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Spain has come a long way in 50 years – from authoritarian rule under General Franco to a forward looking and prosperous democracy.

The UK General Election went mostly to script but there were important takeaways. First, Labour won a huge majority but with a surprisingly low share of the popular vote. Second, the right-of-centre parties will start to realign, given the rout of the Conservative Party. Third, the two-party system is over. Voters will see that other parties can do well despite the electoral system.

The depressing thing about last week is that daylight hours are now shortening, having passed the summer solstice on Thursday. This event coincided with parts of Stonehenge being coated in orange powder paint as Just Stop Oil protesters targeted the site.

Am I turning into Victor Meldrew? Last week I found myself telling people how to queue properly for a taxi and I was surprised how direct I was. My wife, who was with me, made the observation (unhelpfully) that I was starting to resemble the grumpy character from the TV series 'One Foot in the Grave'. Perhaps it comes with age, as some inhibitions fall away and the inner character appears.

The surprise announcement of a general election drowned out other developments last week. It is a gamble for a governing party to test its popularity when opinion polls suggest a 20-point deficit.

There is a programme on TV called 'Race Across the World'. I would recommend it on three levels.

Federal Reserve (Fed) watching was the main focus of markets last week. As expected, there was no interest rate change.

The US economy grew at a slower rate than expected in the first quarter, at an annualised 1.6%. Investors reacted by pushing down yields as they focused on the shortfall. However, two opposing forces drove 10-year yields above 4.7%.