As mentioned, in recent
weeks the insensitive Spanish President has taken to insisting that Spain is not
only finally out of her recession but also growing at such a pace
she's become a model for the rest of Europe. Someone must have had a
quiet word with him and told him this didn't go down well with the
populace when so many millions remain unemployed and bars and shops
continue to close. So his office has now clarified the President's
remarks, explaining that what he really meant was that Spain is at
the start of the path that leads towards recovery, not that wages
are rising and shops full of happy customers. So, that's alright
then.
I heard the phrase
collusion, coercion, corruption today and was then surprised to find
it wasn't about Spain, but India. But, anyway, "Why is Spain so
corrupt" is a question which occurs to all of us at some time.
And here's The Economist's attempt at an answer.
Notwithstanding the
corruption - which, in truth, never affects your daily life - if you
aspire to fully assimilate into Spanish life, here's 7 reasons why
you'll never succeed. It'd be good to see a Spaniard's equivalent
list for the UK and the USA.
I've mentioned the new,
Orwellingly entitled, The Law of Citizen Security. Less formally,
it's referred to as The Gag Law. Here's some detail on it from El
País.
There's a new film set
in Galicia. And recorded in Gallego even. Sadly this reviewer endorses the myth that it never stops raining here - Diego Romero
Suarez-Llanos’s photography does a fine job of rendering the rich
tones and textures of Galicia, which seems to be composed of
darkness, rain, moss and stone in varying quantities. But if it keeps
away the foreign tourists, I guess it's worth tolerating this
nonsense. The stone is granite, of course. Which looks almost as good
when it's raining as when the sun shines on it. Or perhaps I've gone
native.
I've mentioned France's
penalty-free flouting of EU rules. Here's someone's acute observation
on the EU, from a UK perspective: Berlin may be allowed to drag its feet for two decades on
completing the single market in services. Paris may be able to ignore
supposedly non-negotiable limits on eurozone budget deficits. But
when it comes to an issue of crucial importance to Britain, Angela
Merkel has made it clear to David Cameron that we would not be given
similar leeway. For every year of our forty-year membership, Britain
has paid more into the EU’s coffers than we get back. But
apparently it’s we, strict observers of every EU rule, who are the
bad Europeans. Give a dog a bad name, I suppose.
A small light has gone
out and the world is a tad poorer, with the death of Mandy Rice
Davies (no relative). For those who don't know, she was a minor
character in a huge sex-&-spying scandal which hit the British
government in the 60s, when she was the (very) young consort of a
trio of rich middle-aged men and the star of the trial of one of
these. Her witty riposte "He would say that, wouldn't he?"
is now commonplace in the UK. She seems to have lived in Spain for a
while but I can't find out where. Anyone know? It's interesting to
note that Andrew LLoyd Webber feels that, 'given a different roll of
the dice', Ms Rice Davies was smart enough to have become head of the
Royal Academy. That said:-
The moving finger
writes and, having writ,
Nor all thy piety nor
wit,
Shall lure it back to
cancel half a line
Nor all thy tears wash
out a word of it.
All in all, though, she
seems to have had a pretty good life, with 3 husbands.
Finally . . . More on
the new Spanish word ryanairing: This has been defined as:- A new
sport for experiencing extreme emotions. This follows the panic
stimulated by the de-pressurisation of one of the airline's planes en
route to Spain. Apologies for giving the company some publicity.
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