As
I've said before, there are 2 distinct zeitgeists in Europe. One is
the desire for greater local democracy and control (Scotland,
Cataluña, Flanders, Corsica, etc.) and the other is the creation of
a 'truly democratic' EU supra-state. It's hard to see how they can
co-exist. Hence the euphoria in Brussels when the majority vote in
Scotland was for continued union with the rest of the UK. We will
next see this tension played out in England, where one answer to the
demand for greater local democracy is to create a layer of regional
government. Since this would fit with the EU's infamous map for a
future Europe, we can expect it to be resisted. Not only for this
reason but also because it would create - a la España - another
layer of expensive (but useless?) politicians and bureaucrats. The
alternative is greater powers to the existing counties and
cities/metropolitan areas. Interesting times.
I've
talked about Spanish family fiefdoms - Santander Bank and El Corte
Inglés - but nothing can match the Argentineans when it comes to
this sort of thing. The last President was Sr Kirchner. The current
President is his (hapless) widow, and the next President, she tells
us, will be their son. Almost as bad as the Ghandis in India. But
Argentina doubtless considers itself part of the developed world.
Maybe it is.
Talking
of South America, a Venezuelan friend tells me, in tones of disgust,
that the late Hugo Chavez, the anti-US, socialist champion of the
poor, has been found to have had a personal fortune of 200m dollars.
Possibly thrust upon him in gratitude by said poor. Maybe his family
will give it back.
If
you live in Spain and if you want your heirs to get maximum benefit,
you need to ensure you're resident in the right community. This is
because Spain is a patchwork of laws, with each of the 17 regions
('autonomous communities') having the right to set their own rules.
Near term, you also need to ensure that your beneficiaries are
resident anywhere in Spain. For, higher rates of tax apply to
non-residents. The EU has declared this illegal and things might
change soon. But I don't think anything has yet been said by Brussels
about differential rates between the regions.
Galicia
has a population of just under 3m. All of these can avail themselves
of 3 international airports, though many of them use the superior
facility down in Oporto in North Portugal. Another area of excess
would appear to be tertiary education, in that the region has 5
(public) universities - In Vigo, Pontevedra, Santiago, La Coruña and
Ourense. In fact, the only city which does't have its own university
is Lugo, though it does have a Santiago Uni. campus there.
Which,
sadly, reminds me that the news this week is that Spain and Italy
ranked joint bottom in an OECD assessment of literacy and numeracy
among graduates. Only 12% of them achieved a 'high level'. Another
case of more meaning less?
Finally
. . . A local paper reports that 67% of the milk we drink in Galicia
comes from 'foreigners' - Portugal, France and the next-door Spanish
region Asturias.
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