Which
reminds me . . . A recent change in the criminal code increases the
fine for jay-walking here. In addition, a larger fine will be imposed if
you're considered to have drunk sufficient alcohol to be a danger to
the traffic. Again, I doubt anyone has ever been arrested for
jay-walking in Spain to date. But these new provisions provide such
ample scope for revenue generation I'm sure it won't be long before
it won't be possible to say that any more.
Emphasising
their Revenue role, the police have been exposed using an obsolete
law to fine motorists who are as little as 3% over the speed limit.
More on this here.
And talking
of offences . . . Will this one arrive in Spain? Is it already here -
Filling up with petrol(gas) and then claiming you've left your wallet
at home. Like phoney whiplash claims, it's a crime which is
burgeoning in the UK.
The
percentage of young Spanish people who'd be concerned about a Muslim
moving in next door has risen from 11% to 17%. For gypsies, there's a
fall from 18 to 14%, meaning that some young people now have greater
antipathy to Muslims than to gypsies, which is astonishing, given
traditional attitudes to the latter. For gays, the numbers show an
increase from 5 to 8%.
Outside the
sphere of personal concerns about groups in Spanish society, here are
the percentage details of PRO and CON attitudes among young people to
certain contentious issues:
Same sex
marriage: 78 13
Occupying
empty properties 41 44
Using human
genetic material
for
therapeutic ends 61 17
Helping
someone to die 77 10
The death
penalty 43 42
Religious
instruction in
schools 31 50
Freedom to
abort 57 27
Some of
these are quite remarkable for a (ex?)Catholic society.
An
interesting decision of the Tax Office (Hacienda) arising from the
trial of the PP party ex-Treasurer - the companies which made
illegal donations through him can set them off against tax. Hmm.
I noted the
Spanish word hangar yesterday and assumed it was another adopted
English word. Well, it may be but it turns out the word actually originates in
Middle French.
I never
thought I'd be in the same box as a mobile phone
company but I see that Vodaphone is accusing the Spanish Department
of Industry of passivity in the face of abuses by Telefónica.
All strength to their elbow.
Which reminds me . . . A Galician cable company is offering a 100 mega internet connection for €40 a month, against my only-option-less-than-1-mega for €35. Which doesn't seem very fair.
Watching a
(convert)English Muslim lady on TV this morning, it struck me that no
non-Muslim would have any problem with a veil/head scarf. After all, nuns
have always covered up their hair. Presumably for the same reason - so that we men wouldn't find them attractive. But the niqab and the
burkha? Quite a different kettle of fish, I believe.
Finally . .
. I had the misfortune last night to sit next to a couple of parents
dominated by their 4 year old 'Little Emperor' son. Who shouted when
he spoke and screamed when he shouted, especially when he was
demanding potato chips and telling his mother he didn't want to do
what she was telling vainly him to do. After 15 minutes of this, I drank as
much of my water as I could swallow and left to read my book in the
main square. I almost felt sympathetic towards the parents and the
future which awaits them.
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