Shooting on Fifth Avenue

I could shoot people on Fifth Avenue and I wouldn't lose any votes. Donald Trump said this phrase in 2016, before winning his first nomination as the Republican presidential candidate of the United States. And he was right. When someone, or something, rationally understands the springs of passion and knows how to use them, they are protected. It doesn't matter what they do or say. Their followers will follow them to the ends of the earth. Not only that. Any hint of criticism received by someone they idolize, regardless of the tone, form, or reasons behind it, will be understood as an unfair and unacceptable attack. The leader is only allowed to be idolized.

Trump expressed it in fewer words: I could kill and people would still love me. Provocative and exaggerated. But it's a crystal-clear truth. It doesn't work only with him. Sánchez and Puigdemont, to name just two active politicians, arouse passions of equal intensity. The same happens with acronyms. There are people who would continue to vote for their party even if the candidate were a cat or a hummingbird. The most rock-solid loyalty is that which comes from the gut and disguises itself as reason.

Someone who could also shoot people, in this case on Diagonal or in Plaça Francesc Macià, without losing his footing is Joan Laporta. The condition, in his case, is that the ball, more or less, goes where it should. But in everything else, the Barça president can do whatever he wants because he knows he has guaranteed immunity. Tomorrow, Barça will play Valencia at the Johan Cruyff Stadium in front of 6,000 spectators. It's an absurdity only attributable to the improvisation and lack of professionalism with which the club has handled the final stretch of the construction of the new stadium. No permits, no sloppy talk. The only person responsible is the club, as it has been on the multiple occasions when it has announced a debut date at the new Blaugrana temple only to fail to meet it.

Playing at the Johan Cruyff is a nonsense only attributable to the club's improvisation.

The problem isn't the ten-month delay in the project. The complexity of the project or the changes to improve it may justify a delay. But the role of a good manager is to foresee what might happen and anticipate solutions. And in this regard, the club hasn't lived up to expectations. It deserves a severe reprimand for its amateurism and frivolity.

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As it also deserves for the lack of transparency. In this case, not for the return date to Camp Nou, but for refusing to provide details of the reasons for the delay. And, especially, for not specifying with certified data the negative economic impact this may have on the club's coffers. Whether due to the increased cost of the project or the lost profits attributable to the delay in opening the ground.

But as I said, it's not just Trump who can shoot on Fifth Avenue.