Dawn

Dawn

Thursday, October 01, 2015

Spanish Politics, 1, 2 and 3; Sp. Internet Access; & A Nice Politician.

Spanish Politics 1: It's not only the majority of voters who are unimpressed by the government of President Rajoy; after the Catalan debacle of the weekend and the first  half of this week, his predecessor in PP power - José María Aznar - has publicly harangued him with ‘Your position is seriously compromised’. "People will be asking" he claims, "why the Party of Government was incapable of leading the Constitutionalist forces in Catalonia?". We all know the answer to that - utter incompetence and rigid dogmatism. Not to mentions a total lack of common sense and diplomatic skills.
 
Spanish Politics 2: As the PP wallows in ignominy, incompetence and corruption, the "centre right' party to watch is now Ciudadanos. This started in Cataluña not so long ago but is now national - in the Madrid, not Catalan, sense of the word. Its rise has been meteoric and it will be fascinating - even to we residents who aren't allowed to vote - to see how the party does in the December general elections.

Spanish Politics 3: Cataluña: Here's the estimable Don Quijones on the Catalan imbroglio. And here's the equally estimable, always readable John Carlin on the same issue. DJ opines The bitter tensions and divisions, both within Catalonia and between Catalonia and Spain, seem set to deepen and widen further, especially with the separatist factions determined to continue with the secession process and Spain’s central government seemingly determined to create judicial martyrs out of Mas and his colleagues. And JC opines: The point now is that the Spanish government has to show some maturity and pragmatism and deal with this issue: the world is as it is, not how we’d like it to be. If for no other reason than political expediency, the starting point has to be respect, which is precisely what Rajoy and company have so conspicuously failed to show over the years. And the result is political chaos in Spain and Catalonia, a chimps’ tea party. Some hope.

Spanish Internet Access: The national average is said to be a download speed of 8.9 Mbps. I had to laugh. For 15 years, mine has never reached even 1Mbps. Which is why I signed an 18m contract yesterday for radio wi-fi which will rocket me up to a (promised) 3 megas! I'll be like a fly in the proverbial. At least for a day or so.

Finally . . . A Nice Politician: I think I'd find it easy to vote for Inés Arrimadas, leader of the successful Ciutadans party. Whatever their policies are. Superficial? Moi??  Which reminds me . . . Someone told me last night that I have a reputation in Pontevedra for being obsessed with women. It's true, I replied. What on earth is there better to be obsessed about? I suspect it was meant to be a criticism.





No comments: