Sp. Corruption; Banco Santander; The paga extraordinaria; Cameron and the pig; The British media; & Offspring.

Corruption:The last treasurer for the ruling PP party is being prosecuted in respect of illegal ('black') money payments to its bigwigs. And now it emerges - to the surprise of few, I guess - that his predecessor was doing the same during previous administrations. But it's probably too late to take any legal action against, say, ex President Aznar. Así son las cosas in Spain.

Banco Santander: In the UK this bank has - using a traditional Spanish strategy - lured hundreds of thousands of customers into new current accounts paying an astonishing 3%. Now, though, it's ratcheted up all its costs and fees. But this might not be the worst of the situation. Some 'expert' commentators fear problems with the Brazilian economy could do very serious damage to the bank. But it's not for me to give advice to any readers, of course.

The paga extraordinaria: My La Coruña friend, Eamon, tells me this also covers state pensions. So pensioners, too, get double payments twice a year. But not me, as my pension is British. Will it survive?

Prime Minister Cameron: The news that he once placed his primary member inside the jaw of a pig has naturally led to a blizzard (tsunami?) of jokes in the British media, old and new. Click here for a ribald selection.

The British Media and Breasts: One tabloid newspaper is famous for showing the latter every day on page 3. Another, this week, couldn't bring itself to print the innocuous word 'tit' and repeated the comment that someone was a '***less wonder'. Only in anally-retentive Britain?

The British Media 2: My mother yesterday expressed disgust at the campaign she thinks her execrable Daily Mail is waging to bring down the Tory government. I suggested she try The Times. She replied it was too big. I explained it was now a tabloid, smaller than the Daily Mail. Her back-up argument (there's always one) was that she didn't have the education of her children and so wasn't intelligent enough to read this 'highbrow' organ. I decided to give up at this point. But left a copy on her chair, just in case. Though the chance is not fat.

Finally . . . Kids and Grandkids: I've known for a long time that you never stop incurring expense on your kids. But now I know it gets worse. In order to get fotos of my new granddaughter, I've had to invest in a bloody smartphone. I hope she's worth it. The phone, of course, is a lot smarter than me.