THE BEST
NEWS IN AGES?: Not before time, Spain is considering moving away from
the iniquitous practice of dubbing foreign films, having first given
them a name unconnected with the original. This is to
improve levels of English and is something the Portuguese, for
example, have been doing for decades, to the benefit of their kids.
But there's many a slip between cup and lip and there's a large
dubbing industry here, stretching back to the censorship of the
Franco dictatorship. It won't go quietly into the dark night. BTW . .
. I say it's a huge industry but it only seems to employ one woman to
do every female voice from 5 to 95. I'm assured this isn't true but
that's my impression anyway. Maybe there's 2 of them.
ONLY IN
SPAIN: Someone who protested against a bull-tormenting event has been
fined €5,000 under Spain's infamous 'gag law', the repressive
measure introduced recently “to increase citizen security”. And,
coincidentally no doubt, to give the police widespread powers to
prevent citizen protest. More on this here.
A
NON-SHOCKING HEADLINE 1: The European Court of Auditors has revealed
some of the worst cases of fraud of EU subsidies including several
cases from Spain. More here.
A
NON-SHOCKING HEADLINE 2: 84% of Spaniards have an exceedingly low
level of trust in the political system. Where are the remaining 16%
living? The mental health institutes?
SPANISH
WAGES: I recently mentioned a job ad offering only €400 euros a
month but I'm told that wages can be as low as half of this. In other
words, well below the legal minimum wage. How can this happen, you
ask. Because nothing is done about the fact the law is honoured
more in the breach than in the observance. It's one of several
laws in Spain which aren't policed anywhere near as much as those
relating to protest.
FINALLY .
. . LADIES WHO LUNCH: In the first café-bar I used to frequent of a
morning, there was a group of 5 or 6 ladies in their 60s and 70s who
gathered there every day. Speaking simultaneously, theyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_Daniel_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Castelao dominated the
noise level of the place. In part because, when I say 'speaking', I
mean shouting, as the normal high decibels of Spanish discourse were
augmented by universal deafness. I was reminded of them
yesterday by the table of matrons next to mine. As is not unusual
here, conversation was dominated by a single doyenne, who must have
contributed – in a piercing voice – 90% of the 'dialogue',
forcing me to move so I could continue to read. Needless to say, it
being Sunday, all the ladies were dressed to the nines and sported
considerable jewellery. But, an hour later, my disregard for the
dominatrix turned to pity, when I noticed her walking slowly and
painfully up a set of steps. In silence.
See my
other blog - A Scouser Lost in Galizalbion here.
And - A random painting by the Galician writer and artist, Castelao.
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