(Not)Paying my taxes; Netflix por fin; The EU; Brexit?; Pretty pubs; Ponters parade; & Blatter fans.

I recently went to pay my municipal taxes. Thanks to austeridad, the cashier's booth had closed at 11, the equivalent of 9 in the rest of the world. You can tell how un-busy he always was from the fact he was one of the few idle people in Spain to have a book to hand. Seriously underemployed, then. But only La Crisis cost him half his job.

Being a low ethics sort of a place, Spain has a problem with the piracy of films, Or, rather, most people don't have any problem at all with it. This has delayed entry into this market of Netflix but all has been resolved somehow and the company will launch here in September. Though not in my house, unless I have cable wi-fi by then.

The EU has always been at heart a political project, even though it started out under the guise of an economic one. Those who have long sought full political union - especially Germany and France - have taken advantage of the travails of the last 5 years to progress this objective below the radar. Click here if you want to see the consequences of this for weaker economies such as Spain's.

As for Britain and the EU, it was instructive to see a UK government minister talking nonsense yesterday about a future new EU treaty to accommodate changes agreed with the British government. If ever there were a safe bet it's that Brussells isn't going to give the electorates of France, Holland, Ireland, etc. another chance to vote on something. If I'm wrong and there is a new treaty between now and 2020, I'll eat not just my hat but my entire wardrobe. Plus all the clothes therein.

Here's someone's idea of the prettiest pubs (pafs) in England. Knowing Cheshire very well, I very much doubt they are. The Philharmonic in Liverpool is one of several glorious pubs from the city's golden age. Viewing the Italian marble urinals of the Gents is a must. Even for women.

And here's a couple of pretty pictures from a small parade in Pontevedra yesterday, in honour of Corpus Christi, I think.

Galician pipe band

Unknown saint. Assuming it's not J. C.

Finally . . . Sepp Blatter's home village of Visp has a population of around 7,400. Hard as it may be to believe, they're all said to think he's a good egg who can't possibly be corrupt. Only everyone below him, presumably.