I
arrived in Madrid early this morning. It was cold and wet.
Always a first time, I guess.
On
a BBC podcast they read a letter from someone with the name Charisma.
Always a first time, I guess.
I
read today that, despite all their greed and their crimes, no bankers
have yet been jailed in any country except little old Iceland. Several of
them are in the dock in Spain, of course, but no one expects anyone
to serve a prison sentence. Even if convicted, they'll immediately be
pardoned under the outrageous powers the government has here.
Meanwhile,
perhaps the Revolution has finally begun. It's reported thataround
50 people attacked a car transporting Spain's Minister of Finance and
the leader of the Popular Party in Cataluña while they were on the
European elections campaign trail near Barcelona on Wednesday.
To
the surprise of absolutely no one, it's claimed that cheating is
going on in Spain's bullrings. The horns are being filed down so they
do less damage to those matadors who are gored. And because this
exposes the animal's nerves and makes it less willing to charge. It's
big business so, in this 'low ethics' society, fraud is inevitable.
More
relevantly, nearly 50,000 Spanish
families lost their homes in 2013, up 11% on 2012. This almost
certainly reflects the fact that Spain's harsh laws allow banks to
summarily eject those who default on their mortgage payments. Without
even crediting them with the value of the house.
Over
in the UK, the eurosceptic UKIP party has, as forecast, triumphed in
the local elections, though they haven't gained control of a single
council. As someone has put it -"The UKIP fox is now in the
Westminster hen house" - even if they're unlikely to win any
seats in the 2015 general elections. Such fun.
Finally
. . . Here's a useful list of the ways you can express anger in
Spanish.
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