The river had been unusually swollen because of the recent rains, and evidently the current had carried the car a few yards downstream. There was no sign of the car’s driver. All that was known was that it was an Avis car, and that it had been hired in Bonn by a Peter Herzen. The strange thing was that there was no sign of luggage in the car either, and it was suggested that, since he was traveling alone, he had kept his traveling bag on the back seat of the car, and that the water had swept it away. As night settled on the Ramblas, Carvalho began to register the symptoms that marked the onset of the daily confrontation. The riot squad had begun moving into position, according to the prescribed rituals of the ongoing state of siege. Apolitical counter-cultural youth and young counter-cultural politicos maintained their customary distance from each other. At any moment a gang of ultra right-wing provocateurs might appear, and you would see the militants of this and that party disperse and head for their now legalized party offices, since they didn’t want to find themselves removed from their recently acquired pedestal of legality and historical respectability by getting involved in street brawls.
What do You think about The Angst-Ridden Executive?
