Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen and Steven Spielberg wow restaurant staff with last-minute booking
If people were asked who their dream dinner party guests might be there’s a chance either Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen or Steven Spielberg might make the list.
It’s therefore no surprise waiting staff in Barcelona had to do a double-take when the former US president, the iconic singer-songwriter, and the Oscar-winning director sat down for something to eat at the Amar restaurant in the Palace Hotel on Thursday.
Staff member Pol Perello uploaded a photo of the three men posing with staff and chefs with the comment: “The pleasure this job brings you!”
The last-minute booking took place after Mr Obama and his wife, the former first lady Michelle, arrived in Barcelona to attend a concert by Springsteen at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium on Friday night.
Amar chef Rafa Zafra told Spanish radio network Cadena SER the reservation was made only hours beforehand at the recommendation of famed Spanish-American chef José Andrés.
“José Andrés called me and told me that it was a very important table, but that we should please not say anything,” Mr Zafra said.
“And of course, I began to investigate and saw that Obama was coming, that Bruce had a concert.”
The Obamas walk through central Barcelona. Pic: AP
The chef added the group were “tired” but keen to “try everything”.
He said they “ate a lot” – including oysters, shellfish, and caviar – and “drank a little” during the meal.
“The one who behaved best was the one who had to work today,” Mr Zafra said, referring to Springsteen’s Friday night concert.
On the group photo, Mr Zafra said: “The security people told us to please not ask them for photos, but just before leaving, Obama entered the kitchen and told us that this had been one of their best meals and if they could take a photo with the whole team.”
On Friday, the Obamas took in some of Barcelona’s most famous cultural sights.
Stops on the tour were set to include the Sagrada Familia basilica, designed by Antoni Gaudi, and the Picasso museum.
Spanish news outlets showed the former president and first lady walking hand in hand through central Barcelona surrounded by a large group of security guards.
Mrs Obama later appeared on stage and played the tambourine as she sang along to Springsteen’s performance of Glory Days.
Mr Obama and Springsteen first met on the presidential campaign trail in 2008. In 2021, they hosted a podcast that spawned a book Renegades: Born in the USA.
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
Trump criticises Putin – latest updates
Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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