The product being advertised to the tune of Land of Hope and Glory turns out to be a biscuit. I guess the ‘link’ is the [British?] king who is addressing a family on its merits.

There was a report last week on the number of students applying to Spanish universities, the marks they have to achieve in the national selection exams and the cost of the various courses available. It was no surprise to read that Medicine tops all the lists, except that Physiotherapy can be even more expensive to study. More surprising was the fact that Law is not a particularly popular subject and demands the lowest marks of all for a place. What was really perplexing, to me at least, was that both Nursing and Physiotherapy were just below Medicine in all the lists. Clearly, there must be some very clever nurses and physiotherapists in Spain. Talking to my Spanish friends about why these subjects should have this status we covered a range of reasons that might be considered quite universal but finally came to the Spanish factor. Not for the first time, it was impressed on me that it is quite acceptable here for you to aim for something below your true capability if this guarantees you a life easier than the one you would have in the more elevated career. As they say here, ‘One should work to live, not live to work’. Of course, it helps if you can reside at home and be completely subsidised by your parents until you get married in your 30s.

Another survey told us what a quick glance into any bar would, i. e. that, in the 20-40 age group, there are now more women smoking than men. It’s apparently considered sophisticated to kill yourself, whilst impregnating your hair and clothes with the noxious odour of nicotine. Call me old-fashioned, but I can think of better ways to show how independent you are than becoming totally dependent.

Meanwhile, another local 19 year old died on the motorway this weekend when his car – ‘for reasons as yet undetermined’ – crashed into the central barrier on a curve. Needless to say, neither he nor either of his two seriously injured passengers were wearing seat belts.

And on a lighter note…..

Wordwatch

Romperécords – Record breaker
Clúster – Group, especially of companies
Clan – Group, of criminals
Nightology – Your guess is as good as mine; it appears in an ad
Filibusterismo – Filibustering.