Yet another survey to make the Spanish feel bad about themselves. The World Economic Forum places the country only 27th in a list of 58 countries, developed and not so developed. In fact, things would have been much worse if Spain’s average hadn’t benefited from its top five ranking for ‘Health and Wellbeing’. Within the devilish detail, Spain fared particularly badly for ‘Equality between the sexes’. El Pais has suggested this is because the country is still struggling with the family/work split. Things will only improve, it says, if men take a greater role in housework and child-minding. Quite an obstacle, I fear. Though the gay marriage and adoption statute should help.

Incidentally, the UK’s ‘Health and Wellbeing’ rank was 28th out of 58. No wonder the NHS is the ‘envy of the world’.

Meanwhile, over in ‘Galicia’s fifth province’, Mr Fraga has taken time off from shooting roe deer to address a few more election rallies in Buenos Aires and to promise work in Spain for grandchildren of Galician emigrants. Quite how he will do this when the region’s unemployment level is even worse than the national average is anyone’s guess. At 83, I suspect he’s counting on being dead before any of them start complaining about broken promises.

There are 2 parallel roads which link Pontevedra and Vigo, the old 2-lane National road and the newer 4-lane motorway. The latter is controversial as the toll on it is high. The Galician government has responded to demands for a reduction by announcing that a third parallel road will be built, a little further inland. This, too, will be both a 4-lane motorway and a toll road, allowing the charge on the current motorway to be lifted. This seems to me to be planning madness and I’m left wondering what lies behind it. I suppose one factor is that it isn’t the Spanish taxpayer financing it. What the other factors might be, I can’t begin to guess.

A reader has written expressing astonishment that I completed two banking transactions in a single day and asking to which saint I pray. Well, in truth only one of the successful transactions was at my bank; the other was at one of the local tax offices. And tomorrow morning I must gird my loins for another trip to the bank. Once again, I will give them instructions for the rollover of my maturing deposit and once again I will be told that – in my interests – this can’t be done for a day or three. So, on the way out. I might just kick over the table of crockery.