I mentioned the Pamplona bull-running yesterday but forgot to say Universal was, of course, killed on Thursday evening, along with the other 5 bulls. This made the score – Matadors 6 : Bulls 0. For completion, here are the results of the previous five days:-

6 : 0

6 : 0

6 : 0

6 : 0

6 : 0

As for the gorings, while I don’t normally agree with the gruesome photos favoured by the Spanish media, these from 20minutos might help someone take a smart decision about next summer. Especially no. 2, which featured large on the front cover of both El Mundo and El Pais yesterday. Question: Can the guy in the green top in no. 8 really be using his mobile phone? - “I’m on the floor. Might be home a bit late.”

I also mentioned yesterday the deep rifts that still exist in Spanish society, a situation which many feel is not helped by the current over-confrontational style of the right-of-centre PP party. But it was perhaps to members the left-of-centre parties that an El Pais letter writer was referring yesterday when he complained about politicians avoiding the word ‘Spain’ in their discourses, in preference for such anodyne formulae as ‘that country’ or ‘our country’.

The latest report on telecoms development in Europe sees Spain sinking a few places down to 20^th position, overtaken by Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and the Czech Republic. In the light of this, you might think the pre-eminent concern of the Spanish Telecoms Commission would be consumer service. But you’d be wrong. Presumably fortified by a huge dose of injured pride, this body has ‘declared war’ on the EU Commission and demanded that the Spanish government take it to court over the massive fine imposed on Telefonica for making it impossible for other [straw-men] providers to compete on price. To hell with the customers, then.

If you have a deep interest in Galicia, you’ll be interested in this site. If the link doesn’t take you directly to an article [in English] by Xoán Paredes, of the Geography Dept. of Cork University, click on the Acción Exterior link and then scroll down to The World seen from the corner; Galician globalisation. I have a little difficulty with Xoán's opening line that ‘This tiny country somewhere in Europe has shaped European identity throughout history’ but the article is well worth a read. Most fascinating for me was the description of the Galician humour known as retranca. This he defines as “A mix of scepticism, ambiguity and black humour, sometimes very acidic. When using it, one has to look ‘cool’ and very serious at the same time”. In the hands of a master such as Castelao, retranca can be a joy. Especially, I guess, to Brits big on irony and understatement. However, to anyone who knows anything about Galicia, retranca very obviously has its roots in poverty and repression. As Paredes says, it’s essentially defensive. And so it runs the risk of coming across as merely chippy sarcasm. A fine line, therefore. Not always successfully negotiated. Even by Galicians.

Finally, click here for an informed view of what ‘media liberalism’ has done for the UK over the last 50 to 60 years.