Dawn

Dawn

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Here’s the latest example of the identification mania which will arrive in the UK along with identity cards – my gas company has sent me a letter saying I need to write to them within a month to stop them selling data about me. Leaving aside that this ‘inertia’ tactic is illegal in other countries, the bizarre aspect is that I have to quote my identity number in my letter. As if anyone else would be responding in my name from my address to a letter addressed to me. Especially when the objective is to avoid being deluged with junk mail. This, of course, is the Everest approach to things. Why are asking for my identity number? Because you’ve got one. The Spanish are, of course, so inured to quoting their number on innumerable occasions they don’t see anything odd in this. And it’s a lot less oppressive than under Franco. At least they no longer have to get Certificates of Good Conduct from the parish priest.

Yesterday’s headline was that France and Spain would combine to defend their national companies against the EU Commission’s demand for a free energy market. Today’s was that France and Spain would unite to defend the execrable Common Agricultural Policy that benefits them both so much. The odd thing about this is that the Spanish government is left-of-centre, whereas the French government is to the right. This may tell us a lot about the country’s problems.

Talking of which, it’s a source of wonder here in Spain that the youth of France [amongst others] are so up in arms against their government’s attempt to liberalise the employment market. In France only 48% of young people are on short-term contracts, whereas it’s 65% in Spain. But, then, Spanish kids tend to stay at home and leech off their parents until they get married in their 30s. So there’s less to get agitated about.

It’s a paperful business being a person in Spain. Aside from any need for a passport, you are obliged to have an identity card and a ‘family book’, containing details of all members. Worst of all, you must register with the town hall of the council in which you live. And then re-register if you move. You wouldn’t expect this to be done efficiently and, of course, it isn’t. So, this week’s scandal centres on the ease with which people can register with one council without de-registering from a previous one. Or ten. This, of course, can bring certain political and/or financial benefits in its wake. You’d have thought the existence of identity cards would be a barrier to this sort of thing but obviously not. Though this is not to say they won’t be as wonderful as Mr Blair says they will.

Incidentally, if you tell a Spaniard that no one in the UK is obliged to carry identification or to register with anyone, you can see they don’t really believe you. And, given what they live with, who can blame them?

There was great success for Spain in an international motorbike meeting in Jerez this week. Sadly, 9 of the spectators didn’t make it home alive, having presumably confused the nearby roads with a racing circuit. Or perhaps they were all unlucky enough to suffer tyre blow-outs.

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