1. Murder of
an infant.
2. Err . . .
that's it.
It's hunting
season in Galicia now, at least for some poor creatures such as
rabbits. Looking at a foto of huntsmen and their dogs yesterday, I
was struck - not for the first time - how unlike traditional British
or French hounds they are. In truth, they look rather more like small
mongrels or even diminutive lurchers. Which doesn't mean they don't
do a great job, of course. If they didn't, like useless greyhounds,
they'd be strung up from trees.
Talking of
animals being hounded to death . . . Here's David Jackson's overview of
a new book on Spain's Fiesta Nacional. It's just possible that
the death-knell is being rung for this activity. As The Local
writes:- "Spain's
powerful bullfighting fraternity may have finally met its match:
former Baywatch
star Pamela Anderson has joined forces with animal rights campaigners
who want Spanish politicians to pull the plug on government subsidies
for this 'cruel pastime'". More here.
And talking
of dogs . . . I came across this Gallego canine name yesterday -
Rober. And then I thought of O Bao/O Vao and realised what it
would be in English.
Then there's
the word rePUGnant. Which
says it all.
Talking to a
Spanish neighbour/friend (not Ester or Amparo) last night I learnt
that Spaniards use the phrase jurar en arameo ('to swear in
Arameic') to mean using bad language. It would be good to know the
origin of this. Alfie? I also learnt that the swearing that takes
place in Gallego is even more colourful than in Spanish. I couldn't
possibly repeat here the example I was given. Suffice to say it
includes the word cona. Google will tell you what this means.
In a move
which the rest of the world rightly sees as mad, the Spanish
government has recently reversed its policy of subsiding individuals' investments in solar panels in favour of one of a tax on people who
aren't troubling the national electricity grid. As far as I can make
out, the logic is that, if you were using the grid, you would have
to pay for the infrastructure you're accessing. Now that you're not
using the grid and the infrastructure, you need to pay a special tax
to compensate the government for you not doing so. Whoever thought this
up must have a lot more such schemes in their twisted brain. For
example, people who don't use a car should be made to pay a special
Non-car tax because they cross the roads that the cars use. Etc. etc.
Talking of
madness . . . Spain's last president, Sr Zapatero, has confided that he
thinks his big mistake was not to admit La Crisis had arrived.
Others will have alternatives, such as his statement that Spanish
banks were the strongest in the world and didn't indulge in
Anglo-Saxon sins such as prime mortgages. Or his boast that Spain
would overtake Germany in per capita income by 2012. Or, to get
local, that the AVE high-train would arrive in Galicia before 2020.
Or even 2015.
A
knowledgable friend has confirmed what I already thought - that my
Chinese emperor and mate are cast in resin. But I still like them
and, knowing this, won't cry as much when my cleaner eventually
breaks one, or even both, of them. But I will tell her they were
ivory and seek due compensation.
Finally . .
. A couple more fotos:-
A car with 4 wheels on the pavement, blocking the zebra crossing. And drivers' vision at the roundabout:
The ever-more-numerous steel poles which are intended to stop this sort of thing:-
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