The
town of Tomar had plenty of sights but none more unusual than that
which greeted me as I took the stairs up to the pay-station of the
underground carpark. This was a couple in the well of the staircase
who'd just finished comparing their underwear. At least, this is what
I assumed they'd been doing as each of them was pulling up their
pants. I wished them well but didn't get a response. Perhaps I should
have used Portuguese. They were still there when I went down but I
felt I detected a degree of sheepishness.
On
another track altogether . . . You can now train from London to
Barcelona in less time than it takes to get from Pontevedra to
Madrid. And the Catalans claim they're hard done by! Will we ever get
the AVE high-speed train in Galicia? I do wonder, even though
President Rajoy is Galician and should be pork-barrelling like mad.
Which
reminds me . . . The infamous airport at Castellón which cost
billions and has never seen a plane is now being rented out to those
who have a racing car they want to test. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Click
here for the best 20 inventions to come out of Spain. And then just
imagine what could have been achieved if the other 90% of the
population had been applying themselves.
To
be serious . . . As someone once almost said: Every country gets the
politicians it deserves. In Spain's case this is a political class
which is far too numerous and far too close to unscrupulous Spanish
businessmen. Not to mention arrogant, immoral and self-serving. If
Spain really is to become a modern European state, this mould has to
be broken and another one created. With the involvement of the
people. And not via we-know-best dictat. Will it happen? I don't
know. But I certainly hope so and am willing to be optimistic.
Frankly,
though, the first signs are not encouraging. Ex President Aznar has
started legal proceedings against El País because of what's
been reported around his involvement in the latest corruption
scandal. And, ahead of a TV debate on the subject, the governing PP
party issued threats that it was watching closely and would take
legal action over any “defamatory” comments. Rightly, some of the
participants suggested the party should instead be considering legal
action against the chap who'd been distributing fat brown envelopes
to party members. Which won't be possible, however, until the party
admits this happened. We await this development with bated breath.
Back to reality . . . Mackerel
is a fish which is now endangered. This won't bother the Spanish as
they decline to eat it, as being 'too strong'. Demand is, therefore,
low and so is the price. Which is good for those of us who like it.
Even if we now have a dilemma.
Finally
. . . I keep getting emails about Twitter in the name of Pablo
Casals. Anyone else?
Finally,
finally . . . “Every country gets the government it deserves” -
Joseph de Maistre
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