In yesterday’s El Mundo it was reported that the Madrid authorities had decided to compel dog owners to register their dog’s DNA so that the said owners could be traced in respect of abandoned faeces. Sad to say, today’s edition reports that the Mayor has insisted that the plans have been cancelled, on grounds of cost. So, we will see none of the promised motocacas on the Madrid streets. Or shitmobiles to you and me. And I was so looking forward to reading the various job ads associated with the challenge.

It continues to amaze me how Spanish drivers will quietly tolerate the most flagrantly stupid and obstructive driving of others, whilst getting very irate if you delay a micro-second at the traffic lights. I’m not so much talking here about blocking the road with inconsiderate parking or coming the wrong way down a one-way street. My impression with these [relatively] minor misdemeanours is that other drivers don’t complain because they know very well they would do the same thing if they had to. What I mean is imbeciles who drive down the hard shoulder when there are long delays on the motorway and then signal that they intend to rejoin the traffic when they get to the head of the queue. Without fail they are immediately let in, even by someone who has resisted the temptation to do the same thing.

I’m off to the UK again tomorrow for a week or so and will leave you with the following lean pickings on the Wordwatch front:

Escáner – Scanner
Búnker – Bunker. Probably German in origin.