Dawn

Dawn

Thursday, June 19, 2014

The royal handover; Madrid security; A train tot; & Footballing disasters.


Someone had to say it, I guess. "A new reign in Spain" was the BBC News headline.

Listening to today's speeches, with all their obvious box-ticks, I wasn't surprised not to hear the EU being thanked for its massive financial help in securing and financing Spain's democratic and economic development since 1985. On the other hand, for those in Brussels, I guess there was relief that the EU wasn't regally blamed for La Crisis of the last 5 or 6 years.

My royal informant has analysed the body language and the various gestures of the outgoing king during the public ceremonies and has confirmed that he doesn't respect (or even acknowledge) his daughter-in-law, the new queen. Perhaps he's heard the rumours about her sneaking out at night to attend rock concerts. Which, if true, is probably at an end now.

The Madrid police furthered their reputation for zeal and selective brutality yesterday by arresting anyone wearing pro-republican T-shirts or carrying flags. Or shouting Republica!? Some reports suggest some people were handcuffed for shouting pro-republican slogans and others were questioned for wearing purple – the colour associated with republicanism.

Visiting Bilbao, Legroño, Burgos and León these last 10 days, there's naturally been a lot of highlights in some of Spain's most beautiful cities. But for me the best moment came - off piste - on a train between Burgos and León. I heard a young girl of about 3 or 4 talking to her mother in both Spanish and English. When she stood in the aisle to look up at the TV, I asked her a question or two in English. Then, like kids of that age do, she surreptitiously moved up the aisle to be parallel to my seat and we chatted about the program. As usual in Spain, her mother smiled throughout and no one treated me like a pedophile on the loose.

Finally . . . Here's the reaction of the Spanish press to Spain's depressingly early exit from the World Cup. I guess we can now look forward to the reaction of their colleagues in the English press. The Spanish commentator said that England have a mathematical chance of going through but who'd bet on it?

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