In the barrel-scraping stakes, it's going to be
hard to beat the Spanish government and its rationale for its
controversial abortion bill. The latest claims are;. 1. that it's
complying with the UN injunction about rights for disabled people,
2. that Spain's economy will benefit by having more people in it, and
3. the only thing the government cares about is fulfilling its
manifesto promise to the people. Needless to say, the UN has denied
any suggestion it was referring to foetuses. And the people have
laughed long and hard at the notion that Spanish parties pay
attention to election manifestos. Essentially because they overflow
with undeliverable promises and are not meant to be taken seriously
by anyone with half a brain.
The credibility of this apparently
Catholic-dominated government fell even further when Spain's Interior
Minister announced he believed that St Terésa de Ávila was
intervening on behalf of Spain in respect of La Crisis. Events
took a surreal turn when the Opposition sent a letter to the
President asking for detailed information on which saints were
helping in which specific areas. I don't think they got an answer.
The Catholic Church is led in Spain by hardliner
Cardinal Rouco. He met the King and Queen recently and I was
surprised to see the Queen bow low when shaking hands with him. Why,
I wonder? Does this reflect merely spiritual power or does it also
reflect long-gone temporal power? Either way, I found it rather
disturbing that a constitutional monarch should be displaying
obeisance to a cleric in the 21st century.
Talking about politics . . . A second new party
has emerged - Partido X. This time it's on the Left of the
spectrum. It's net based and no names will be available until the
forthcoming EU elections. More here.
And talking about politicos . . . I learned this
week that your familia política is your in-laws. As is
parientes políticos. And that tio político, for
example, is uncle-in-law. But there are separate words for brother
and sister-in-law, of course. And other close members of your new
family, such as your mother-in-law. I'm using 'close' in the
technical sense, of course.
Galicia 1: My friend Dwight and I were walking along the
edge of the bay which, in 1809, saw the defeat of a French army by
local guerillas, fortified by a couple of British warships out into
said bay. The leader of the French army was the illustrious Marshal
Ney, who probably had better days. I mention this because Dwight remarked that Ney is still a popular name
for dogs. They don't forget much, these Gallegos. And here's a famous
example, provided by Dwight, of one such canine Ney.
Galicia 2: Here's a list of the 20 worst
restaurants in Spain. Galicia merits a couple, though it seems one at
least has since closed down.
Galicia 3: For a more postive take on
Galcia, see the relevant video here.
Finally . . .One of the pluses of my trip down
South with my daughters over Xmas was my elder daughter telling me
could use the USB connection to play my podcasts over the car radio.
Which meant I didn't need to get the €200 fine I was hit with a few
months ago. Better late than never, I guess. Which reminds me . . .
The car has a small screen which constantly pumps information at me.
Driving on the autopista to Santiago the other day, I was alarmed to
see the word Catastrophe come up on it, instantly wondering
whether I'd lost a wheel or perhaps the braking system. But it turned
out to be the title of the podcast which was just about to begin.
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