Spanish television - the opening ceremony was broadcast by TVE1, the national broadcaster - reacted positively. "Marvellous." "Beautiful." "Impressive". And at the end, one commentator used English to say "best ever". There had to be an explanation as to why the Spanish athletes were not coming out under "E" for España for the less knowledgeable of the viewers, but once they did come out, they were, naturally enough, given prominence, the customised screen allowing for separate images of Spanish athletes with their phones and cameras while other squads entered the stadium.
Newspaper reaction has been less gushing. Indeed, Luis Martínez in "El Mundo" wondered what the TVE commentators were on ("lysergic" is the word he has used to describe the commentary). Martínez was in fact scathing of the whole event. "From Trainspotting to Disappointing" was his title, and he reserved particular criticism for the idea that the Bond-Queen scene was all about showing "British superiority", saying that "no one in the world can take the (British) monarchy seriously". One fancies that Sr. Martínez was determined not to like the ceremony.
Walter Oppenheimer, writing in "El País", was more generous. "London 2012 reached for its intellectual inventory, its rich cultural heritage and its undeniable tendency for the spectacular. After all, what better theatre in the world is there than that of the British?"
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