It’s far too soon for all the implications of Sunday’s election results to be fully known but it certainly looks as if Cataluña will play an even larger role in the determination of Spain’s destiny as a plural state. Which, in some ways, seems a tad ironic for a nationalist/separatist region. For one thing, the hard-left and less moderate nationalist parties both suffered a sizeable defeat there, which favours both the minority-governing socialist PSOE party and the moderate Catalan nationalist party, the CiU. On the other hand, I read this morning that the Catalan branch of the PSOE will veto any attempt by the PSOE government to forge a coalition with the CiU. So it’s anyone’s guess how strange the bedfellows will be once all the horse-trading is done. Perhaps the President of the Galician Nationalist Party really will be able to parlay his two seats into a pivotal role after all. He certainly thinks so. “The BNG will play a decisive role many times in this legislature”, he was quoted as saying yesterday. Not bad when you have the support of only 12% of the people even in your Galician heartlands. Political reform anyone?

Meanwhile, a few random observations:-
- The turnout was as high as last time, around 75%. Far more than in, say, Britain.
- The ETA shooting of a PSOE member may have contributed a little to this.
- The results were out remarkably quickly after the 8pm closure of the polling stations
- These were published in impressive national and regional detail in the papers the following morning. [Actually, I think I’ll invent ‘sub-national’ for ‘regional’, if someone hasn’t beaten me to it].
- In a telegenic age, it was always going to be No Contest between the PSOE’s ‘Bambi’ Zapatero and the PP’s Rajoy. Even without the rumours that Rajoy is slack-wristed. The TV debates were a mistake in principle and a disaster in practice.
- Commentators may be right that Spain has moved a little more towards a true two-party system. Unless the one-seat triumph in Madrid of a new centre-party is the harbinger of much bigger things to come. Which is rather doubtful.
- As ever, it’s clear that large numbers of people in Spain really do believe you can only be a socialist [and good] or fascist [and very, very bad]. I guess it’ll be a while yet before nuances are permitted.
- The disappearance of the Catholic Church – or at least its muzzling – would be useful in this regard.

Of course, the other big election of the last week was that of Spain’s contestant for the Eurovision song contest. The winner is so bizarre one’s forced to conclude the Spanish have reached the only sensible conclusion possible around this dreadful event and decided to take the piss. If not, they could well win.

Events shouldn’t take too long to wipe the smile off Mr Zapatero’s face. Forecasts for 2008 economic growth – as I’ve said before – decline almost every week. The latest are for 2% or even the EU average of only 1.8%, the first time Spain will have been this low for 10 or 15 years. I don’t suppose the Minister of the Economy here is too pleased about the rise of the euro against other currencies but, of course, there’s nothing he can do about it.

I thought I’d share with you this comment posted by a reader [Anonimo] yesterday. This may or may not be the same chap who’s been sending similar, albeit milder, thoughts recently: You don't like Carrefour? Then go to Tesco. You don't like Spain? Go to your fucking country. I don't mind immigration, but the Brits are the worst scum. If you read the comments to any blog in English on Spain, you’ll inevitably come across similar sentiments from aggrieved Spaniards. So, I wonder if Spanish bloggers writing in the UK get similar treatment from the Brits they upset. If there are any.

Anyway, his mention of Carrefour allows me to segue smoothly – for those interested – into . . . Customer service: Carrefour- Chapter 2
I send in the cavalry, in the form of my friend the lawyer.
MFTL: My friend who spoke to you on Saturday needs a printer and is prepared to forgo his demand for cash and to accept an exchange
Assistant: No, we can’t do that as he came more than 15 days after purchase.
MFTL: This is irrelevant. Under Clause 5 of the relevant Article, he has the right to opt for either a repair or an exchange.
Assistant: Well, OK. But [master stroke] we need to check that the machine is broken. So he has to bring back the printer and leave it with us, so that we can send it to our technical service people.
MFTL: But why, when he has a right to a replacement and this will leave him without the printer he needs, possibly for weeks.
Assistant: Well that’s all we’re willing to do. If it really is broken, we will replace it. [Message: There’s a good chance he’s lying. The logic of which escapes me].

This is more or less what I expected. As to the next development, my guess is they’ll say either:-
1. the machine was misused by me,
2. the machine was damaged when I brought it from my house to the store, or
3. it was indeed malfunctioning but they have fixed it.
Only in the last case will I get a working printer back, possibly weeks from now. But it won’t be the new one the law says I’m entitled to. But, then, in a place where the cogwheels of justice grind exceedingly slow, the law does not have quite the respect it does elsewhere. And customer orientation suffers as a result.

Of course, the real losers in this will be Carrefour and Epson. I can easily afford to buy another printer from another manufacturer and I will never shop at Carrefour again in my life. At 40 euros a week minimum, this is €2,000 a year. Nor will I ever buy an Epson product ever again. So, this saga-ette has been translated into French and sent to the head office of both companies. This might achieve nothing but it has cost nothing, except the time in which I am rich. And you never know. Some companies would respond immediately. Though these may well be confined to the Anglosphere.

And maybe some of you will draw a conclusion from this and buy your electrical goods from a place other than Carrefour. But, if the head office turns up trumps, I will let you know.