As if things weren’t bad enough for Spain’s graduates as they enter the world of real work, a study from the University of Alcalá de Henares says 7 out of 10 bosses in Spain care little about what their employees think of them or about the climate in the workplace. I don’t have a Spanish boss, of course, but I have to say this chimes with anecdotal evidence from young friends. Allegedly, there are 3 types of ‘toxic boss’ in Spain but, in principle, these are probably the same behavioural categories as in every other country. Though they may be thicker on the ground here, where youth unemployment is high.

With exquisite timing, a court in Madrid has quashed the verdict of a sports tribunal that the trainer of the Spanish football team was guilty of a racial offence just before Spain last played England. This should heat things up a bit before tonight’s match. I imagine the planned demonstrations against him will be even larger now.

While Galicia’s remains in suspense, the new Constitution of the Canary Islands Community has now passed from the Spanish Parliament to the Constitutional Court. As far as I’m aware, there’s no reference to the Canaries being a nation or anything like it. But there is a claim to fame in the text; so far, it’s the only document to include the air and the sea as part the definition of the community. This, apparently, is to provide a base for greater powers over [illegal] immigration. Meanwhile, the Catalunian Socialist party has warned that, if the Constitutional Tribunal rejects the text of the Catalunian Constitution recently approved by the regional parliament, then the Catalan government will fall. With this distraction of a constant merry-go-round of constitutional reform, I can’t help feeling the job of Spanish President should be the highest paid in the world. He must get up every morning asking himself which group of home-grown bastards he has to negotiate with today. I don’t envy him.

Galicia Facts

The overall market for new cars grew by only 1% last year. But, within this, sales of cars costing more than 60,000 euros rose by a whopping 29%. In the national ranking for this segment, Galicia is in the unusually high position of 7th. Presumably it’s not just the narcotraficos who are doing well here. Which is nice to know. Though I do hope there are no local mayors among the happy purchasers.