For some time now El Mundo has been concerned [one might even say obsessed] with the investigation into the Madrid bombings of last year. As far as I can make out, they believe some sort of chicanery is going on around the explosives used. And my impression is they believe the government is doing its utmost to hide any possible link between the Islamic terrorists and ETA. If any Spanish reader has a good handle on this subject, perhaps he/she would be good enough to post a short summary.

If you’re reading this in Spain, you might want to rush out and check your tyre/tire pressures. I had a puncture fixed today and the mechanic made a great thing of doing me the favour of pumping all my tyres up to 2.5kilos. This is, in fact, 20% more than the recommended level. And dangerous. As this is the 4th time I’ve had this happen, I’m inevitably left wondering what percentages of Spain’s high road mortality figures can be attributed to this negligence/lack of professionalism. It was a Goodyear shop to boot so I wonder what happens at the places where there’s no training . . .

Solomon Burke wowed Pontevedra last night. All 375 pounds [171 kilos] of him. This is 26 stone 11lbs to us Brits. They closed the curtains when bringing him on stage, where he sat throughout the performance on a sort of throne of rather large proportions. I don’t know how he actually got on it but it may not be unconnected with the disappearance of the crane that was lifting the vast granite blocks outside my house.

You’ll all want to know that my ADSL speed is about one twentieth of what I’m contracted to receive. So it’s good to know prices in Spain are only 25% higher than the European average