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A NATIONWIDE strike in Spain is expected to ‘bring the country to a complete standstill’ next month.

The industrial action will affect flights, public transport, shops, restaurants and museums.

The shutdown is due to take place on November 11 when major trade unions in Spain will stage a 24-hour walkout.

The strike is protesting the escalating housing crisis – and it will be the country’s first joint general strike in almost 15 years.

While it hasn’t been confirmed, flights across Spain are expected to face cancellations or delays.

Previous general strikes have heavily involved airport ground staff, air traffic controllers, and airline cabin crews causing lots of disruption.

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It’s not just flights either – on the ground, public transport will be affected.

The strike is expected to impact trains including high-speed lines, the city metro, and buses which could face severe disruption.

Roads could be closed as well in cities like Madrid and Barcelona which are likely to see large protest marches.

For anyone already on holiday there at the time, the walkout could see some restaurants, museum and shops close too.

If they’re not shut, the opening hours could be reduced to holiday hours.

Advice for those due to travel on November 11 is to keep an eye on any updates from your airline.

Many airlines operate flights from the UK to Spain like BA, EasyJet Ryanair, Iberia, TUI, Jet2, Wizz Air and Vueling.

Disruption to flights on this day would be deemed as being an “extraordinary circumstance” which means airlines aren’t required to pay extra compensation.

However, airlines are legally required to rebook you or offer a refund.

The strike is being held ahead of the November 29 snap election.

Flight compensation rules

A look at your rights if a flight is delayed or cancelled, when your entitled to compensation and if your travel insurance can cover the costs.

What are my rights if my flight is cancelled or delayed?

Under UK law, airlines have to provide compensation if your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late.

If you’re flying to or from the UK, your airline must let you choose a refund or an alternative flight.

You will be able to get your money back for the part of your ticket that you haven’t used yet.

So if you booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can get the full cost of the return ticket refunded.

But if travelling is essential, then your airline has to find you an alternative flight. This could even be with another airline.

When am I not entitled to compensation?

The airline doesn’t have to give you a refund if the flight was cancelled due to reasons beyond their control, such as extreme weather.

Disruptions caused by things like extreme weather, airport or air traffic control employee strikes or other ‘extraordinary circumstances’ are not eligible for compensation.

Some airlines may stretch the definition of “extraordinary circumstances” but you can challenge them through the aviation regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Will my insurance cover me if my flight is cancelled?

If you can’t claim compensation directly through the airline, your travel insurance may refund you.

Policies vary so you should check the small print, but a delay of eight to 12 hours will normally mean you qualify for some money from your insurer.

Remember to get written confirmation of your delay from the airport as your insurer will need proof.

If your flight is cancelled entirely, you’re unlikely to be covered by your insurance.

Vente Venezuela members embraced Claudia Macero on Sunday night. Photo by Vente Joven.

Since the aftermath of the June earthquakes, the media had spread stories about Maria Corina Machado trying to come back to Venezuela and local officials in the US and neighboring countries frustrating her plans. The most recent case exploded in simultaneity with the triumphal trip of Delcy Rodriguez to the United Nations, that included a meeting and a picture with Donald Trump. Now we know, from journalists like Idania Chirinos and David Alandete, that Machado has tried seven times in total to come back. Vente Venezuela is using the public reaction to those news to organize rallies in many cities and made a big party of the return of Claudia Macero, Machado’s communications chief, who was one of Vente’s refugees in the Argentinean Embassy. They are clearly turning the apparent join effort of Delcy and Trump to keep Machado out into an Odyssey when Machado is the hero looking for the friends to complete the voyage while the Neptune of Mar-a-Lago and the Suitors of Miraflores block the beaches of Ithaca.

Once Machado finally overcomes those obstacles, as she would eventually do, she would have to leave her story behind and focus on the stories of the population. She needs to face the alliance dilemma, use her popularity and manage the expectations trap.

Machado needs to build alliances. Her Vente Venezuela party is disciplined and attractive to many activists and voters, but they can’t do this alone. The problem is that Machado is reluctant to forge alliances with other politicians, and her followers don’t want to see her with them.

Her dilemma here is that she needs to widen her influence by building a broader platform without alienating her followers.

She has a known history of trouble dealing with politicians from other parties. Machado is a product of what Venezuelans got used to call “civil society” in the 1990s: neighbors and parents associations, business chambers, groups organized mostly in the middle class to protect and improve conditions for specific realms like suburbs, private schools and businesses, and to organize and fund charity NGOs or networks like Dividendo Voluntario para la Comunidad. All of them tended to have a common drive for initiative, besides ethics: we need to do what politicians aren’t doing. Súmate, the platform for electoral rights where Machado emerged before the recall referendum against Chávez, was a civil society organization and was key to collecting the millions of signatures that opposition parties were not collecting, not only because of Súmate’s organizational skills but because people trusted them more than the parties. Machado later became a lawmaker but as an independent, and created her own party instead of joining another.  

Her dilemma here is that she needs to widen her influence by building a pressure platform with other parties, including the people currently sitting at the small opposition fraction in the National Assembly and the dialogue experiment behind Dinorah Figuera, but at the same time she needs to do so without alienating her followers, who can turn hope into frustration if they start to see her as another regular politician who will betray them. 

The voice of the people   

Machado has something anyone else in Venezuela has: real, solid popularity. Besides Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia —whose prestige among voters is pretty much an extension of Machado’s—, María Corina holds a 50% approval rate that has endured the three years passed since the opposition primaries she famously won with more than 90% of the vote, the two years after the fraudulent 2024  vote and the ten months with Delcy.  

Machado’s political career rocketed in 2023 and 2024 when she connected with the collective trauma of families broken by mass migration and embodied the nation’s grief, especially in countryside villages ravaged by economic collapse and population loss.

The people’s expectation is that a new election will turn María Corina into president and remove chavismo from power, creating the space for the country’s reconstruction.

In 2026, she has the opportunity to achieve that political miracle again, with the domestic following she already has and the global fame the Nobel Prize gave her, to make everyone hear the voice of the nation that is being ignored by the interim chavista regime and the Trump administration. The voice of those people who saw Maduro and Cilia removed but the rest of the dictatorship staying, who waited in vain for the authorities to help save lives and recover bodies after the earthquakes, and who see American officials and CEOs signing deals without any improvement in the ordinary citizen’s daily struggle to survive.  

Machado is echoing the people’s call for an election. The citizens seem to have taken as a fait accompli that the 2024 elections were stolen, but they took that event as proof that, if elections are repeated, Maria Corina will win. So elections now! is spreading as the common claim that encapsulates the urgency to have a legitimate government elected by the people instead of Delcy’s. The expectation is that a new election will turn María Corina into president and remove chavismo from power, creating the space for the country’s reconstruction. Because while chavismo is still there, there is no hope that things will improve. On that, people are quite convinced.

The challenge of patience management

Machado needs to keep hopes alive, no doubt. Many people are looking at her as the only source of hope available. However, she also needs to sustain that hope with achievements. It won’t suffice to keep telling people that freedom is inevitable and unstoppable. People know it isn’t.

She needs, with Vente and their allies, to build up expectations toward a horizon of possibilities; this is why Machado will focus on pressuring for an election date, which they are suggesting should be July 24, 2027, Simón Bolívar’s birthday.

Machado knows, on the other hand, that she can’t afford to make the same mistake that Juan Guaidó and many other opposition leaders of the past made: promising that paradise is around the corner. Actually, she has been walking that tightrope for a while. Finding the equilibrium between giving hope and adjusting the people’s expectations into a moderate frame will be very hard, especially in an unprecedented context when it is impossible to predict how the next year will be.

An enormous pressure on a person who holds no office and is not even a candidate yet.

France will have a new face on the touchline for the first time in 14 years when they face Turkey on Friday.

Zinedine Zidane replaced Didier Deschamps after France’s fourth-place finish at the World Cup, but his appointment had been an open secret long before Les Bleus’ third-place play-off loss to England.

Talks between the former Real Madrid manager and the French football authorities kicked off as early as February 2025 – after Zidane’s former team-mate Deschamps announced a few weeks earlier he would step down following the 2026 World Cup.

When he was unveiled in Paris, Zidane was keen to highlight the time he had spent waiting on the sidelines and preparing for the job.

“I had several offers in the last four or five years, but I turned them all down,” an emotional Zidane said. “The national team is the only thing I wanted.”

While his enthusiasm at taking the job was the overarching theme of his first news conference in the French capital, the midfield legend offered few clues to France fans as to how he would approach the role.

Even a question on Kylian Mbappe’s captaincy was bypassed: “The most important thing for him now is to rest, we’ll have the chance to speak in September.”

Mbappe, speaking to Spanish newspaper AS, has since said having the former Real Madrid star as his national team coach was “like a film”.

When asked about his preferred style of play, Zidane opted against going into tactical detail.

“I can’t explain to you in just a couple of words how we’re going win. I have to arrive, meet with the players, and explain my plans to them. After that, it’ll be up to me to keep this team winning.”

However, Zidane confirmed his intention “to do things differently” and he has called up five uncapped players for this international break.

He went on to signal that there would be a degree of “continuation” from the work of his predecessor, which he made sure to praise.

“I’m going to try do what I know how to, but it won’t be a complete break either.”

So what will Zidane bring to the France dugout?

On the appointment of Edwards, England head coach John Mitchell said: “Since his time with France ended, we have had a conversation about our game, and he expressed an interest in working in an international women’s set-up for the first time.

“He has a huge amount of respect for the Red Roses and what we stand for; he sees it as a privilege to join our environment.

“His coaching credentials are exceptional and his experience at the highest level of the game speaks for itself.

“Defensively, Sarah Hunter is relishing the opportunity to learn from him, alongside the rest of our coaching group, as we head into another exciting Test match against New Zealand.”

Last week, Edwards expressed his desire to return to coaching and be a part of next year’s men’s Six Nations.

“I’m def­in­itely open to offers now, until I sort out a full-time role,” he told the Daily Mail., external

“I’m a proud Englishman and everybody loves to represent their country, don’t they? I’m no different.”

TOMORROW night in Philadelphia, Ed Sheeran is expected to return to the stage for the first time since the biggest crisis of his career began.

Venues and promoters removed rapper Macklemore as the opening act on his US tour for voicing pro-Palestinian views on stage — prompting a legion of musicians, many of whom were British megastar Ed’s friends, to publicly turn against him over the past week.

This evening at Lincoln Financial Field, Ed will perform to 60,000 fans alone, with just his guitar and his trusted loop pedal, after Irish singer Aaron Rowe and Danish group Lukas Graham pulled out as support acts.

Irish folk group Beoga have performed with Ed on every night of the Loop World Tour — but they have also withdrawn, along with Billie ­Eilish’s brother Finneas, who was due to open six of Ed’s south ­American dates later this year.

“The world feels like a very lonely place for Ed right now,” an insider tells me.

“He couldn’t have done more to change the situation. He genuinely tried everything. This pile-on has been awful.”

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I’m told dad-of-two Ed, 35, is ­planning on pushing ahead with the concert this evening before taking a view on the remaining ten dates across the US before his shows in South America.

My insider explained: “He wants the tour to continue for fans.

“They will have spent a lot of money on travel and hotels and will want to see him perform.

“The plan is to see how it goes tonight and then Ed and his team can take a view on whether they will carry on or not.”

Last night local action groups Philly Palestine Coalition and Shut Down D&Z confirmed they would be demonstrating at the train station closest to the venue.

Police said they would be increasing patrols in the area and were dispatching extra officers to the area around Lincoln Financial Field before the concert starts at 8pm.

Jasmine Reilly, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Police Department, said last night: “Our officers are talking to Ed’s team to make sure all appropriate measures are taken.”

A second source told me: “A nightmare scenario is if unrest begins inside before or during the show. It’s a possibility because of the heightened emotions with everything that is going on right now.

“Naturally Ed and his team’s concerns are for the safety of the people inside and outside the venue.”

Tonight’s gig will take place 15 days after Macklemore lit the touchpaper under Bad Habits hitmaker Ed.

The rapper — real name Benjamin Haggerty — played his pro-Palestinian protest song Hind’s Hall in New Jersey before telling the crowd: “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in ­stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine.”

The next day he stood on stage again at the MetLife Stadium and declared: “To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters: criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you.”

Two days later, the Israeli-American Council published a ­petition calling for Macklemore to be removed from Ed’s shows.

On September 8, Jewish singer Pink ramped up emotions when she shared a statement on Instagram with her 11.7million followers.

She blasted Macklemore for going on stage “in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them.”

Three days later Macklemore was removed from Ed’s tour. US promoters Messina Touring Group said that it had been notified by venues on Ed’s US tour that they “will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the line-up.”

In a statement calling Ed a “brother”, the rapper said: “Nothing I’m writing here is out of spite or because I want to tear down his character.

“But as I told Ed multiple times on the phone, our friendship can’t change my responsibility to tell the truth about what happened.”

Macklemore explained that Ed had told him billionaire Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots American football team and their Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, would not allow him to play the two dates there on September 25 and 26.

Macklemore added: “Ed was in a f***ed-up position.

“His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before.

“He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with. I told him that if those words were more ­offensive than tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those ­people stood and where I stood.

“But he couldn’t get past his public-facing, ‘I don’t take sides.’ ”

The next day Ed addressed the ­situation in a statement to his 47million Instagram followers and revealed the lengths he had gone to in a bid to get everyone back on board.

He said he had spoken to “activists on both sides” as well as the owners of stadiums to find unity and that he was “appalled” by the conflict.

Ed added: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.

“Macklemore coming off the tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.

“I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work.”

Explaining his decision to remain apolitical, he said: “There is a ­reason I do not use my professional platform for politics.

“My audience includes young people, often children, of all backgrounds.

“Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum. I respect Macklemore’s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes in.

“However there is room for multiple approaches to the same end: peace.”

He concluded: “I have spent this week trying to build bridges, to find a solution, and unfortunately I was unable to do so.

“I know who I am, both as a person and as an artist, and those who know my heart know my values too.”

Despite his attempts to make amends, Ed was left flattened the following day as the artists on his tour started to pull out.

In a statement, Irish group Beoga said: “To play in venues that silence anyone advocating for Free Palestine is simply not an option for us.”

Pro-Israeli billionaire Kraft then came out fighting in Ed’s corner.

Shortly after Macklemore announced he was donating his $1million fee for the tour to humanitarian organisations providing aid to Palestinians, Kraft said Ed had been in touch before asking to match a donation he had made.

Kraft said: “I have dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people.

“I believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting.

“Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.

“Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.”

Kraft also pointedly recalled Macklemore’s stunt in 2014, where he performed on stage in a costume which featured anti-Semitic tropes.

Macklemore apologised and said he did not mean to offend anyone but conceded the outfit could have looked like a “Jewish caricature”.

In the days prior to tonight’s show, high-profile stars have waded into the row, including British singer Paloma Faith, Hacks actress Hannah Einbinder and Formula 1 champ Lewis Hamilton.

The controversy also spilled over into politics, with US senator ­Bernie Sanders blasting Kraft.

The Democrat wrote: “In the United States of America, billionaire stadium owners should not be able to silence artists because they speak out on political issues.

“Today it is the genocide in Gaza. What’s next? If they can silence one artist, they can silence anyone.”

Since his statement, Ed has not spoken and is, insiders tell me, “staying focused” on the hours ahead of the concert.

A source said: “Ed has never faced anything like this before.

“It’s been devastating. He is trying to do the right thing by everyone. Sadly that isn’t always possible.

“As he said in his statement he has his own views on the conflict.

“Just because he has not been public in speaking about them, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care or hasn’t actively been helping in whatever way he can.”