By and large, it’s harder for Spanish speakers to master English vowels than vice versa. This is because several English vowel sounds don’t exist in Spanish. Spaniards also have difficulty with ‘H’. This they usually either pronounce as ‘kh’ or, as in Spanish, they completely ignore it. At least in the latter case they’re doing what a good percentage of Brits do but, if they use the ‘kh’ sound, it can be very harsh on the ear. This comment is prompted by a radio ad for an English course which starts “Hello. How are you?” Or, rather, “Khello. Khow are you?”. A little surprising really as I’d have thought it was a prime requirement for the actress to be able to pronounce her few English words properly. Possibly the director’s daughter.

You think you’ve seen everything on a motorway but then, as you’re driving along the only open lane at a reduced speed of 80kph, the driver in front decides to overtake the car ahead of him by weaving in and out of the cones marking off the closed lane. Five minutes after this, I was passed by one of those tiny Smart cars doing at least 140kph. Made my day.

The man accused of starting the fatal forest fire in Guadalajara was a member of an environmental association aimed at protecting the area. He’s now facing the possibility of 20 years in jail. Meanwhile, a cartoon in one of today’s local papers shows the leader of the opposition running in front of a forest fire with a bar-b-q griddle in his hands. From his head is coming a dream bubble showing the president - ‘Bambi’ Zapatero – being roasted as a deer. Quite questionable taste, it seems to me.