I’m not sure I believe this but a Spanish friend told me last night the national team for the Winter Olympics have been waiting 4 days in Turin for their luggage, after it went astray at Madrid’s new airport terminal. The good news is that the building is apparently one of the architectural wonders of the age.

As if things weren’t already cloudy enough around the new anti-smoking law, the President of the government of the Madrid region has announced plans to soften the law there and to allow smoking in company cafeterias, on the terraces of bars and at weddings and [sic] Holy Communions. The minister of Health has threatened legal action, if the plans proceed. Needless to say, the antagonists are from different legal parties.

And talking of politics, it frequently seems to me to be a tougher art in Spain than most any other countries. For one thing, there are the nationalist/regionalist demands from at least 3 of the ‘autonomous communities’. Secondly [and not unrelatedly], there are coalitions on top of coalitions, on top of coalitions, on top of coalitions - at state, regional, provincial and town hall levels. And then there’s the Catholic Church. Frankly, it’s possibly a miracle anything happens at all. An example of a masterstroke in this world of Byzantine complexity is said to be the just-announced decision of President Zapatero to send the long-time mayor of La Coruña to Rome as ambassador to the Vatican. In one fell swoop, he has apparently pleased the Church [for sending a ‘reactionary’], the Socialist Party of Galicia [for promoting an illustrious member] and the Galician Nationalist Party [for getting rid of a thorn in their side.] Some days are diamonds. But not many, I guess.

To balance my negative comments upon Spain [where I chose to live] and the UK [where I don’t] here’s the view of a right-of-centre commentator on life there. It’s a tad dyspeptic but nonetheless probably a view shared my millions:- The public have come to despise the Labour Party. They hate its opportunism, its glibness, its dishonesty; but, above all, they hate its record of failure. Britain - even Scotland, where vast amounts of taxpayer-funded bribes have been paid in the past nine years - is no better than it was in 1997. Every serious survey shows quality of life has plummeted since then. Our hospitals are dirtier and less efficient and some waiting lists are longer. Our schools are turning out an ever-thicker brand of child at the age of 16 or 18. Our police are obsessed with being nice to groups that cause public danger rather than prosecuting them. Our public transport system is expensive and inadequate. Our welfare state rewards the feckless while penalising what the Victorians so aptly called "the deserving poor". Our Armed Forces are sent abroad to die for their country on the basis of a lie. Our once United Kingdom has been broken up without any great improvements being noticed as a result. And all this is paid for by swingeing taxation, which has to be penal because of the way it is used by Mr Brown to buy votes from public sector workers. Feel free to disagree. Or gloat.

Finally, here’s the short list for the annual competition held in the UK for the Oddest Book Title of the Year:-
• People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It
• Bullying and Sexual Harassment: A Practical Handbook
• Rhino Horn Stockpile Management: Minimum Standards and Best Practices from East and Southern Africa
• Ancient Starch Research
• Soil Nailing: Best Practice Guidance
• Nessus, Snort and Ethereal Powertools

And a new word I’ve just come across: Scofflaw - a contemptuous law violator