I wonder what on earth Spain’s Moslems make of the churches here. The recent cartoon controversy revealed that, in Islam, statues and pictures are rare. Even innocent ones. In contrast, the church opposite my daughter’s flat boasts the standard representational overkill which dismays even some Christians and which might well appear obscene to any Muslim who enters. Not that there’ll be a lot of these, I guess. That said, despite fears he’d be repelled by its baroque excesses, I once took a Jehovah Witness friend to see the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. In fact, he was thrilled by its rampant ‘theatricality’. But he, at least, has a sense of humour on matters religious and this is probably not something you could accuse many Moslems of.

I wrote yesterday about the Spanish not liking each other much. This, of course, was a reference to the regional/tribal rivalries that bedevil the country. Now it emerges that the various parties in the Catalan coalition are not even fond of each other. They have fallen out, it seems, over negotiations with the state over control of Barcelona airport, though one party had already distanced itself some time ago because it felt not enough concessions had been made by the state in the direction of autonomy. I wonder how these politicians would get on in a real job.

I mentioned a day or so ago the nationwide plans for a massive boozefest this evening. Or 'macrobotellón' in Spanish. By 6 this evening, the small square near my daughter’s flat had been cordoned off and more than 50 policemen were already guarding the 4 entrances, bolstered every now and then by a posse on motor-scooters. A TV crew was filming the scene, which may well have included me and my dog, Ryan. There aren’t many border collies in Madrid, so if you catch sight of one on Spanish TV tonight, that’s us!

On my drive from Galicia yesterday, I was hit by two birds. The first was a sparrow. I know this because I found three quarters of it inside the engine compartment. I don’t know for sure what the second bird was but - given the damage it did to the casing of my wing-mirror – possibly a bloody albatross!