In
yesterday's Voz de Galicia Gonzalo Bareño issued a plea for
an end to the Gibraltar soap opera and, at the end of his article, expressed surprise it took the creation of the reef to highlight the
issue of fiscal improprieties on The Rock. No disagreement
with either of these sentiments but the bulk of his article was about
how the 'educated and cultured' Brits he'd spent his summer with had
totally and unshakeably believed UK
media reports that it had all kicked off when Spain invaded
Gibraltar and that several people had boiled to death in the long and
unjustified queues at the border. He was even more shocked, I think,
that these reports had not come from or were not confined to the
tabloid press. Well, I've read the Telegraph, the Times
and the Guardian throughout the summer and watched the news on
the BBC and Sky and I've neither seen nor heard either of these claims. I
can only conclude his friends were reading the broadsheet Daily
Express (is it still a broadsheet?), which is owned by a man who
makes his money primarily from porn and will allow his paper to
report anything which will sell copies of it. Particularly if it has
something to do with Princess Diana. If so, it raises a question about Bareño's definition of 'cultured'.
Back
here in Spain, the mayor of a small town near Alicante has upset many
of the numerous Brits down there by posting a mocked-up foto showing
Gibraltar being invaded by Spanish (Guárdia Civil) troops.
Click here for more on this adolescent episode. Which probably won't
get him sacked. Or even reprimanded. But he may just make a totally
insincere apology in a few days' time. Telegraph here. Guardian
here.
In
the real world, the Spanish government is disappointed (I'll say)
that the EU has not acceded to its request to include the issue of
sovereignty in its September/October review of the issues that divide
the Spanish and British governments.
Unsurprisingly,
the Spanish government has announced it's reviewing rail safety
following the crash that killed 79 people in Santiago de
Compostela last month. “We
are carrying out a general review of all protocols and all security
systems, as well as speed limits,” said the Minister for Public
Works minister. The very least they could do.
I've
just finished a fascinating book - Eastern Approaches - by one
of the founders of the British SAS, Fitzroy Maclean. Once or twice,
though, there was a sharp intake of breath when reading references to
niggers and golliwogs. But, then, it was written
in 1949, when these were pretty commonplace. I did have a query about
Maclean's description of one chap as "A sallow, slightly built
man with an intelligent, sensitive face." What on earth does an
'intelligent face' look like, never mind 'a sensitive face'?
Spanish
bulls continue to fight back. Much good it will do them.
New-to-me
Spanglish: Guárdarail. Safety barrier.
New-to-me
English: To twerk:
To twitch or jerk; To move the body in a sexually suggestive twisting
fashion. As in Miley Cyrus.
Linguistic
Query: USB dongles are called 'pens' in English but
'pencils'(lápices') en Spanish. I wonder why. Actually, their
full name in Spanish is lápices de memoría. Among other things.
Finally
. . . You'll all want to know what el lip-dubbing is. Click
here.
Finally
. . . Finally: Here's an old cartoon which someone has sent me. I
offer it without comment. And certainly without endorsement:-
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| I'VE DECIDED TO TEACH HER TO TALK. What harm can it do? |
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