I read in a British paper that the Spanish government‘s latest bit of social engineering is an Act of Parliament to change the marriage vows so that men undertake to shoulder more of the house and child work. I’ve yet to see mention of this in the Spanish press but can’t help thinking that the Catholic Church must logically oppose it on the grounds that it will surely accelerate the reduction in the marriage rate. Possibly even more than gay unions.

In a Spanish newspaper I read today of a web site offering internet English courses. It goes by the wonderful name of Lerny English and their site is lerny.com. Here you can take a short test to determine your current level of ability. Strangely enough, I can’t achieve more than ‘competent speaker’ so am in need of one of the courses. Obviously the company can’t be fraudulent so my conclusion is that the simple test offered can’t really distinguish between fluent and competent speakers of English. If anyone gets above 5.8 on the test, could they please share their answers with us. Or me, at least.

A Spanish friend recently told me that shellfish – Galicia’s greatest claim to fame – was once the reserve of the poor. I was a tad incredulous about this but other friends have not only confirmed it but told me that even in times of famine during the Civil War the people of Vigo declined to eat it. Fish, on the other hand, was a different matter.

Strange events in a local village. A group of Rumanians tried to kidnap a gypsy girl of 8 when she went to get the family bread from a nearby service station. What, I wonder, would a gang of Rumanians have against a group of gypsies? Perhaps it was something to do with what the Spanish papers regularly term ‘a settling of accounts’. Incidentally, the young girl was going for the bread at just before 11pm, presumably for the evening meal.