Yesterday’s press was still dominated by the ETA issue but there are encouraging signs the blame game may be over quite quickly, allowing concerted action against the terrorists, both in Spain and in France. Or maybe, for once, I’m being too optimistic. At least the right-of-centre politicians and commentators seem to have abandoned their always-pious hope the besieged President would bring forward next year’s general election to late 2007. This was, of course, a self-serving demand and, though this is to be expected of politicians, there are times when the national interest takes precedence. And this is surely one of them.

The number of Spanish undergraduates taking ‘general’ courses such as Law and Economics are reported to be in serious decline. In contrast, students increasingly favour narrower subjects like Tourism, IT and Social Education. No, I don’t know what the last one is either. Relatedly, I read yesterday Spanish undergraduates have to attend more lectures than any others in Europe and their dropout rate and degree-completion delays are higher than elsewhere. Perhaps there’s a connection.

One of Spain’s national TV channels is to bring us The Gong Show. I can’t decide whether this is a post-modern ironic statement or a startlingly belated catch-up. Or simply desperation.

Talking of TV – Such were the breathless tones of the Sky news announcer yesterday morning, I thought the Third World War must have broken out. But, no, the lead item dominating the program was the expulsion of one of the Big Brother contestants for ‘using a racist word’. So I switched to the French channel 24 Hours for some real news. Ten minutes later I returned to Sky, to find them still analysing the Big Brother nonsense to the exclusion of all else. If I had a subscription, I‘d cancel it. And, if I had the money, I’d buy up all the shares of the company behind the moronic program. What priceless publicity. And what a testament to the decline of British society in the direction of Roman circuses. When these finally arrive, I wonder if the lions will only be allowed to eat white contestants.

Here in Poio – across the river from Pontevedra – the national police this week raided Le Club Clé and arrested the owners for trafficking in women from Paraguay. If this offence came as surprise to the police, it surely didn’t to the residents of Chickenland. And why did it fall to the national police to take this long overdue step? Do our local forces lack jurisdiction? Or are they simply uninterested? Or too busy deciding which parking and traffic offences to ignore?