The
Public Prosecutor has told the investigating judge to lay off the 5
Adif directors being examined in respect of the Santiago rail crash.
His rationale is that the offence of imprudencia(recklessness?)
can only be levelled at "juridical persons"(companies?) and
not at "physical/natural persons". Is it conspiracy
thinking to see government interference with due process here?
During
a discussion on British TV yesterday, one of the participants - a
muslim - pointed out that neither the burka nor the niqab
were demanded by the Quran and, indeed, were banned for the haj
pilgrimage and for prayer sessions. So, for him at least, they
shouldn't be allowed in public places either. I have to admit to
severe discomfort at seeing them - e. g. at my doctor's surgery in
the UK - and to viewing them as both a denial of the self and as an
accusation of others. And I'm not at all persuaded by the statements
of some women that they enjoy wearing them. Especially if they also
have gloves on.
There
are 2 huge leisure projects planned for Spain and both of them have a
sword hanging over them. Barcelona World, it seems, is
threatened by the aspiration for Catalan independence and Madrid's
Eurovegas may fall foul of the government's refusal to make a
specific exemption to its anti-smoking laws so as to allow the
infernal practice in restaurants, bars and gambling dens there. My
own guess is that Madrid will give way on this and that the project
will be launched in due course. Unless it is stopped for some other
reason, such as not having a planning licence.
I
have a reader - presumably Galician - who clearly thinks it wrong of
me not to learn Gallego. Especially as the language is a beautiful
one which goes back 1,000 years and is the forerunner of Portuguese.
Well, yes, but the value of a language lies not in its age or its
beauty but in its utility. And Galego has little of this, even in my
part of Galicia, where the language most in use is Castellano,
or Spanish. The most useful language in the world - English - might
well be less beautiful than Galego and is certainly less ancient but
it's of vastly more utility. Which is why so many Spaniards (and
Galegos) are striving to learn it. And I'm not striving to learn
Galego.
If
you've ever listened to Irish or Scottish (i. e. Gaelic) music and
thought 'Hey, this would be improved by the addition of elements of
Hispanic salsa", then this is the group for you. I happened upon
it when I lingered on the BBC Alba station last night while zapping.
And here's a bit more about them.
Finally
. . . Years ago, I had the pleasure of descending a considerable
number of feet to get to Cheshire's salt mines. Where there were vast
chambers carved by almost-as-vast machines extracting the mineral.
The wheels of these seemed as large as houses and it was astonishing
to learn they'd had to be brought down in pieces and then assembled
in the mine. Equally hard to believe was the comment that, if they
broke down, they were simply abandoned as it would involve too much
work and cost to disassemble them and take them back up. One such
dead machine was pointed out to us, killed - we were told - by
someone trying to drive it in first gear and reverse at the same
time. It was interesting to contemplate what some future
archeologist, many centuries from now, would conclude on finding the
monster down there. My most abiding memory, though, is of our guide
inviting us to take a piece of the (pink) rock salt but warning us to
stay clear of the glistening pieces. "That's where they've been
pissed on" he explained. I leave you with a short video of the place.
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