Dawn

Dawn

Monday, August 12, 2013

Gib; And A few other things.

Gibraltar: Just when you thought things couldn't possibly get any dafter, they have. 

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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