A new study in Spain suggests it’s middle aged men who are those most likely to have their credit cards stolen here. I have a good idea about the most frequent location of these thefts.

It’s reported that the Spanish armed forces are complaining about not being allowed to take action against the Somali pirates sailing off with more than a million euros in ransom money. But I guess this is what it means to have an army and navy which ‘is a force for peace’. I hope the Moroccans don’t take advantage of things by once again displacing the goats on Perejil Island, off the coast of North Africa. And then ransoming the creatures. Which are presumably Spanish. For now.

One of the problems with devolving significant power to regional governments – of which Spain has 17 – is that leaders of the bigger ones become ‘barons’. Who then cause trouble not just for the President but also for the Leader of the Opposition. The former is facing an odd alliance between previously estranged regions whose interests are now threatened by a proposed new system of financing . And the latter, of course, is fighting for his political life and so at the mercy of one group of barons or another. I’m not sure it’s a form of government anyone starting from scratch would come up with. But, then, in 1976 Spain was hardly in this position. So it was wise to gloss over some of the factors that might just come back to haunt the founders of democratic Spain’s Constitution. Like calling Cataluña a ‘nation’ for example – an issue which is now going through the Constitutional Court in the context of a revised Constitution for a troublesome region which, as yet, still forms a part of Spain.

Which reminds me – Up in Scotland, without permission from London, the leader of the Labour Party has just effected a massive U-turn and come out in support for an early [2010] referendum on Scottish independence. It’s thought she feels this will take the wind out of the sails of the Scottish Nationalist party. But, of course, all will depend on the wording on the voting slip. So this is what will be occupying Scotland’s greatest minds for the next two years. Though not really, as all of these are down in London, running Britain’s government, the BBC and The City.

Back to government in Spain – I see the Valencian government has a minister for Social Affairs and Immigration. So I wonder if there are actually 18 ministers in Spain worrying about such things as the fact that unemployment amongst immigrants rose by 25% in the first quarter of this year.

If you’ve no interest in what’s happening in the Spanish property sector, you can log off now. For the rest, here’s an interesting blog from Mark Stucklin of the Times. It makes for pretty depressing reading but the diamond in the dross is that prices rose in Galicia by almost 7% in the final quarter of 2007. Allegedly. In an earlier post, Stucklin said this about the Spanish scene - Most people now accept that Spain is going into a serious property market downturn, even if the ministry of housing’s statistics are still suspiciously hunky-dory. But it winds me up how the majority of people – commentators and politicians in particular – blame the downturn on the credit crunch. Let’s be clear about this. The credit crunch is no more to blame for Spain’s housing market problems than the immigrant labourers who have flooded into the country to help build tens of thousands of dreary blocks of flats. Certainly, the easy credit of the last 5 years or so has fuelled Spain’s property boom, but some sort of credit tightening was inevitable and predictable. The speed and severity of the crunch might have taken people by surprise, but there was always a good chance it would end that way. Big benders are always followed by hangovers, we all know that. The real cause of Spain’s present property market problems was a greed-driven, speculative housing boom that sucked in close to 20% of Spain’s GDP. Once the bubble was allowed to inflate and take over so much of the Spanish economy, it was doomed to burst and the credit crunch just helped prick it. But you’ll be aware of this. Or you will if you’ve been a regular reader of this blog . . .

I depart to the sounds of trumpets being blown. Or one, at least.