Well, the internet video of the Pamplona bull-running yesterday was via a stream that dried up quite regularly. Even more disappointing was the fact no one appeared to suffer so much as a scratch. I mean, without any injuries what’s the point of it all?

There’s been another victory in the brave campaign against excess noise in Spanish society. And, believe me, if it’s regarded as excessive here, it’s probably unimaginable elsewhere. Anyway, up in Barcelona, a man has been jailed for failing to stop his dogs barking all night. As someone who lives in an area where every dog but mine stays permanently outside and barks at every nocturnal shadow, I now look forward to a time when I can retire to bed without earplugs. Not.

Although I’m almost inured to it now, it’s always annoyed me that here in Spain you can’t buy just a roll of toilet paper by credit card without providing evidence of your identity. And now comes news that, at Carrefour supermarkets at least, if your bill exceeds 120 euros, you have to leave your trolley at the checkout and go to a central desk to pay for its contents. Doubtless, if you ask, you’ll be given the standard specious line that “It’s for your protection”. Hogwash. And I predict things won’t improve when Chip & Pin finally arrives. Making people prove who they are is just too ingrained in Spanish commerce. But let’s hope I’m wrong.

Readers occasionally accuse me of being too hard on Spanish society. My compensation comes in the form of Spanish readers who write to express their pleasure at reading my blog. But the point is I choose to live here in preference to the UK. I regularly say this is because Spanish society is far more sane than Britain’s. Or, putting it another way, it’s more like the place I grew up in. So, for all the pinpricks I go on about – see above! – I regard Spanish society as superior. And as a place where I’d like both of my daughters to live and to bring up my grandchildren - if they ever get round to blessing me with them. As for Britain, one can only weep at the consequences of the well-intentioned but disastrous ‘progressive’ thinking of the last 40 or 50 years which has produced such a broken society. To get an overview of these, try this. Some sad extracts . . . In the fourth largest economy in the world, too many people live in dysfunctional homes, trapped on benefits. Too many communities are blighted by crime, alcohol and drug addiction, and debt. . . The recent rise in gang warfare, which resulted in a spate of teenage stabbings and shootings in our cities, is a stark illustration of this broken society. . . As the fabric of society has crumbled at the margins, what has been left behind is an underclass, where life is characterised by dependency, addiction, debt and family breakdown. This is an underclass in which a child born into poverty today is more likely to remain in poverty than at any time since the late 1960s. . . Britain tops the international league tables for social problems - the largest proportion of drug addicts, the highest levels of personal debt, the highest levels of family breakdown and one of the largest gaps in educational attainment between rich and poor. The good news is that the writer believes the broken British society can be fixed. Let’s hope so.

Footnote: Things were more exciting in Pamplona this morning. One of the bulls did his stuff and turned round to take on his tormentors. Right now, I can't say what the consequences are as the stream has gone completely dry. Of course, I don't really hope someone was seriously injured. A few scratches is quite acceptable. And I should add I wouldn’t have the courage myself to run with the beasts. But I have been married twice.