The EU; Sp. pols; Magna Carta(s); Grannam; Huelva bodies; Rats; & Bins We Have Known.

There are some who say that the present EU/eurozone crisis was not only predictable but actually predicted as long ago as 1991. When it was "foreseen that the euro would have a deflationary bias and would increase unemployment in less competitive countries'. Some pessimists even predicted it would lead to social unrest and rioting in the streets. The real extremists were those who said it would not only fail to promote peace but actually increase tension between members, raising the risk of war. They were all, of course, laughed out of court, by politicians who knew a lot more about politics than economics. Well, I guess they're not laughing now. And we bystanders wait to see whether the solution to the latest crisis ranks as another "extend and pretend" measure that merely kicks the can down the road.

Back in Spain . . . One gets the impression here that our political class - La Casta, as it's now known - is not terribly in touch with us commoners. So it is that someone senior in the governing PP party has said from on high that, in re-considering the post-Franco settlement which has served his party so well, they will 'call in aid the Constitution' and ignore the 'siren calls of populism'. What you and I might call 'the people'. Or even just 'the voters'. Pseudo-Franco rhetoric. From pseudo-Francoists, I guess.

Talking of despots . . . The 800th anniversary of Magna Carta has thrown up the interesting fact that it appears to be be better respected in the USA than in the UK. Its text is engraved on a brass plaque on the wall below the chambers of Congress and relevant scenes form part of the panelled door of the Supreme Court. But, then, the USA was founded on liberty and freedom from repression. Divine or otherwise.

I doubt that British schoolkids know an awful lot about Magna Carta. And I'm pretty sure they know nothing about another document felt to be of at least equal importance - The Petition of Right of 1628. But, then, how many adults do?

En passant, the Spanish refer to their 1978 Constitution (there have been several) as La Magna Carta. Or, more correctly, La Carta Magna de La Reconciliación Nacional.

English words that should be resurrected: Grannam: An old woman or grandmother. Actually, it's probably still in use in parts of the UK.

If your'e anywhere near Huelva anytime, head for the San Marco section of the cemetery of Nuestra Senora de la Soledad. For there you'll find the grave of the phoney Major William Martin, who was really Glyndwr Michael. It was the body of the latter which was used, in Operation Mincemeat, to convince the Germans that an Allied landing would take place in Greece and not Sicily in 1943.

Having dealt with the mouse in the garage and the mole in the lawn, I now have a rat at the bottom of the garden, feeding off the seeds dropped from the bird-station. I've put my humane trap down there - the one with a spring-loaded door - but the rat is either too clever or too stupid to go through it to the food inside. I may have to acquire a cat. Or a 12-bore.

Finally . . . I mentioned our four rubbish bins the other day and here they are:-

Paper, Plastic, Organic stuff and Glass



The most important is the green one and it's emptied every night, around midnight. 

This is what the best green ones look like - large, clean and with a metal bar you can depress with your foot to open the lid:-

 A less impressive one looks like this and will be anchored to a metal frame:-

But we have neither of these . . . . 

This is because roadworks were taking place when other streets in our barrio got Class 2 bins a couple of years ago. But now I see that some of my neighbours are hassling the Poio council for our entitlement. Let's hope they're successful, as overflowing bins are not a pretty sight. Especially not all at the same time, as a result of cutbacks in the service. Though not in our bills.