My lovely Spanish friend, Marta, has torn a strip off me for being horribly nasty to Spanish people. So I guess it’s time to wheel out my usual defence to the criticism that I’m more negative than positive about Spain. Firstly, I admit there’s a bias but believe it’s unavoidable. I write about what interests and amuses me in the hope this is true for others. It’s a sad truism that people are far more interested in bad news than good news. So no one is going to hit my blog for regular paeans of praise to things Spanish; there are guide books for this. Secondly, I hope my love of Spain and Spanish people nonetheless shines through. If not, there are some items in the Spain section of my Galicia web page [colindavies.net] which should redress the balance. [Though not my early Observations, which are similarly based.] Finally, there are some huge positives about which I cannot write. For example, if I said I adore the way Spanish women are beautiful, sexy, coquettish and tactile, I would run the risk – on my annual trip to the UK – of being arrested by the British thought police for at least sexism and possibly [at my age] for paedophilia. So I don’t say this sort of thing. Though I do get quite close to it at times. Anyway, Marta is going to post her thoughts, so others can take up the subject with her as they wish.

In a similar vein, I’ve been having a dialogue with a Galician net friend in the USA who said that, whilst he could accept the Spanish were perhaps a tad work-shy and loud, he found it hard to believe they were really bad-mannered. I think what we have agreed is that, on a one-to-one basis, the Spanish can be the most wonderful and noble people on the planet. But this tremendous sociability/ affability/generosity/willingness-to-die-for-you quality contrasts starkly with the widespread lack of consideration for others on a day-to-day basis. It’s this which utterly confuses and, ultimately, upsets poor foreigners. It’s not unique to Spain but I would probably irritate a few more Spanish readers if I revealed where I’ve come across it before …….

Today I began the challenge of extending my residence permit. You’d think it might be possible for me to get a document – e. g. from one of my wonderful banks - certifying I’m the same person as last time round. But this is not the way bureaucracies in any country work, least of all in paper-mad Spain. So I have to provide all the same information as before. In duplicate. Plus a bit more. This includes details of my parents. As I’m pushing 60, this bit of nonsense at least has the effect of making me feel a lot younger. The one thing you know for certain in Spain is that, when you turn up with the application form and a kilo of photocopies, you’ll be told at least one document is wrong or missing. But, hey ho. Off to work we go.

Spain’s national airline, Iberia, have decided they can’t compete with Ryanair into Santiago and so have moved their daily London flight to La Coruña, on the far north coast of Galicia. This strikes me as a bizarre decision which can only alienate their existing customer base and drive travellers towards the rapidly growing airport in Oporto/Porto in north Portugal. The only explanation that occurs to me is that it’s the sort of face-saving gesture mentioned in the article I cited the other day about doing business in Spain.

And, just for Marta, here’s three bits of positive news – 1. Telefonica have been found guilty of defrauding the public in their call boxes, 2. A ‘commission war’ has broken out amongst Spanish banks. Not before time, of course. Especially when 2005 was a record year for profits for the likes of BBVA. And, 3. Spain was the largest beneficiary from EU funds again in 2005. So, more wonderful new roads for me to travel on relatively alone.

That’s quite enough positivity and negativity for today.