I’ve mentioned a few times that Spain’s property rental market is not as well developed as it could be, with hundreds of thousands of properties remaining empty. The main factor is usually said to be a legal system which provides inadequate recourse to lessors faced with defaulting lessees. There has been talk of addressing this - for example, by setting up special courts - but, with an election coming up, the government’s decided to take the easier route of subsidising the rent of ‘young people’. Here this usually means individuals up to the age of 35. My guess is this will do little to bring down the high cost of rentals. Perhaps quite the opposite.

The Spanish government has insisted the country doesn’t have the market for rubbish mortgages seen in the USA and the UK. I suspect this is true but, nonetheless, Spanish banks have taken a big hit on the stock market, possibly because they’ll be affected as much as any by the global credit squeeze. Needless to say, the country’s estate agents/realtors are now more worried than ever about the property market. But, given their killings of the last 10 years, I doubt there’ll be much sympathy for them. At least not among the general public. The government may yet prove to be more compassionate.

It’s reported that a court in Almería has acquitted a man charged with assaulting his partner and her 15 year old daughter because he was drunk at the time and didn’t know what he was doing. But, as this can’t possibly be true, my guess is it’s just a judicial joke.

The Spanish government has said it has failed to achieve its Kyoto commitment because of the country’s high economic growth. So that’s alright then. Personally, I don’t think it was a wise move to equate Spain with China in this context.

I’ve generally been very impressed by the changes made by Pontevedra’s [Nationalist] mayor to the city’s street furniture. Even though some of the stuff is pretty modernistic. Futuristic even. However, a few months ago we were treated to the installation of a number of untreated-metal benches and rubbish bins so bad that suspicions were inevitably raised they’d been designed by a relative. Witness . . .

However, the mayor has now apologised for these atrocities and promised there’ll be no more. Which is nice. And it would be even nicer if they could be removed.

Talking of fixed objects . . . The car below has been parked in the same spot so long it too could be considered part of the street furniture. In fact, as you can see, there’s a lawn growing beneath it. Not only that – in the time it’s been there, an entire litter of cats has been born and raised in the engine compartment. I guess it’s possible the owner has died but no one has gone to his/her house to check.

Finally, an apology: The Galician Nationalist Party only proposed a change of one hour in Galicia’s time. I reported this accurately last December so it was my memory playing tricks on me. Even though this change would be logical, the proposal was politically impractical and so went nowhere.