Rafael del Pino founded Ferrovial in 1952. The company's aim was to set up and operate workshops for RENFE (Spain's railway company). Only two years later Ferrovial was working on its first international project in Venezuela.

In third-year college, I took a two-semester course called History of English-speaking Countries. In the first semester, the teacher focused on England. In the second semester, on the United States of America. I remember clearly liking English history more than US history, and I think that this was probably because I found monarchies much less ethical —and therefore much more exciting— than modern democracies. For me, the most memorable English monarch was Henry VIII.

It's a wonderful, beautiful day. The sun is shining and it really seems like summer again. Traffic is noisy as hell and I'm running late for work. We're going to have to grab a taxi, otherwise the boss is going to be all over me today.

Most young people here in Spain are torn between the eternal question, "Should I rent or should I buy?" with regards to buying or renting a house. Indeed, the question is by no means an open and shut case of ‘do's and ‘don't's.'

Democracy started in Britain in 1928 when every adult was given the right to vote. Whether this has led to good government is open to debate. Before that, the biggest event in British political life happened in 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded. So, all in all, things have been pretty quiet for about a thousand years.

July 15th, 1799. French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard was guiding some construction works in Rosetta, Egypt. Suddenly, he heard some of his men shout. Buried in the ground, they had found a beautiful black granite stone with thousands of tiny inscriptions. They named the stone after the city in which it had lain hidden for almost two thousand years.

"When I give bread to the poor, they call me a Christian," someone once said. "But when I ask why the poor have no bread, they call me a communist!"

Nowadays there are so many books that claim to have the magic formula or magic business model for management. You name any type of business and there's likely to be a book that someone wrote about managing that type of business as if management depended on what type of business you were running. While it goes without saying that there are definitely differences in management styles, the basic concepts and management strategies are the same.

A Spanish couple invites me for dinner at their apartment. Ding-dong. The door opens and the ritual begins: a kiss on the left, a kiss on the right, a "let me hang your jacket", an "oh, you brought some pastries, you shouldn't have", etc. Then, even if I have no desire whatsoever to see the rest of the apartment, the Spanish couple puts me on the guided tour of their little palace: "Here's the kitchen... here's the dining room... that's Nacho's room... Nacho, turn the volume down... we're painting this room pink for our baby daughter... see what an elegant toilet we've got".

They say that a short and happy life is better than a long and sad life. But nothing can beat a long and happy life. It's up to you to decide what makes your life happy. What I can do is give you the best tip ever to make your life longer: emigrate to Japan.