Tendido Cero is the term given to an area of the bullring where you can get some good seats. It’s also one of London’s most popular Spanish eateries, run by the hugely inspired  and amiable Abel Lusa.

Walls are decorated  with colourful pictures of matadors, waiters are dressed in tight-fitting black, the wine and tapas are to die for.  Near the bar, there is now a celebratory  replica of  FIFA’s World Cup and a Spanish flag. It was a perfect venue for Jimmy’s informal dining club to discuss  matters of life and death, like Spain’s World Cup victory, Maradona’s sacking,  and ,Catalonia’s bullfighting ban.

Concensus was that Diego might have been a brilliant player once but he was no great coach. He also personified the mad politics of a failed state.

 Catalans and non-Catalans argued about the bull ban. Those in favour said it was an important gesture by a people that were fed up with being pushed around by the central government in Madrid and had every right to develop the society they wanted. Non-Catalans suggested than  an animal rights campaign had degenerated into political posturing , if not demagoguery. A democratic society should give people the freedom to entertain themselves in whatever way they wanted, and there were many people in Catalonia who liked bullfighting.

Moves for the ban sprung from animal rights campaigners collecting signatures. It succeeded with a majority vote of deputies in the Catalan parliament. The rest of Spain is unlikely to follow, at least in the short term. But let’s not forget the British parliament banned fox-hunting.

Vicente del Bosque is an uncorruptable son of a Spanish  Republican rail worker. Del Bosque played for Real Madrid and carried the coffin of the legendary Santiago Bernabeu on his shoulders. As national coach, he drew in and inspired players from around Spain, including seven Barca stars. He should stand for president.

Such was the talk, the tertulia on a night when the Cup was kissed  and held by those present, reliving the dream of La Roja’s glorious victory.

Tertulianos included Walter Oppenheimer of El Pais, Inigo Gurruchaga of El Correo, Amparo Polo and Roberto Casado of Expansion, Barbara Mora of ELColectivodeLondres magazine, Elena Moya of The Guardian, and John Kennedy of The Society of Irish Latin American Studies.

Special guest was Roberto Guareschi , former editor-in-chief of Argentina’s Clarin newspaper who is visiting London.

The anecdote  of the evening.  What did Maradona whisper in Palermo’s ear before the veteran player went out  and scored the goal that qualified Argentina for the World Cup? “Just go out and score a goal.” No technique , no strategy-just elemental instinct, and a belief that God is on your side.

Recent articles worth googling...

This is not the end for Diego Maradona ........on CNN.com

Spain’s Quiet Conqueror....www.independent.co.uk