Listening
to a BBC podcast on Europe today, I heard one of the panel say there
were Eurosceptic parties in all member countries. Really? Is there
one in Spain? Other than the Galician Nationalist Party(BNG), I mean.
It seems to me that, despite the mess Spain is right now, there's not
a lot of mucky stuff being thrown in the direction of Brussels. The
EU remains too tied, in the national psyche, to the country's
transition from dictatorship to democracy. But things may change over the next few years.
Believe
it or believe it not, when I was driving through the south of France
and then the north east of Spain, I didn't look at the toll tickets piling up on the floor on the passenger side of my car. But
I did yesterday and was horrified to see that three of them were for
27, 53 and 72 euros! Confirming my impression of a few years ago that
the tolls double the cost of travelling on French highways.
Which
reminds me . . . I finally had someone ask me to input the PIN number
of my credit card last night. It was in a restaurant in town but the
experience differed from UK restaurants in two respects. Firstly,
instead of bringing a portable machine to the table, the waiter asked
me to join him in a long walk to the till, at the other end of the
place. Secondly, their machine didn't accept my card and I was
obliged to use my debit card and, needless to say, to provide a
signature. But at least things are heading in the right direction and
I look forward to being able to use my PIN-protected credit card some time in the next 5 to 10 years.
My
favourite artist, Damian Hirst, is dismissed in this article as a
lively young mind which has decayed into an
“arrogant purveyor of kitsch”. Who'd have thought it?
Talking about things which are beyond parody, I see the EU has received the Nobel Peace Prize. Even though pigs are still earth-bound.
Finally
. . . My Ferrol friend Richard has sent me this report of the sad
death of Prince Roy of Sealand. Which merits wider publication.
Richard
has also just sent me a message saying there's a Woman Shop
down in Ceuta, adding that it's amazing what you can get there at
knock-down prices.
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