The EU has again ordered the Valencian government to repeal its law giving local councils the right to steal properties from their owners and hand them over to corrupt developers. What are the chances that the response will be the same as last time - a new law with a different name but much the same content and effect? And where is the Spanish government in all this?

It seems the advice Mr Zapatero is getting from Mr Blair is not confined to the issue of how to deal with a terrorist ceasefire. Yesterday he demonstrated skills in the black art of media manipulation by breaking convention and shoving the king out of the limelight so he could give an ‘impromptu’ press conference.

At almost any time of the Spanish day – but especially during the evening paseo – you can enjoy the sight of mothers and daughters walking side by side. Or even arm in arm. In other cultures, daughters would rather have their eyes burned out with red hot pokers than be seen with their mothers. I suspect one reason for this difference is that young women here don’t display their rebelliousness by dressing in clothes outrageously different from their mothers’. In fact, Spanish mothers and daughters [at least here in Pontevedra] tend to share the uniform of tight top and even-closer-fitting jeans. Though there’s usually more bare midriff in one case. Sometimes the right one.