Well, I’ve had a thousand hits to my website since I added the counter in mid July. Very gratifying. Even more thrilling was knowing who the 1000th visitor was – me. Seeing the total at 999, I just couldn’t resist logging off and logging back on again!

Talking of little pleasures, one of the joys of my favourite morning café is that the staff occasionally lapse into stereotypical Latino roles and argue vehemently with each other. This they do with total disregard for the presence of customers. And it can go on for some time but, impressively, without any pause in critical tasks such as serving the drinks and wiping down the counter. In fact, at times like this, these activities seem to become slightly frenetic. In truth, I suspect I am the only customer who notices.

I see in the British press that the previous Spanish government was one of the many parties – including Mrs Thatcher’s son – who were involved in the Equatorial Guinea imbroglio. Strangely enough, I haven’t seen anything about this in the Spanish press as yet. Neither have I read anything about the measures being taken to reduce the heat over Gibraltar, such as the lifting of the ban on cruise ships visiting Spanish ports if they have stopped over at The Rock. Not many votes in silent diplomacy, I suppose.

WordWatch
Un body – A body stocking. Fair enough; English has stolen the French word basque for this, I believe.