the right to live there until you die.

Meet the writer Ana Viladomiu, 70, the last tenant of Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Milà on the elegant Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona. Viladomiu is in fact the last tenant in any of Gaudí’s buildings, unless you include the peregrine falcons that nest in the Sagrada Família.

Laurent DUCHENE posted a photo:

Pierre FILLON (FRA)
Christian KUHN (DEU) / Geoff ISRINGHAUSEN (USA)

Laurent DUCHENE posted a photo:

Pierre FILLON (FRA)

Laurent DUCHENE posted a photo:

Shaun LYNN (GBR)
Maxwell LYNN (GBR)