I
hadn't known that – in the same way as the small Spanish fleet was
destroyed along with the French fleet at Trafalgar in 1805 – the
smaller Portuguese fleet went down with the Spanish armada in 1588.
Largely thanks to bad weather, of course.
Which
is a nice segue into advice that BBC Radio 4 has recently being
broadcasting a program called The Invention of Spain. This
can't be downloaded, it seems, but you can listen to the three
episodes here. Here's a taster - Catalonia,
Castille, Galicia and the Basques . . . it's been said that many of
Spain's problems come from the pretence that she is one country. By
the way, the beautifully spoken woman from the LSE is from Galicia
I
was amused to see the usual depiction of a plutocrat in a Spanish
paper this week. A stovepipe hat; a fat gut; a large cigar; and a
stuffed briefcase. But there were two differences from the standard
caricature of a rapacious businessman or banker. Firstly, there was
no dollar sign on the briefcase, and, secondly, the guy is wearing
sunglasses. Which, I believe, is to signify he's a homegrown rogue.
You
may have seen this week the seven men who run China. Personally, I
don't hold out much hope for the guy who broke the ranks of red and
sported a blue tie.
One
of the most disturbing things about the saga of pitiless evictions
under Spain's draconian law is that previous attempts to ameliorate
it were quashed both by the previous socialist (PSOE) government and
by the current conservative (PP) government. In the interests of
bankers, one assumes. Good to have friends in high places. And a
populace which expects little of its leaders and politicians.
Talking
about governmental failure – One of the reasons why the Spanish
property market is flat is that many Brits have been fed a constant
diet of abuses in Andalucia, the worst of which left the Priors
living in a garage next to the rubble which had been their house.
Even the EU was brought in to pressurise the Spanish government,
resulting in the Auken
Report on the abuses and defects of the Spanish property market. This
was sent the Spanish authorities at the beginning of 2009. Almost
four years on, no response has been made. It's hard to believe they
take it seriously. Or accord it a high priority.
Finally,
here's an article on Galicia's up and coming godello white grape.
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