As is well known, the Spanish favour superlatives. So, women here are never just ‘pretty’ [bonita] but at least ‘beautiful’ [guapa] and frequently ‘very beautiful’ [guapisima]. In fact, if you tell a woman she’s merely bonita, I suspect you run the risk of making what the Spanish call una indirecta. In other words, everyone [especially her!] will think you’re accusing her of being ugly. In such a way are words devalued. One small but telling example of Spanish hyperbole is that here young girls are not called Princesa but Reina, or Queen. The same is true of young bitches.

A teacher friend of my elder daughter stayed with us over Christmas. Like her, he teaches English in Madrid whilst writing novels. He frequently asks his young pupils to list the characteristics of a good friend. Without fail, he says, one of these will be that a good friend allows you to copy his answers during exams. I must check this with the English teachers to whom I give a conversation class each week. Well, it’s not really a class; I merely make some provocative statement and listen to them argue for an hour. As I think I’ve said before, I really should pay the school for being entertained.

I neglected to point out yesterday that the problem of calling Christmas ‘Christmas’ related to the UK, not Spain. Thank God it will be long time before, if ever, we face this sort of nonsense here. This is just one of the ways in which Spanish society is far saner than Britain’s. Interestingly, a US reader has said there’s been something of a backlash there against this madness, with customers boycotting shops which decline to feature the word ‘Christmas’. I fear, though, to some Europeans this will simply be further evidence that the USA is choc-a-bloc with religious nuts.

And talking of sanity.…. The press reported today that 90% of the small cafés, bars and restaurants which were given the choice have opted to be Smoking, rather than Non-Smoking - establishments. As I said yesterday, larger places must, by September, provide separate [air-extracted] facilities for smokers, whether they want to or not. The Ministry of Health says they’re surprised and disappointed at this initial situation and hope commercial sense will effect a change, as and when customers start avoiding the smoke-ridden places in their millions. Vamos a ver. Meanwhile, I can understand them being disappointed but it would astonish me if they really were surprised. Unless they feared 100%.