Dawn

Dawn

Friday, July 22, 2016

Ponters Pensées: 22.7.16

Spain's Economy: As expected, Madrid has demanded another 2 years to meet the EU's 'sacrosanct' deficit limit of 3%. Of course, no one believes it will achieve this. Least of all in Spain, where we might well have a 3rd general election in November. Meaning more lies, give-aways and phony promises.

Spain's Civil War: Somewhere this week I read and noted that: Spain’s darkest hours are very much part of a living discourse. This near-three year disaster (it would endure until April 1 1939) is not so much dusty textbook subject as angry scar – still red and sore in the places where people are prone to pick at it. Sorry, can't recall where. But the comparison was with other recent civil wars around the world where attempts ar reconciliation have taken place. Here, there's an omerta around the war and its traumas, called El Olvido. The Forgetting. Which has not been entirely successful. Here's one 5-star book on the subject.

Spain: Here's another 6 questions to test your knowledge:-

1. When did the Catholic Church begin to distance itself from Franco's repressive dictatorship?
a. 1942
b. The late 50s
c. Never

2. Was the 1971 attempt by certain Spanish Catholic clerics to get the Church to aplogise for its role in the Civil War:-
a. A success
b. A failure
c. A hoax.

3. After Franco's heir apparent was blown sky high by ETA in 1973, what was he nicknamed?:-
a. That fascist bastard
b. That hell-bound fascist bastard
c. Spain's first astronaut

4. Spain's middle class was ony 14% of the population in 1950. To what did it grow by 1975?
a. 25%
b. 30%
c. 33%

5. Women were 15% of the working population in 1950. To what had this grown by 1974?:-
a. 19%
b. 25%
c. 30%

6. Charlie Chaplin's 1937 film The Great Dictator was first shown in Spain in:-
a. 1945
b. 1967
c. 1972

The Camino: At least here in Galicia, 2016 numbers are well up on the previous record year of 2010. No wonder, as reader Sierra has pointed out, new albergues are springing up in village and towns along the 12 Ways to Santiago. Or Finisterra, if you're really serious about your pilgrimage.

Finally . . . Fashion: My friend, Phil, tells me the latest thing for men is sandals with socks. This reminds me of the old joke that the only reason British men wear sandals is to allow their socks to breathe. And . . Taking a refresco in town yesterday evening I clocked a stocky chap sporting a side-cut, a top knot, a full beard, a shoulder bag and, inter alia, baggy harem(?) trousers. He reminded me of a a tartar horseman. And might well have been happy with this comparison. Ignoring the head on a pike.



GALLERY

Here's a couple of pretty nondescript fotos of some parked cars. Up until this week, this was a 'secret' place down by the river - opposite the old quarter - where I and a few others regularly parked for free. Suddenly, it's been discovered and was packed to the gunnels yesterday and the day before. God knows why. But I now confidently predict:- 1. Some guy from Nigeria or Somalia will turn up to 'look after' the cars and demand payment; then 2. The council will make it an offical, fee-paying carpark. Or un parking.





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