Providing some evidence of that most un-Spanish of things - a
master-plan - the Foreign Minister has just announced his latest
weekly ratchet - He's thinking of going arm in arm with Argentina to
the United Nations to seek global sympathy for their respective
claims on Gibraltar and The Falklands.
The man is either brilliant or
- more likely - has taken leave of his senses. Putting aside the fact
that the world has a few more important things to bother itself with
right now, there's the inevitable uncomfortable perception that these
are 2 corrupt governments, each desperate to distract its electorate
from domestic disasters. Whither 'Brand Spain'?
Worse, the
Argentinean government was the Devil incarnate to Spain when it
nationalised (without compensation) the local arm of Spain's oil
giant Repsol not so long ago. True, desperate situations make for
strange bedfellows but can you imagine a funnier combo? The mandarins
in London's Foreign Office must be laughing their socks offs.
And
then there's Ceuta and Melilla (not to mention the 6 or 7 islands)
which will be gleefully tabled by Morocco if this idiotic scheme goes
forward. My God, even El Pais noted yesterday that this would
be the inevitable consequence of Spain's planned tango with
Argentina. And it warned the Spanish Foreign Minister to think about
the consequences of his actions. I, for one, though seriously hope he
continues to fail to do so.
Still, if it all succeeds in distracting
those Spaniards who think about anything during August, it'll all be
worth it, I guess. And, better, it will've given the rest of us a few
belly laughs along the way.
But
to be serious for a second . . . The worst aspect of all this is that
the reality is the British government dearly wants to get shut of
Gibraltar, now that it has no strategic importance. But every time
the bellicose Spanish minister opens his over-large mouth and
irritates the Gibraltarians, he makes this less and less likely. It's
as if the megalomaniac lunatic, Franco, were pulling his strings from
the grave. So perhaps they're not laughing in London but pulling
their hair out. Knowing that all the progress made with the Zapatero
government is being wilfully reversed, thanks to extremists in
Rajoy's right-of-centre (and very troubled) government.
It's
reported that Real Madrid are thinking of paying c. €120m for a
British footballer, Gareth Bale. If it goes through - and some
suspect it's just dog-day journalism typical of August - it could
well be true that it'll be "The
craziest deal in the history of football". And "will mark a
nadir in the sport’s descent into madness". Blame for this
attaches, most feel, to Real Madrid, who obviously have their reasons
for making the insane world of planet football even madder. Even if
most of us can't understand them.
If
you've ever wondered what the easiest language for a native English
speaker to learn might be, then this may surprise you.
I
used the free wi-fi in Veggie Square for the first time in quite a
while yesterday. I'd almost forgotten just how stupid the log-in
process is and how irritating it is to have the service cut itself
off every 20 minutes, obliging me to use a different phone number and
code each time. One wonders whether the designer has ever used the
internet. Indeed, one wonders whether the designer isn't a donkey.
The
capacity to irritate me isn't confined to Spain, of course. I've
subscribed to both The Times and The Telegraph for some
time now but each of them obliges me to re-log in periodically. The
latter adds insult to injury by telling me: "You have reached
your limit of 10 free articles a month.
Subscribe today for
unlimited access to our award-winning journalism." Perhaps the
donkey's business is international.
Finally
. . . Here's something on a Pontevedra legend from my friend and
fellow-blogger, Anthea. I have to admit I hadn't heard it before.
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