Individual Economists

Spain's World Cup Hero Rocks 'Make Spain Great Again' Hat

Zero Hedge -

Spain's World Cup Hero Rocks 'Make Spain Great Again' Hat

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

Spain are the world champions again. Ferran Torres came off the bench and smashed home the only goal of the 2026 World Cup final in the 106th minute against Argentina. The next day, as the open-top bus rolled through Madrid and nearly two million Spaniards packed the streets, the hero of the final stood shirtless, draped in the national flag, and wearing a bright red baseball cap that read "Make Spain Great Again."

The image spread instantly. It was impossible to miss the deliberate echo of President Donald Trump's signature slogan. Trump himself had been on the pitch the night before at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, presenting the trophy and medals to Spain's players after their hard-fought 1-0 extra-time victory.

Torres later said of the winning goal: "I think in the end the goal came from 47 million people, not just those of us that are here. Today destiny was written, it was made for us to win. We're far from our people today but we tried to be as close as possible to them."

The far-left government of Pedro Sánchez does not speak for those 47 million. Many Spaniards are fiercely patriotic. They do not like what is being done to their country.

While the players celebrated a second World Cup title, the same government that waved them off continues to flood Spain with mass illegal immigration, grant amnesties to hundreds of thousands of undocumented arrivals, and watch as public services buckle and crime statistics turn ugly.

In April, Sánchez's socialists pushed through a royal decree granting legal status, work permits, and benefits to roughly half a million illegal migrants - potentially as many as 800,000. The result was immediate chaos. Thousands of military-aged men swarmed consulates in Madrid, Bilbao, and Almería, clambering over security gates and forming kilometre-long queues to obtain the paperwork needed for the amnesty.

Registry offices across the country collapsed under the pressure. Migrants camped overnight. Local officials reported daily requests at social services centres jumping from 1,500 to 5,500 in Madrid alone. Municipal unions warned of "extraordinary pressure" and deteriorating service quality. One official, Jose Fernandez, said bluntly: "I think a hasty decision was made, perhaps even intended to create a collapse."

Days later the scenes grew more extreme. Crowds of undocumented migrants stormed the Gambian embassy in Madrid, scaling walls and fences in desperation to secure documents under the same regularisation process.

Patriots who dared to protest the amnesty were met with violence. In Granada, roughly 40 left-wing extremists tried to shut down a Vox rally. Red paint was thrown, police formed cordons, and Vox leader Santiago Abascal had to confront the mob himself.

"They are preventing us from carrying out this act freely," he said. Abascal has repeatedly described the policy as an "invasion" that is accelerating the "thirdworldization" of Spain. "Tomorrow this chaos will move to the health centres, to the social services, to the real estate agencies... It's already happening. Our priority is to reverse it, radically."

Sánchez defends the amnesty as "an act of justice and a necessity." In a letter to citizens he claimed migrants "already form part of our everyday lives" and insisted Spain "is the daughter of migration and will not become the mother of xenophobia."

Globalist money man Alex Soros publicly praised him, declaring the move showed "what real leadership looks like" and adding, "We need more elected leaders like him!"

Ordinary Spaniards see something very different. A July 2025 poll for El Mundo found 70 percent support mass deportation of illegal immigrants - including majorities of Socialist voters. Support reached 92 percent among Popular Party voters and 89 percent among Vox supporters.

The crime data explains why. Foreigners in Spain commit five times more rapes and four times more murders per capita than Spanish citizens. They make up 31 percent of the prison population.

In Catalonia, migrants - 17 percent of the population - account for 91 percent of convicted rapists. Rape reports nationwide have tripled in six years, from 1,878 in 2019 to 5,206 in 2024. Over the last decade the increase stands at 322 percent, far above the EU average of 150 percent.

This is the Spain that Ferran Torres and his teammates returned to as champions. A country whose people still wave the flag, still fill the streets in the millions for a national team victory, and still remember how to sing songs the authorities would prefer they forgot.

During the Euro 2024 semi-final against France, Spanish fans joined others in belting out a controversial melody that UEFA had tried to ban because right-wing crowds had turned it into an anthem against mass migration.

The contrast could not be sharper. On the pitch and in the streets of Madrid, Spaniards celebrated national excellence and belonging. In the corridors of power, the Sánchez government continues to prioritise open borders, globalist applause, and the steady erosion of the very identity that produced a world-beating football team.

Trump, who handed over the trophy, later said of his interactions with Spanish officials: "I spoke to Spain and I congratulated them on having a great team. I really spoke to a lot of people. I have no tension with him. I have no tension with anybody."

The tension that matters is not between presidents. It is between a far-left elite that treats national identity as an embarrassment and a people who still know what it means to make Spain great again.

Torres did not need a press conference. The red cap said enough. For millions of Spaniards watching their services strain, their streets change, and their crime statistics climb, the message landed exactly as intended.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/21/2026 - 23:25

'Birthright Senatorship'? - Graham's Sister Announces Bid For Full Term As Mace Opts Out

Zero Hedge -

'Birthright Senatorship'? - Graham's Sister Announces Bid For Full Term As Mace Opts Out

Three days after President Trump publicly urged her to run, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham on Monday afternoon announced that -- unsatisfied with serving as an obviously unqualified interim senator through January -- she will run for the full six-year-term that starts in January. The development seemed to brush another potential candidate off the plate, but another one joined the field on Monday. Possibly seeing Trump's endorsement as too ridiculous to be fully intimidating, others may join a field that officially has five candidates.  

Graham's sister made the announcement on Sean Hannity's Fox News show on Monday night, but a clip of her declaring that she'd run was posted earlier that afternoon, perhaps with the intent to discourage other candidates from filing when the window officially opens today; it closes on Tuesday the 28th: 

“I’ve made a decision. I’m in... I can’t see it any other way. I just don’t. I’ve thought, and I’ve prayed, and he’s worked so hard for so long. I just, I can’t just let that die. I’ve got to step in and carry on his legacy. I know he cared about the people of South Carolina so deeply. He worked so hard for them, and I feel like I can do that, too.”

To be clear, Lindsey Graham's "legacy" centers on relentless advocacy for bloody, expensive and often counterproductive regime-change interventions around the globe, to include collaborating with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to persuade Trump to launch a war on Iran on false premises, and fostering the ouster of Ukraine's democratically-elected president before then leading the charge to pour billions of dollars of weapons into an economy-damaging proxy war against Russia. 

The start of the new week also brought us a rebranding of Graham's sister. When South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed her to be a placeholder for the remainder of her brother's term that ends in January -- and in the days since -- she was universally referred to as Darline Nordone or Darline Graham Nordone. With her announcement, she's suddenly "Darline Graham," even though she remains married to Larry Nordone, about whom very little is publicly known.

The Darline Graham relabeling is obviously meant to capitalize on name recognition, which, aside from the Trump endorsement, is her only political asset. She has never held an elected office. She's commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, and previously held a communications role in the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department.  Ever the Trump today, Hannity tried using Monday's softball interview to polish Darline Graham's thin resume. "You've had your own life and success," he said. "You have been the commissioner of South Carolina's commission for the blind. You've held this position since 2019. It's a 130 person agency, $90 million budget you ran, 10 offices across South Carolina ... you've got a lot of experience."  

Darline Graham, who seemingly buys her ladies' US-flag brooches at the same place as Mark Levin, called herself Darline Nordone up until Monday

At least one potential opponent seemed to find Trump's endorsement sufficiently threatening: Rep. Nancy Mace, who's poised to hand over her House seat in January after having foregone reelection for a failed bid for governor, had teased at a run on social media within hours of Lindsey Graham's death. On Monday, however, Mace announced she will not enter the GOP special primary election that will take place on Aug. 11, with a potential run-off of the top two finishers on Aug 25. “I’m not running for the U.S. Senate, not because I’m backing down from a fight, but because the one I’m already in matters right now,” she said, referring to her work on laws to protect women and girls who are victims of sexual misconduct. 

Undaunted, Congressman Russell Fry jumped into the race on Monday. Fry was reportedly hand-picked by Trump to unseat Republican Tom Rice in 2022, as payback for Rice's vote to impeach Trump over the Jan 6, 2021 Capitol Hill riot. He won and is considered close to the Trump team. “There is no other way to put it: Lindsey Graham was one of a kind. There is no replacing him. But I believe the best way to honor his legacy is to fight alongside the President just as steadfastly as he did,” Fry said in a statement. Hedging his bets, Fry will also continue pursuing reelection to the House.   

Nordone Graham and Fry join a field that includes businessman Mark Lynch, who was trounced by Lindsey Graham in the June GOP primary; Duke Buckner, a lawyer who has previously run for the state's heavily-Democratic 6th Congressional District seat; and US Rep. Ralph Norman. At 73 years old, Norman's age might be a liability, but he's picked up endorsements from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Turning Point Action and Nancy Mace. 

The winner will go up against Democrat pediatrician Annie Andrews, who previously failed to unseat Mace, and who has founded a PAC focusing on issues like climate change, gun control and voting rights. Before Lindsey Graham suddenly died on July 11 from an aortic dissection, the Cook Political Report rated the South Carolina seat "Solid R." That's unlikely to change no matter who wins the Aug 11 GOP primary.

The big question is whether Trump's endorsement and outside spending in a very short race can overcome Darline Graham's lack of credentials -- and perhaps some reluctance among South Carolina Republicans to see their Senate seat treated like inheritable property. So far there's no indication there will be a debate among the candidates. That's a shame for South Carolina voters, but Darline Graham must be relieved that she won't have to face at least four other candidates and a moderator grilling her on a variety of national and international issues she likely knows very little about and has even less experience articulating. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/21/2026 - 23:00

Pages