In
the madness that can be Spain, funny things can happen. Several years
ago, my elder daughter told me that a friend in the (then booming)
estate business in Madrid was compelled to give a job to a foreigner
because all the Spaniards that came for interview merely wanted some
evidence they'd applied for the job. With this, they could then
continue to receive the dole. I thought of this today when I read
that jobseekers whose dole money has run out and who want to claim
the 450 euros per month government handout, now have to show 9 paper
copies of their CV stamped by companies to whom they've applied for a
job. And they say the Spanish have a fondness for paper.
I
know quite a lot about the little pueblo of Mojacar down in Almeria,
as I read the blogs of both Lenox Napier and David Jackson. But now
the place has earned itself international renown. This arises from
the mayoress's decision to attack the problem of ambient noise head
on. As anyone who lives or visits here knows, the suspicion that
Spain is the noisiest country in the world is well founded. So the
mayoress certainly merits some sympathy, if not admiration. But she
has attacked the problem with both gusto and, perhaps, an excess of
zeal, eschewing a gradualist approach. Her proposals include the
banning of domino games in the town's bars. Said the mayoress - “If
you have a group of people under your house smashing the table with
domino pieces until 2am, you will understand.” Anyway, here's
Lenox on the matter.
All
the news seems to be coming from the south tonight . . . Down in
Andalucia, the regional government has come up with a 'nice'
interpretation of an existing law under which banks will be embargoed
from evicting defaulting mortgagees. A scandalised, right-of-centre
El Mundo has
characterised this as a 'clear violation of the principle of private
property' – introduced, as it happens, by a member of the Communist
Party. Here's the left-of-centre El
País on the development.
The lovely and talented Tomara Rojo, who's Artistic Director of The English National Ballet, has been awarded 10
thousand euros (and a statuette) for her work in strengthening
British-Spanish relations. A previous awardee was the historian
Sir Raymond Carr. I wonder when they'll get round to me. Probably
give it to that bloody Paul Preston first.
Finally,
finally . . . A good joke I've just seen in the Wikipedia article on
Tomara Rojo:- Aged 20, she was offered a
contract with the Scottish Ballet. Of her arrival there Rojo has
jokingly said "I spoke no English at this time but it did not
matter; neither did they."
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