Spanish vignette; Life in Spain; & Grumpy Old Man

I had another of those lovely Spanish experiences early this evening. I was sitting on the steps of the Turismo in the old quarter, waiting for friends. A little boy of 3 or 4 was playing next to me with 2 objects he was pretending were cars. His parents were a couple of feet away, at a bar table. When they got up to go, the father hid one of the boy's objects in his pullover, as he was looking the other way. The poor kid was stupefied and, in exasperation, asked me if I knew where it was. I shrugged my shoulders and pointed towards his parents, who were walking away. A minute or so later, the little boy came running back to me to say his father had had it all the time. How we all smiled. There is an awful lot to be said for socialising your kids by taking them (almost) everywhere with you.

Life in Spain:

• Consumer prices continue to fall (0.5% over the year to August). Inflation is now officially zero and this appears to be bad, as deflation looms, threatening an already weak economy.
• Youth unemployment is once again the highest in the EU, having overtaken that of Greece, which has held this dubious distinction for a few years. 25% of all the EU's workless young people are now here in Spain. It would be even more if so many of them hadn't gone 'overseas' to seek jobs.
• The Royal family: My friend Anthea has read the prensa rosa and advises that 1. the royal family - in an anti-corruption/scandal move - is to shrink; and 2. the magazines have given up predicting the divorce of the new monarchs and are now concentrating on Queen Letizia's skinniness. Equals anorexia.

Finally . . .

Curmudgeon Corner: My lovely young guests of last week left me 20 towels to wash, after being here only a week. They were clearly under the impression this was a hotel with nil regard for the environment. I should have put one of those specious hotel notices in the bathrooms. Anyway, for 3 people for just 1 week the total of 20 comprised 9 bath towels; 3 beach towels; 4 hand towels; and 4 bidet towels. In future I'll be locking the towel cupboard. Meanwhile, here's the freshly-washed evidence . . . 

P. S. For pedants, there are 2 blue bath towels together.