Exports
still rising, factory production up again, inflation down again -
There are a number of things that the Spanish government can point to as
proof that its medicine is working. And, believe me, it does. But no
one seems to be listening or believing, especially when they read
that the astronomic 27% unemployment rate won't be falling for
several years yet. So, the positive indicators are far from being
translated into a feelgood factor.
Talking
of attitudes towards institutions . . .
Trust
and Mistrust of the EU
The
EU average - 30% and 60%
Cyprus
- 13% and 83%
Greece
- 19% and 80%
Spain
- 17% and 75%
UK
- 20% and 68%
So,
perspectives are worse here in Spain than in the UK, which is quite a
turnaround from, say, 5 years ago, when the money was still flowing
in and there wasn't a team of bureaucrats in Brussels telling the
Spanish government to rethink its latest budget and to impose even
more austerity. In the name, one assumes, of 'convergence'. As for the
bigger boys:-
France
- 34% and 57%
Germany
- 29% and 61%
Looking
at these numbers, you do wonder how they got the average to what it
is. I guess it's because the Eastern European states are more bullish
about what the EU will do for them. Bulgaria's numbers, for example,
are 54% and 28%. Possibly because they see an EU-inspired solution to
their gypsy problems. Exportation.
It's
just possible that mistrustful attitudes to the EU reflect knowledge
that the auditors refused to sign off on the accounts for the
19th year in a row. Possibly because of the allegation that €7bn
was lost on "fraudulent,
illegal or ineligible spending projects". The bigger the
bureaucracy and the bigger the budget, the greater the corruption, of
course. And, with 28 countries to manage, the EU deals in some pretty
large numbers and some pretty complex processes. So, what did anyone expect?
Listening
to a podcast on the American actress, Ava Gardner, I was amused (and
surprised) to hear she'd acquired - via a relationship with
Hemingway - a taste for a drink called Sol
y Sombra. This is a
mixture of brandy and absinthe and is not for the faint-of-heart. Or,
rather, this was the mix back then. Now the absinthe seems to have
been replaced by anise. Unless I misheard. Incidentally, a few years
ago I met a chap in London who claimed to have been the window
cleaner to Miss Gardner when she lived (and died) in that city. He
had some interesting tales to tell. As would anyone who came into
contact with her, it seems. She even tried a spot of bullfighting once while tipsy and paid a heavy price for it in the form of a broken cheekbone.
Finally
. . . As I was doing a spot of cooking last night, I dwelt for a
moment on the fact that I was healthy and content with my life. A
second later I trod on a wet patch in front of the fridge and my foot
went from under me. Happily, I didn't fall and, say, break a hip or
hit my head on the tiled wall. But the irony of the development hit me and I inevitably reflected on the
oft-repeated sentiment that we're always just a second away from injury
or death. Meaning, for me at least, that we owe it to ourselves to
enjoy this life to the max, just in case there ain't a second one.
Postscript:
I got up this morning to find that that my Humax digital recorder is
again on the blink and that my internet speed is so low I can't even test it. So I'm a little less content than I was last
night.
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