I regularly say life in Spain is more sane that in the UK. This thought struck me again today when I read that the British government is giving expectant fathers a booklet full of advice such as ‘Don’t have an affair while your partner is pregnant’. Actually, this seems rather sexist to me. Why doesn’t the government issue a booklet to all women below, say, 80 asking them to refrain from sleeping with men whose partner is pregnant?

Here’s a surprise – the Catalan government has said that, when it gets new powers under its controversially revised Statute, it’ll have to employ more civil servants, Spain’s most cosseted employees. Jobs for the boys, I guess. I don’t suppose they’ll need to be qualified in Spanish.

Another surprise – the Spanish Automobile Association is going to the courts for a ruling that the imminent points-based licence system conflicts with EU regulations. So does much of Spanish life but this usually doesn’t make any difference.

There was an hilarious film on TV this morning. Shot in 1960 in the Naval Academy in Galicia, it purported to show how wonderful life in the armed forces could be. And how easy it was to pick up beautiful [blonde!] girls in Pontevedra if you were dressed in a naval uniform. I couldn’t watch much but the highlight was surely a duet on a train from what must have been Spain’s answer to the Everly Brothers – El Dynamic Duo. Franco must have loved it. But possibly not his wife.

I moaned a few days ago about the hassle involved in getting a declaration that I pay taxes here in Spain. All the tax office has to do is stamp a box in a form provided [in Spanish] by the UK authorities, certifying that someone with my name, address and identity/fiscal number pays taxes in Spain. Last week this looked like taking 3 visits to the tax office and the copying of several documents that add nothing to the proof already on their files that I’ve paid taxes for 5 years. But, no. On my visit today, I was asked to provide yet another document – a certificate proving I am registered at the town hall. So at least 4 visits will be needed in the end. What next? A copy of a [non-existent] ‘Family Book’? A full size portrait in oils?? And this is when I’m trying to ensure I pay future taxes in Spain, rather than in the UK. Imagine what they’d require if I was trying to avoid taxes here. Exactly the same, I imagine.