Well, this may not
be a very coherent post. I've just been stopped by a local cop and
issued with a 200 euro fine for having auriculares
(ear-phones) in my ear even though I wasn't listening to anything. A
hundred euros for each bloody ear! This is considered a 'serious
offence' in Spain, possibly on a par with using a mobile phone – a
not uncommon sight. So, I'm free to have four Spaniards in my car all
shouting at the same time. Or the radio on full blast. Or a sound
system like those favoured by young gypsy blades which shake the
foundations of buildings they pass. But I can't have a silent bit of
plastic in my ear! I guess it makes sense to someone. The question is
– Do I appeal?
But, anyway . . . I
popped into the Telefónica
shop today – my eighth visit – just to tell them my internet was
functioning, though not at the speed promised. I was welcomed like
the prodigal son on account of the fact they had papers for me to
sign. A perfect example of the Spanish preference for face-to-face
dealings. They had both my phone number and home address but
preferred to wait on the off-chance I'd walk by and come in. Which I
did, of course.
I was talking the
other day about how the Spanish are confused by foreigners' names, as
they don't conform to the hyper-complicated local pattern. Another
example cropped up yesterday, when I read a review of the Santiago
performance of that famous Welshman, 'Sir Jones'.
A few months back, I
cited the Dacia Duster,
as a strangely named car. Well, step forward now the Dacia Lodgy. Does this, I wonder, mean
something in Rumanian (the nationality of the maker) or is it just
another stupid name from a department which clearly has no idea what
it's doing? Incidentally, if you merge Dacia
and Lodgy,
you get Dodgy.
I was looking today
for the Spanish equivalent of 'siblings', suspecting there wasn't
one. But one site gave me un
hermanoahermana, which I couldn't
corroborate. Anyone seen it used?
It's interesting to see
Spain's Barons at each other's throats. As well as locking horns with
the Baroness of Germany and the EU (Merkel), the Baron of Spain (Rajoy) is
tussling with the Baron of Cataluña (Más) over a bail-out
requested by the latter, 'no strings attached'. And the Baron of
Galicia (Feijoo) is having a go at said Baron of Cataluña for "doing the begging while we're doing the paying”. Which,
if true, is rather ironic as Galicia is a poor region and Cataluña a
very wealthy one. And now the (socialist) Baron of Andalucia is
gearing up to follow his Murcian and Valencian oppos to seek from
Baron Rajoy the money no one else will lend him. Such fun.
Well, it wouldn't be the
tail end of summer if we didn't have a picture of Ana Obregón in the
papers. Ms Obregón is one of those Spanish blondes in her very, very
late forties and famous for being famous. She disappears in the early
summer, presumably to have her latest round of plastic surgery.
The minister of Education
appears to have swiftly solved the problem caused him by the Supreme
Court's pronouncement that the state can't subsidise single-sex
schools. He will simply re-designate the latter something different
so they don't fall within the compass of the verdict. Cute. And black
will be white, when it suits him.
Changing Spain: The
Pontevedra council has said it'll be banning skating, biking and
ball-playing on the Alameda and I assume, the pedestrian area
alongside it. So, more bikes and skates in the other pedestrianised areas of the
town, I guess.
Finally . . . For only the
second time in twelve years, I today told the waitress that my glass
of wine was awful. As before, it was changed swiftly and
without any hassle whatsoever. I'm not sure things would be the same
in the UK. It's one of the little cultural differences which add up
to quite a lot. At least if you drink wine.
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