Royal trials; Uber over?; Promises, promises; Córdoba mosque; & Misc items.

Princess Cristina's best friend - the Public Prosecutor - has said she shouldn't be tried for corruption if she pays the almost €600,000 in tax she avoided via the phoney company set up by her husband. He, on the other hand, is looking at a prison sentence of up to 19 years, having rejected a plea bargain of 6 years plus repayment of €6m . I say 'princess' but I suspect that, following her ejection from the royal family, her proper form of address is merely Doña Cristina. Sic transit gloria mundi.

Starting locally and now nationally, the Uber taxi service has been throttled at birth in Spain. This seems to be because, whenever an existing group of operators here screams "unfair competition", the authorities (political and judicial) step in to protect it. Last month's example was the hotel industry in Andalucia. Which was upset at people letting out their private properties. Does this happen elsewhere around the world?

Thanks to the (apparent) popularity of the new left-wing party, Podemos, Spain's governing PP party has said it will consider a German-style grand coalition with the opposition socialist party if it wins the next election but without an absolute majority. It's also claimed it's willing to tackle corruption jointly with the PSOE party. These promises would be more effective, of course, if anyone believed a word the PP says. Such is the legacy of decades of dishonesty and flagrant corruption.

Returning to the Grand Mosque in Córdoba . . . Here's a virtual tour of that magnificent construction.

And here's a headline you're unlikely ever to see again - Neo-Nazi mauled by lions at Barcelona Zoo.

For obvious reasons, I went to a computer shop today. While waiting to be served, I noticed 3 clocks on the wall, with the time in Rumania, Ecuador and Morocco. Which says something, I guess. Though perhaps not very much as the shop offered a money transfer service. By the way, the nearest Apple tech service set-up to me is in Valladolid.

Finally . . . Today I gave my elder daughter a copy of The Times bought on her birthday in 1994. She looked at the first page and asked: "Where's the large foto of a pretty blond?". When she opened the paper, she found a small spider wrapped in a cocoon of its own silk in one of the folds. So . . . How long has it been there, we wondered. Incidentally, I've no idea why I kept a paper from 1994. Nor why a spider would wrap itself up like that.

PS 1: For those who were, like me dismayed at the demise of Google Reader, I've found Feedly to be a decent replacement.

PS 2: Apologies for typing €10,000 yesterday, as regards Pontevedra's stainless steel poles. It should, of course, have been €100,000. I put it down to using my daughter's laptop.

PS 3: Has anyone read "Tony Blair - A Journey" and enjoyed it?