I see that frog-headed, Italian referee who denied Everton a perfectly legitimate goal in a recent European match is now appearing in ads for Opel Vectras in Spain. That’s one car off the list, then.

Only 7% of people rent property in Spain, the lowest level in Europe. It compares with 40% in Denmark and Finland, and 50% in Germany. Of course, the number would be higher if young Spaniards didn’t stay with their parents into well into their 30’s but it’s still impressively low. And it must mean a lot of people have got significantly richer during the property boom of the last decade. But this is surely about to end as my daughter is on the verge of buying a flat in Madrid.

Spanish is a more flowery, verbose language than English. For example, rain is never referred to as just ‘heavy’ or ‘light’ but as being of a 'strong/weak character’. In the latter case, I have this image of clouds which are easily led, prone to drinking or gambling and generally quite unreliable. You wouldn't want your daughter bringing one home.

A Frenchman is quoted in one of the national papers today as saying his fellow countrymen admire the dynamism of the Spanish. This foxed me for a while but then I concluded it was a reference to either the growth of the economy, the nightlife, or the driving of Renault cars by Fernando Alonso. I wonder if he could be persuaded to drive one into the back of an Opel Vectra driven by an Italian ex-referee.

For new readers – If you’ve arrived here because of an interest in Galicia or Pontevedra, you might find my non-commercial guides interesting – at colindavies.net