I
read last week that the businesses most at risk from September's VAT
increase to 21% (from only 8% in some cases) were hairdressers, opticians, cinemas and theatres. So, I wasn't too surprised
to see reports of a street protest by Pontevedra's angry
hairdressers yesterday. Who looked a little windswept.
Thanks
to reader curiosity, I went today to the old Bank of Spain offices,
to ask the price of the flats these were being converted into. I
thought things seemed a tad strange when I entered to find no
activity except a chap behind a reception desk, walking around in a circle,
with his head bent:-
Good
morning.
[Looking
up in surprise] Good morning.
Can
you tell me how much the flats will be?
Flats?
Yes,
flats?
Flats
for rent or sale?
Yes.
There
are no flats. These are government offices.
And
that's what they're staying?
Yes.
Offices
of the Galician Xunta?
No,
Offices of the Spanish state.
At
a guess, I'd say I was going to be his only visitor all day, despite
the fact there was an X-ray machine and a security frame (though no
operators) at the entrance to the offices/non-flats. And, for the
life of me, I can't guess why Madrid would need a huge office block
in Pontevedra, just down the road from the Town Hall and the
Provincial Government offices. But ours is not to ask why. It must
make sense to someone.
I
mentioned an infamous Galician dynasty yesterday and another one has
featured in today's papers – the Oubiña family. Basically they're
big in drugs. So it was disappointing to hear that the head of the
clan wasn't going to be prosecuted for money laundering because a judge had thrown out as illegal the tapping of his mobile phone
while he'd been in prison. Possibly because he wasn't allowed a
mobile phone. Stranger things have happened in the judicial world.
But
just going back to the Vidal family – it seems that, while they
were committing the overfishing crime they were heavily fined for– they were getting 1.5m
euros from Brussels. I bet they don't have to pay it back.
The
bankers involved in the fusion of Galicia's two savings banks have
been appearing before the Spanish parliament. As is customary, each
is exculpating himself, saying that he wasn't in a position –
despite his salary – to see relevant documents. Or to take the
questionable decisions. One wonders how they did earn their huge
salaries.
Finally
. . . It's 10.05 Spanish time and I'm off to watch the Olympics
Opening, though not with any great anticipation. We can't all be
Chinese.
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