In a fascinating article in the [left-of-centre] Prospect magazine, Ernst Hillebrand tells us that The centre-left parties of western Europe are in retreat. And that One thing at least seems clear. This development marks the end of a political-ideological cycle: the centrist technocratic project known as the "third way" in Britain and the Neue Mitte in Germany. Spain, however, has just re-elected a centre-left party, albeit only with the help of Catalan voters who may or may not want to stay part of Spain. So, are we to conclude that Spain is still different? Or is it just a matter of time? If it’s the latter, perhaps that’s why the Leader of the Opposition insists he’s staying on. In the face of the advice offered to him by El Mundo, which asked whether or not he should stay and then answered its own question in exactly the way you’d have expected.

Of course, the traditional notions of Left and Right are now considered obsolete and unhelpful by many. You can learn more of this view here and, indeed, complete a short survey which will reveal where you stand in the two-dimensional model put forward by Political Compass. You may be surprised.

Talking of El Mundo, one of it columnists yesterday wrote that If hypocrisy is the tribute paid by Vice to Virtue, then over the next few years the PP party is going to resemble the Inland Revenue. As I said, shades of the Tory party.

If you come off the A52 just after Ourense to take the ‘old road’ to Pontevedra, you will shortly pass a place called Las Ninfas de Maside. I have often speculated – once in this blog – as to what it might offer. So I was not totally surprised to read yesterday that the owner had been fined €69,000 and jailed for 13 years for trafficking in women. But I was rather intrigued by the fact this had happened in Brazil. Where there seems to be more concern about these activities than here in Spain. In fact, the ‘club’ had once offered to sponsor the local football team. I think I wrote about this at the time. Though it might have been another brothel. There are a lot of them around.

Galicia Facts

As I regularly say, land has a semi-mystical status here in Galicia and, up in the hills, it’s not unknown for people to kill for it. I heard only last week that the most-reported crime here is a head injury from a hoe. Again, this may be apocryphal. But I do know that one aspect of rural life here is that it’s felt to be wrong to sell any surplus land you have, no matter how much prices have risen. This is because all your neighbours will assume you have a secret life of vice and are now heavily in debt. My piano teacher added to this knowledge last week by telling me that – in order to prevent their wastrel children selling land – ageing Galicians often leave their property to their grandchildren. At least it stays in the family.

Finally, a couple of postscripts on the printer saga:-

Epson: The UK subsidiary has now given me some helpful advice about exchanging it in Spain and I await a response from the company here. Needless to say, the phone number is premium rate, which is standard practice here.

Carrefour: I’ve just discovered – from the friend who took it in - that the reason given for the [minimum] 4 weeks delay in plugging in and testing my printer is that they will wait for other products to be returned so they can send them to the tech service people in a bundle. Could there be any clearer evidence that the business is run – in contravention of legal obligations - for its own convenience? And that customer service/satisfaction is low on their priority list?

Strange to relate, I’ve remembered an earlier example of Carrefour’s attitude to its customers. A few years ago, I took back a light fitting that was faulty. They replaced it immediately but the second one was also crocked. They were willing to replace this too and asked me to get another from the shelf. Guess what I found there. Yep, the first one. And when I went back and checked later, the second one was also there. Screw the customer. I should have known.

But not everyone in Spain is like this, of course. I had an excellent chat with Epson’s agent in Vigo yesterday. And on Tuesday, the Rover dealer treated me - as they always have - with consummate civility, while somehow parlaying a service that should have cost me €81 into a bill for 673. How did they do this? Well, 1. Oil, filter, etc at €149; and 2. ‘preventative’ replacements at €443 . You see, Carrefour – That’s the way to do it! Especially when sales of cars are down. They were even kind enough to give me a 15% discount on the parts. But they could afford to.