Dawn

Dawn

Monday, August 19, 2013

The Galician Nationalist Party: Corruption; Oporto; and British names.

The not-terribly-well-supported Galician Nationalist Party - the Bloque National de Galicia or BNG - is commonly known as the Bloque, or The Block. Two days ago it lived up to its name by holding a ceremony which closed the road down near the bridge into town. This was in honour of a left-wing politician murdered there by the Fascists at the outset of the civil war. You could tell it was left wing by the berets, the beards and the moustaches. But, anyway, here's a few fotos of the event. Or the end of it, at least. I missed the speeches.

The memorial at the side of the road, at the scene of the murder.

A beret. A tache and and a semi-tache.
A decent leftist beard
A CD of something I decided not to buy. Possibly speeches. Not sure why here be dragons.
According to the head of the Spanish division of Transparency International "Corruption in Spain has always been tolerated." "Let me give you a figure," he adds: "Around 70% of the politicians who had been arraigned for corruption were subsequently re-elected in the most recent local elections." More here. I've wondered recently whether this isn't because of the Spanish admiration of the picaresque* individual. The jack-the-lad chancer. That said, I suspect that the revelations of just how corrupt the corporate-political nexus was during the boom years has stretched this admiration beyond breaking point. Especially as the beneficiaries are living off their ill-gotten gains during the lean years whilst most people are seriously suffering.

Oporto: I found a line I'd jotted in my notebook summing up Oporto and worthy, I think, of adding here - Engagingly tatty.

Quote of the Week: "Whatever age you are, enjoy it. The next is worse."

Finally . . . Popular male forenames in the UK now include Elliot, Ellis, Rory, Sonny, Kayden and Riley. That's nationwide. In London, the most popular name is now Mohammad. The handle which has fallen most from favour is John. who'd have thought it?

*Pertaining to, characteristic of, or characterized by a form of prose fiction, originally developed in Spain, in which the adventures of an engagingly roguish hero are described in a series of usually humorous or satiric episodes that often depict, in realistic detail, the everyday life of the common people.

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