Reality programmes are a money-spinning godsend for what passes for prime-time TV in Spain. For not only can you churn out endless variants on the basic voyeuristic theme but you can build on these by involving friends and family of the inmates in a studio discussion of every banal development, secure in the knowledge they'll end up hurling abuse at one another. Usually en masse. If you want to get some idea of what this is like, take a look at the interchanges on the BBC’s Strictly Dance Fever between the 'nasty' judge, Arlene, and the female dancing coach, magnify the volume and intensity by ten and then imagine it going on for hours on end.

The trial has begun of the men accused of committing the Madrid bombings of last year. The Prosecutor has demanded 70,000 years in jail for each of the two ringleaders. I suppose you’d have to regard this as a stiff sentence, at least compared with that given to the ex head of national security who diverted millions into his own bank accounts. After a few weeks of real prison, he’s now allowed to go home during the day, so long as he’s back for story time before bed. Ironically, this is called ‘third degree’ punishment in Spanish.

The Spanish President, Mr ‘Bambi’ Zapatero, has said that he will address the final rally of the No faction, just before next month’s French referendum on the EU Constitution. The French being harangued by the Spanish! That should do the trick. One way or another.