In
a country with many cultural influences - one of them the Middle East
- it's not too surprising that Spain should try to save face over the
bail-out it's seeking from the EU. So, it's not really what we all
think it looks like - a shameful, embarrassing bail-out. No, it's
only a loan. And a very soft one at that.
Click here for what (some) Spaniards are saying about down in the
calle.
And
now . . . The fruits of my ginger beer research:-
Crabbies:-
Tastes of ginger, with no hint of bitter beer/ale. 4.0% alcohol.
Appealing.
Naylor's:-
Bitter ale with just a hint of ginger. 4.4% alcohol. Unappealing.
So,
nothing like each other.
I'd
like you to know this research cost me. I put the Naylor's bottle
next to me on the sofa while I wrote my comments on it. A short while
later, I heard a distant Spanish voice telling me there was no reply
to the number I was calling and that I could leave a message. It took
me a while to realise this was coming from my mobile phone, underneath the bloody beer bottle.
I
believe the law on prostitution is much the same in the UK as in
Spain, though brothels are a far more a feature of (the edges of)
Spanish cities than they are of British cities. I mention this
because the British government has announced it will be closing some
London whorehouses during the Olympics and my suspicion is that the
opposite would have happened in Madrid. But I may be wrong.
My
friend Alfie Mittington has been educating us in his blog recently
on Spanish banks. To supplement this, here's an article which
addresses something which some of us have been talking about for
years - the greed, cronyism and corruption within the regional
savings banks (cajas/caixas).
Scrutiny of these institutions is said to be rising but I suspect the
perpetrators are still sleeping soundly in their beds. And will go on
doing so.
Finally
. . . I bring you the word flense.
New to me, it means 'To slice
the skin or fat from a carcass, especially that of a whale'.
Synonyms: Flench: Flay; Skin
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