There was, in fact, an even younger cabinet appointment than that of the 36 year-old Defence Minister I cited yesterday. This was of the 31 year-old lady chosen to head the Ministry of Equality. As I’ve said before, as the father of two exceptional young women, I have no problem with the notion that women can do things at least as well as men but I do admit to feeling that 31 is a tad on the young side for a ministerial appointment. Even more perplexing was yesterday’s report in El Pais that President Zapatero only knew of her by reputation. Some suggest this appointment – like that of a Catalan to the said ministry of Defence – owes more to political horse-trading between the regions and the centre than to meritocratic claims to cabinet responsibility. My knowledge of Spanish politics is not deep enough to comment on this but I guess it must be a possibility. I’ll keep checking over at South of Watford for a more-informed view.

Which reminds me . . . . I’ve finally started to read the book Spain Going Places I mentioned a week or two back. And this is what it says on this issue:- In all but name, Spain today is effectively a federal state. Ruling the country as a whole from Madrid is a complex matter and one fraught with tensions, particularly with the Basque Country and Catalonia, the two most ‘nationalistic’ regions. . . The regions (excluding the Basque Country, which is in a category of its own) account for just over 50% of public spending but generate only 19% of revenues, despite the tax-raising capacity transferred to them. The regional governments are happy to spend the money ceded to them by the central government but are reluctant to use their revenue raising powers to the maximum for fear of losing the support of their voters.

On a more macro level, the author [William Chislett] comments:- The political arena has become very polarised, leading Spaniards to hanker after the consensus policies of the 1975-78 transition to democracy when politicians of all persuasions could sit down and iron out issues. But that was a very different period because it was one that called for cooperation and restraint in order to avoid a repeat of past conflicts and move on. The constant state of warfare between the Socialists and the PP - part and parcel of normal democratic life - is, however, particularly vicious in Spain, with insults taking the place of substantive arguments. The press has also become increasingly sectarian. El País, the leading (centre-left, essentially pro-Socialist) daily, which played a key role in the transition to democracy, the centre-right ABC, the right wing La Razón and the populist right El Mundo (all three basically support the PP) write about Spain as if it was four different planets rather than one and the same country.

And here are a couple more quotes, made topical by reader Moscow’s comments to my blog of yesterday:-

1. Anti-Americanism is higher in Spain than in most European Countries. This is for a variety of reasons, ranging from the Spanish-American War in 1898 (when Spain lost the last colonies, including Cuba, of her once enormous empire) to Washington’s support of Franco after the Civil War (with the establishment in 1953 of US bases in Spain) and, more recently, the US invasion of Iraq. The degree of Spain’s cold feelings towards the US (towards the Administration and its foreign policy, not towards Americans, whom Spaniards generally admire and whose culture is prevalent in Spain), surprises many people.

2. The full scope of Spain’s contribution to Western security through peace-keeping and humanitarian operations is not generally appreciated abroad. Spain, a pacifist country to a large extent, perhaps because of the trauma of its Civil War, has participated in around 60 such operations and has sent more than 50,000 troops abroad over the last 20 years.

I hope these redress any balance that needs to be redressed.

Yesterday I made one of my occasional trawls on your behalf through the pages and pages of fascinating ads at the back of the Faro de Vigo. Most amusing was the corner of the large ad for an establishment called Night & Day which advised of the arrival of a young lady of 18 who possesses a Masters in Law. Quite an achievement. And, in this case, not open to males, I guess. Anyway, here’s another relevant quote from Mr Chislett:- In a remarkably short period, Spain has moved from being the Western European country with the most traditional values and attitudes to one of the most liberal, tolerant and permissive (some would even say libertine) societies. . . . . Spaniards’ tolerance today is graphically illustrated by the classified advertising sections in all of its main newspapers, including a leading conservative and Catholic one, which provide a varied range of sexual services, something unthinkable in the establishment press of the US, the UK or France.

Galicia Facts

I doubt that there’s been a day since I came here more than 7 years ago that I haven’t had to negotiate one or more set of public works on the pavements or roads of Pontevedra. Right now, the situation is worse than ever. One of the main entrances to the city has been chaotic for weeks now; the Old Quarter is riddled with digs of one sort or another; and the entire square in front of the town hall has been fenced off with metal sheeting, as a prelude to creating a new underground car park. As this square was, at best, a pick up/drop off point and, at worst, a large [illegal] parking space, the inconvenience to the residents must be huge. I had thought things would ease with the reduction in tax income following the bursting of the property bubble but, of course, there’s going to be a need to counteract adverse employment trends with public spending. Which – given how money spreads - the town halls won’t need much persuading to throw themselves into. I fear we ain’t seen nothing yet. So, not a good time to come to Pontevedra. Nor to shop for electrical items at Carrefour.

I was going to end there but I’ve noticed I’ve got a relevant quote from Chislett on the issue of women in Spain:- One of the most striking changes has been the improved position of women in a country that still has a strong streak of machismo. In Franco’s day, married women needed the permission of their husbands to go out to work or open a bank account. The [2007] current government has an equal number of male and female ministers and women outnumber men in the central administration. However, there are very few women in top positions in Spain’s corporate world.

That’s it.