Dawn

Dawn

Monday, April 26, 2010

Apologies for the absence of posts over the weekend. The invisible cloud of ash which did for all Europe’s airlines smothered my computers on Saturday morning and put me out of business. Not really. I’ve been tied up with a visitor since I got back from the UK and unable to attend as I’d like to my blog. In fact, I’ve not read so much as the headline of a Spanish newspaper since I got home a week ago. Indeed, it dawned on me last night that, thanks to visitors and my UK trip, I haven’t had an evening to myself in more than six weeks. Happily, this will change tomorrow. Though possibly only for a week . . . Meanwhile, I’m grabbing an hour during my visitor’s final shopping expedition to pen this . . .

There’s nothing like a crisis to reveal design flaws and we’re surely seeing that now in respect of the EU monetary union. So much so that it gets harder and harder to predict not just what is going to happen to Grece but to the EU as a whole. Our friend Ambrose feels that “In barely two weeks, the City mood has shifted from ruling out a Greek default as absurd, to accepting that it could happen, to now fearing that restructuring is highly likely.” Of course, both Ambrose and the City may be wrong in their perceptions and beliefs but anything is credible – or incredible – right now. Ambrose takes the view that “In a rational world, Brussels would tap the EU’s AAA rating to issue cheap "Barroso Bunds" to cover rescue costs. But we are not in a such a world. We are in the Maastricht madhouse.”

Talking of crazy worlds . . . Here’s a little irony. The European Community Fisheries Control Agency is based in Vigo here in Galicia. And “the conservation organisation Oceana has condemned the Xunta of Galicia for granting 4.2 million euros in subsidies to fishing pirates.” Evidence, perhaps, of the logic for putting the agency in Vigo. If not its effectiveness.

Oh, hell. She’s back from the shopping expedition. Before they’ve actually closed. And with no purchases.

Ata loguiño.

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