Sp. pop.; Barons & elections; Spanglish; Menu item; & My bougainvillea.

Spain's population fell for the 3rd year running in 2014. But only by 72,335. As of January this year, the population is now 46.4m, still way up on the 44m of the pre-Bum years.

In the UK, a Prime Minister may or may not have problems with 'Big Beasts' in his cabinet. Think Michael Heseltine, Ken Clarke and, of course, Gordon Brown. Here in Spain, it's the Regional Barons that the President has to worry about. They feature regularly in the media and it's reported that many of them are now pressuring for general elections before the end of the year. Presumably, they fear the new parties will be even stronger by then. Will the ever-cautious Sr Rajoy take a decision on this? Unlikely.

Spanglish: El off. As in: En el 'off' los actores se autoconvocan para llevar adelante una obra. Or Hablar en off. Off-stage, apparently. This appears to be the only time Spanish will eschew syllables - Take and English word or expression and shorten it. Impressive.

Which reminds me . . . Another restaurant in Pontevedra has translated its menu into English. With the usual results. Just one example from many: The Spanish Virutas de jamón (slices of jamón) is given as 'Shaving of Hum'. Not even 'cured Hum'.

Tomorrow, as you'll know, is 30 June, the deadline for submission of my 2014 tax return. The fine for being late is probably around a million euros, given how the Tax Office operates with the low hanging fruit it knows about. So, I started on my submission this weekend and hope to finish it today. Time being short, this is why I'm ending with a foto of the lovely bougainvillea at the back of my house. 

Incidentally, the Virginia creeper next to it has now reached the roof and yesterday entered my study through an open window. 3 or 4 years ago, I nearly uprooted it, fearing it was a weed. I wonder if I'll regret not doing so.