The public have been loudly castigated in both the UK and Spain in the last week. The Brits – or some of them at least – have been accused of illogical and needless panic in their desperation to get their savings out of the seen-to-be-failing bank, Northern Rock. And the Spanish have had much the same charge laid against them for concluding now isn’t the time to invest in property. Or even move house. As ever, I guess it all depends on where you’re standing.

Actually, there’s a link between these developments – a Spanish entrepreneur is reported to be leading a group of investors interested in buying what’s now called Northern Wreck in the UK. I wonder if they’ll face any competition.

I mentioned the other day the two-faced approach of French and German energy companies when it comes to inward and outward acquisitions. Smack on cue, we read that the aggressive German company EON is seeking government help to prevent it's takeover by foreign operators. What’s the German for bare-faced cheek, I wonder. I don’t suppose it’s chutzpah.

More apposite news – 7 out of 10 the traffic fatalities this weekend were motorbike riders, all aged between 30 and 45. And yesterday, a rider in Barcelona hit a pedestrian and then ploughed into a bus queue, killing one person and seriously injuring several others. Roll on the new legislation.

Here in Galicia, the Galician Nationalist Party [the BNG] has finally said something with which I’m sympathetic. Action must be taken, it says, to stop companies forcing customers to use premium rate phone numbers. But, being left of the PSOE socialist party, the BNG naturally thinks the government should interfere in the market to make this illegal. This is where we part company, as I’d prefer to see Spain’s supine consumers take concerted action against companies who indulge in this blatant profiteering. Or perhaps a consumer watchdog. But is there one?

Still in Galicia, emotions are high around the decision of the Portuguese government to force the 3,000 Gallegos who cross the border every day to get to work to sport Portuguese number plates on their vehicles. Or face fines of 3-600 euros per day. The problem is this would mean a change of residence from Spain to Portugal, a complex and expensive business. However, the number of Gallegos heading south is dwarfed by that of the 12,000 Portuguese going in the opposite direction, e. g. to all the building sites near my house. So, plenty of scope for a revenue war between fellow members of the EU. Surely not.

This is the last reminder of the survey at the end of my blog of Saturday, 22 September. The interim results are:-

Crappy 16.67%

Shit 16.67%

Arrogant 16.67%

Informative 16.67%

Engaging 16.67%

Excellent 16.67%

The numerate among you will immediately recognise the meaning of these numbers. The rest will have to wait a little longer.