In
one way at least La Crisis and increased competition seem to
be working effectively. Around the main square in the old quarter,
the café-bars have woken up to the fact that there's not only more
competition but also fewer clients. In one of these - famous for its
high prices, nil by way of tapas and brusque service - there's
been a massive turn-round in respect of all of these. And in another,
which I patronise, the owner yesterday presented me with the gift of
an umbrella. He probably had to wait for the 5 weeks of sun to end
before giving me this but better late than never. OK, it sports the
name Café Savoy and I'll be an advertising vehicle for
the winter but what the hell.
I
spent another half hour last night trying to get hold of my Movistar
(Telefónica)
bill on line, and eventually succeeding. In the process I discovered
the company operates different email addresses, different ID documents and
different passwords for my mobile and fixed lines.
Ironically, the package I'm signed up for is called Fusion.
Needless to say, I also discovered that I pay for things I didn't
sign up for, such as '3-way', whatever that is. On to the next hurdle.
You
may have heard that Ronnie Bigs died this week. He of The
Great Train Robbery.
He was a two-bit crook who ruined several lives but has been treated
by the BBC as if he were some sort of folk hero. And both El
País
and El
Mundo
today carried long obituaries on him. Enough is enough, for God's
sake. It simply isn't credible he was among the most important people
to shuffle off this mortal coil this week. Though I suppose he does
jive with the Spanish fascination for picaresque rogues.
Finally
. . . I'll be spending my Xmas and NY with my daughters in the south,
primarily in Sevilla. Boning up on the place, I read that "No
other European city has so many bars per inhabitant." I suspect
Pontevedra's old quarter could give it a good run for its money. At
the very least. There's scarcely a ground floor there that isn't a
disco-bar. Which is probably why few people actually live in it.
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