There was a strike of Spanish civil servants yesterday, against the 5% cut in their salaries. Whether you see it as a success all depends on who you talk to. According to the government, the turnout was not much more than 10%, compared with 60-75% claimed by the unions. Strange to relate, its relative failure is being construed as a fillip for Sr. Zapatero. Who could do with a few more, as he heads towards a unilateral announcement on reforms in the labour market which are driven by Brussels and unsupported by said unions. Who will now move to a general strike. They say.

As I occasionally cite Edward Hugh’s somewhat negative views on the Spanish economy, I was interested to see this profile of him in the New York Times today. And to note he’s a fellow Scouse. Though I can’t say I’ve noticed much humour in his blog posts.

In the interests of balance, I should record that not everyone is a fan of EH. Over at IBEX Salad, Charles Butler occasionally takes issue with him and he does so again – while taking a pot shot at our Ambrose – in the Comments section to this article. Charles, I gauge, does manage to get a laugh out of EH’s contributions. I enjoy reading (and quoting) all of them but, of course, have no real idea as to who’s right. If any economist/financial adviser ever really is. That said, EH seems to have called it correctly last year when he forecast that Brussels would effectively take over the management of the Spanish economy. But I’ll keep my head low now, in case CB reads this.

The NYT article says that EH’s main policy proposal is that Germany leave the euro. Coincidentally, as I walked the last leg of the camino, I read an article in the left-of-centre, europhilic Prospect magazine in which the main conclusion, as I recall, was that the eurozone’s problems could only be solved by the exit of either Greece or Germany. The suggestion that the latter might do this was, of course, dismissed as fantasy only a few months ago.

Finally . . . I see that the pound is now 1.21 against the euro. Maybe it’ll finally reach the 1.25 I rashly forecast for the end of last year. But what’s six months or so between friends?