It’s funny how national stereotypes are so regularly endorsed. Yesterday, our local papers carried reports of a 36 year-old Brit found dead in a Vigo street, the victim of heart attack brought on by a drink-induced coma. On the other side of the coin, the Barcelona detective agency investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann can have done little for the image of Spanish integrity by loudly proclaiming in November they knew who her abductors were and insisting she’d be home for Christmas.

Which reminds me . . . the word mentir [to lie] and its derivatives are commonplace in Spanish discourse. One reason is that the meaning of mentira, for example, seems to encompass a mistake and an oddity, as well as a lie. Anyway, my real point is that, in a country where everyone seems to regard everyone outside their family as a bit of a fibber, it’s remarkable how upset individuals can get when you want to add something to a contract to protect yourself in the event they’ve been economical with the truth. In Madrid last week, I helped my daughter in negotiations for refurbishment of her flat. I’ve rarely seen anyone as aggrieved as the builder, when a clause was proposed on the issue of a licence he’d insisted she didn’t need. A builder, for God’s sake. In Spain!

And still talking of appearances – The Syrian government is said to be very unhappy about the possible extradition from Spain to the USA of a Syrian arms dealer. It’s reported to have reminded the Spanish government who protects its troops in the Lebanon and to have complained that ‘These false reports have the intention of damaging the image of Syria’. Given how that country is viewed, I wouldn’t have thought this was possible.

When it comes to the illegal downloading of films and songs, Spain heads the European blacklist. For some time now, Spanish artists have been receiving compensation from funds collected via the imposition of a special tax on CDs and DVDs. After pressure from performers, the government is about to be extend this to such things as mobile phones and printers. The logic appears to be - As we can’t police things adequately, we’re going to treat all purchasers as criminals, regardless of how innocent you might be. Personally, I find this offensive. And I guess I would even if I downloaded anything other than BBC podcasts.

One of the waitresses in my favourite café/bar is called Luz [Looth]. This means light in Spanish. But also electricity. I can’t help thinking of this whenever she asks me what I want.

Although the Spanish economy has grown exceptionally well for 10 years and will still perform well next year, the underlying problem of low productivity continues to cause concern. As does the fact that wages have not kept pace with inflation. I thought about the latter yesterday when told [again] how easy it is for Rumanians to learn Spanish. Given EU freedom of movement, this surely represents a further threat to salary levels, even for jobs demanding a high level of education.

House prices are now falling not only in the USA and the UK but also here in Spain, specifically in Barcelona and Madrid. I certainly saw evidence of significant reductions from ‘the original price’ in agents’ windows in Madrid last week. Faced with a sharp fall in revenue as a result of reduced property sales, local councils are now taking the tax-increase measures I forecast months ago. In Salamanca this week, there’s been the third large-scale protest against these. I suspect there will be many more, as urban governments eschew cuts in expenditure and opt for increasing the woes of mortgage-burdened taxpayers.

Driving back from Madrid last Sunday, I was amused to see that the latest gantry exhortation from the people who gave us We can’t drive for you is Think of others. Fat chance. Even at Christmas.

Galicia Facts

Interestingly, the far northern bit of Galicia is considered by some to be La tercera bretaña, or The third Britain. Not quite sure why so I’d welcome insights from Galician readers. Unless, of course, it’s just another manifestation of the obsession with things Celtic.

This blog is extra long as I have a lot of notes in my wonderful new Moleskine notepad and I don’t want to let them go to waste, having simply forgotten to post anything yesterday because of visitor distraction. My thanks to all who’ve made it to the end.