In Catalunia, several key cabinet posts have been given to the left wing nationalist party, ERC. So, if the increase in votes for the not-in-government CiU party really did reflect a demand for less ‘nationalism’, this is the last thing the electorate is going to get. No wonder there are voices calling for the sort of second-round voting system that De Gaulle introduced in France decades ago to prevent the tyranny of small parties included in coalition administrations. Meanwhile, a very irritated CiU party has said it will withdraw support for the government in the Madrid Parliament. But I’ve no idea what this really means, beyond a demonstration of pique. En passant, if you want to rise in Catalunia, it’s best to have a forename beginning with ‘J’. Ten out of the thirteen cabinet ministers are called, Joan, Josep, Jorge, Jordi or José. And ‘Joan’ is a man’s name, by the way.

Spain has fallen down the rankings in the international Index of Transparency. It now occupies 23rd place. To out this another way, thanks to the construction boom and its inevitable sequelae, Spain has risen in the corruption rankings. The cleanest place to do business in the world is said to be Finland and the dirtiest, Haiti. Must be the climate.

There was a conference of feminist Muslim women in Barcelona this week. It denounced violence in the name of Islam and called for a ‘less macho’ reading of the Koran. Rightly or wrongly, I have a suspicion such a conference could never take place in ‘multicultural’ Britain. It would risk upsetting someone.

Galicia Facts

Galicia’s not great when it comes to international cuisine and I’m still looking for an Indian restaurant as good as the one down the Portuguese coast in Oporto. But at least we don’t see this sort of nonsense, advertising a restaurant in Majorca – The Ultimate in Indian cuisine with the true authentic taste from England. Curry and chips, presumably.