There
was an article in El País the other day in which an
anglophile-ish writer bemoaned the fact that the British state - long
a beacon of morality, in his opinion - should have sunk to the level
of trying to restrict the numbers of immigrants from Rumania and
Bulgaria able to settle there from Jan 1. Spain, he pointed out, had
taken in 4 million immigrants in the last 10 years and had not sought
to restrict or mistreat them. Well, he's right and wrong, course. The
British government should not be pandering to the right-wing nutters
of UKIP but, at the same time, it has to contain and repair the
damage done by years of rampant multiculturalism under the previous
Labour governments. For the main difference between Britain's
immigrants and Spain's is that the latter don't come from very
different cultures with different customs, religions and values. And
some of them, at least, can be safely dispatched to the modern
equivalent of wage slavery down in southern Spain's plastic tents.
The others, coming primarily from South America, acculturate into
Spanish society pretty easily. And don't demand the institution of
Sharia law on a municipal or even national level. Or openly call for
the murder of British citizens. Or practice female genital
mutilation. So, different problems and different solutions.
Talking
about the benevolence of the Spanish government . . . It's just
sneaked in a new (and undiscussed) measure under which people who
leave Spain to work elsewhere after their dole has finished, won't be
entitled to healthcare back here in Spain if they spend more than 90
days outside the country. Here's David Jackson's view/explanation of
this bizarre step. And here's an expatriate Spanish view.
Incidentally, my own experience (with my daughter) of trying to get a
health card if you're sin recursos (i. e. not earning) was, to
say the least, a calvario. Which ended in failure.
On
the abortion law revision - Madrid's Cardinal
Rouco, has said the proposed new law is insufficiently restrictive,
as 'the gift of life' must be respected in every case. This is hardly
in tune with the zeitgeist but is probably a more intellectually
honest position. For if abortion is murder of a human being, then why permit
it merely because, for example, the mother's health is at risk? Or
because the child's life will be a nightmare. As a Catholic, once you start making
any exceptions, you're in deep trouble.
A
couple of nice words from Tristram Shandy, referring I think to pub
games - Chuck-farthing and Shuffle-cap
Finally
. . . I've seen the interiors of a lot of churches in the last 2
weeks. The works of art have included at least 2 pictures of a priest
holding the hand of a child and leading him or her off somewhere. I
have to admit that, each time, the words "Trust me, I'm a
priest" have sprung to mind.
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