{
  "id": 72202,
  "title": "‘Speed’ to work, Nazi salutes and a dead colleague: that’s what the Beatles’ “Erasmus” was like in Hamburg",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/anfetas-para-trabajar-saludos-nazis-y-un-companero-muerto-asi-fue-el",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-03T03:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "El Pais",
    "slug": "el-pais",
    "url": "https://elpais.com/icon/2026-08-03/anfetas-para-trabajar-saludos-nazis-y-un-companero-muerto-asi-fue-el-erasmus-de-los-beatles-en-hamburgo.html"
  },
  "original_language": "es",
  "account": "In a recent interview to promote his latest album, The Boys Of Dungeon Lane, Paul McCartney had to respond to one of the most recurring questions of his career: if he really once set fire to a condom. Before composing songs like Yesterday or Hey Jude, the musician was the mastermind behind one of the most notorious incidents during the Beatles' time in Hamburg, Germany, between 1960 and 1962. “It was a dismal place, with concrete walls. When we were leaving, as an act of rebellion against that horrible accommodation, since Pete [Best, the drummer at the time] was carrying a condom with him, we took it out, nailed it and set it on fire,” McCartney told the show's presenter, while chewing on a vegan nugget (the interview was set up at a fried chicken restaurant). “They burn very well, have you never set one on fire? You haven't really lived until you set a condom on fire.”",
  "summary": "Un libro y un nuevo documental exploran los turbulentos años que la banda de Liverpool pasó ganándose la vida en Alemania antes de alcanzar la fama, donde conformaron su imagen y estilo",
  "key_points": [
    "Beatles spent 1960-1962 in Hamburg, Germany",
    "Paul McCartney protested subpar living conditions",
    "Burned condom provided warmth and light"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}