Some
Crisis-inspired closures hurt more than others. I went, last night,
to the only churrascaría(grilled
meat) restaurant in town, to find it closed. So, off I went to
another place where I could, at least, get roast lamb. The next table
was occupied by a family of adults and children, who arrived to eat
at 10.45 - the women at one end of the table and the men at the
other, with the kids in the middle. And the cacophony they achieved
was beyond human imagination. Or mine at least. Only in Spain?
One
of the irritating things here is that, when you read a Spanish
newspaper on line and want to return to the front page, you're taken
to the top of it, not to where you were. So you have to scroll down
each time. Another irritant, for me, happens when I access my
original Spanish Terra email and mis-remember my password, and I'm
asked to re-type not just the right password but also my email
address. Sometimes several times. Am I unfair in regarding these as
examples of where Spanish companies demonstrate a lack of customer
awareness? And don't learn from checking what other companies do?
Whatever, I'm lucky with Terra in having what must be one of the
world's shortest emails - colin@terra.com
A
bit embarrassing to find I'd already published - and not so long
ago either - a list of Pontevedra's beggars. And a more comprehensive
one as well. But it did lack the chap who kneels motionless in the
town centre with a begging dish in his outstretched hands - these days
a common aspect of life in Santiago de Compostela, where every street
in the old quarter has at least one. All of them, young and old,
looking rather Rumanian. A family business?
Which
reminds me . . . At various times over the years, I've given a long
list of Spanish words which in the masculine form mean nothing more
than something like 'Jack-the-lad' but in the feminine form mean
'whore, tart or slut'. The latest pairing I've come across is
fulano(guy, somebody or so-and-so) and fulana(slut).
Doesn't seem fair, does it? Only in Spain?
Yesterday
was an unusual day; the date of 9.11.13 was a
"phenomenon" of three consecutive odd numbers (though not
in the go-it-alone USA of 11.9.13). The next one will occur in 92 years
time, in the 22nd century. Which few of us will see.
From
yesterday's El
País
on the latest development in the case of alleged bribes to government
politicians, from the President down:- Like
many other magistrates, Judge Pablo Ruz is used to hearing outlandish
explanations from witnesses or suspects without incredulity creasing
his face. But even he was put to the test on Wednesday. “You mean
to tell me that a lawyer such as yourself was not aware that you were
signing that document, and that your signature could mean legal
responsibilities for you?” The question was put by Ruz to José
Ángel Cañas with just a touch of annoyance in his voice. Cañas,
the manager of the Castilla-La Mancha regional Popular Party (PP),
had just admitted that he had signed a receipt for the amount of
€200,000, money that is alleged to have been handed over in cash in
2007 by construction firm Sacyr. The money is suspected of having
been used to finance the PP’s regional election campaign. Only
in Spain?
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