When it comes to meeting Kyoto emission targets, Sweden heads the European list. Apart from her, only France, Finland and the UK have shown any significant decrease. Bottom of the class is, I’m afraid, Spain. As this is put down to run-away economic growth, maybe the next few years will see a better performance as the economy decelerates. Meanwhile, perhaps the glass-house-dwelling leader writers of El Mundo and El Pais will stop pointing the finger at the evil empire of the USA.

Tickets are have gone on sale for the new high-speed link between Madrid and Málaga, due to be operative in December. As was the Madrid-Barcelona link, in fact, but ‘local experts’ are now predicting 5 months delay. I suspect there are quite a lot of experts on delay in Spain but, anyway, I find it odd that the link between Madrid and Barcelona has had a lower priority than that between the capital and the south coast. Maybe it’s connected with the national belief that the first line went south to Sevilla because that’s where the then president hailed from.

Galicia Facts

The banner headline of yesterday’s Correo Gallego was that Oporto airport is taking advantage of the fratricidal battle between Galicia’s three international airports for a population of less than three million people. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll have heard this here first. On November 1, to be exact - when I added that “Looking forward, I’d hazard a guess that petty localism will continue to get in the way of any change that would benefit the Galician economy”. It’s bad enough when localists pick fights with Madrid but, when they wage war on each other, it’s disastrous.

I see that, since my trip last week, my local supermarket has repainted the lines and chevrons outside the entrance an even brighter shade of yellow. If this was meant to deter the individualists who can’t be bothered to walk 3 to 5 metres from the car park, it appears to have been an abject failure.

Our long stretch of wonderful weather finally broke on Sunday, since when we have been enveloped in the Atlantic Blanket.

Finally, if you happen to be a Polish plumber looking to move west, you might like to know Pontevedra clearly needs you. If, on the other hand, you are a Rumanian beggar with similar thoughts, please note that the post is oversubscribed.

Stop-press Sports Note: After England’s abject performance last night, I’m happier than ever that my team, Spain, has gone through to the European Cup Finals.