The Gag law; The rulers and the ruled; Headlines; Cheese news; & The rewards of googling.

Criticism of Spain's Law for Citizen Security - popularly known as The Gag Law - has come in for criticism from - of all people - Al Jazirah: When Spain first started making noises about an impending law that would criminalise various forms of popular protest, optimists may have assumed the flirtation with overt fascism couldn't last. At the very least – they might have reasoned – the government would have to retreat to semi-fascist mode. Not so. Approved on March 26, and expected to come into force on July 1, the law might be mistaken for something out of the Franco playbook. Exactly. Meanwhile, I wonder how the police are getting on down in Valencia, suing for libel those people who created a Facebook page to protest about abuse. Called, naturally enough, ABUSOS DE LA POLICIA LOCAL DE VALENCIA.

I guess that, if I had to choose one word for the attitude of Spanish politicians it would be 'brazen'. And for the Spanish electorate it would be 'supine'. But the current local elections and the end-year national elections will surely indicate whether or not I'm being fair. One recent comment was that the Spanish had become disenchanted with the two main parties, but not sufficiently enough to oust them from power. Which they might well cling onto by forming a coalition against the upstart new parties, Ciudadanos (centre) and Podemos (left-but-not-quite-as-left-as-originally). As they say, politics makes for strange bedfellows. Even with your despised enemies ('fascists'/'communists') in the event of such an evil pact.

A few more recent headlines:

• Spain has Europe's 2nd-highest percentage of first time mothers over 40.
• Spain grants asylum to just 1% of the EU total [and Britain?]
• Spain ranks in top ten for gay rights in Europe [so long as they don't criticise the police]
• 23 provinces on red alert as temperatures set to soar to over 40 degrees
• Spanish wine makers seek world domination

And a bit of real news . . . .A Spanish entry has won this year's World Championship Cheese Contest - the Gran Reserva Dhesa de los Llanos. Made on a dairy farm near Albacete. Cured for a minimum of nine months, the Gran Reserva variety is said to be enjoyed for its intense flavour, 'meaty' texture which 'melts in the mouth', and a strong, slightly spicy taste. Which means nothing to me as I don't eat cheese. I figure that, if Chinese cuisine can do without it for 6,000 years, so can I.

Finally . . . A week ago I googled Clarks' shoes and since then every bloody page I've opened on the net has been festooned with fotos of footwear from all and sundry. So a couple of days ago I searched several times for 'images of beautiful women' and waited to enjoy the fruits of my labours. Nowt. Still getting ads for bloody shoes. And for lawyers. Some of them costing €500. The shoes, of course. Lawyers don't come than cheap.