LIFE IN
SPAIN
Acting
First, Thinking Second: As I was
leaving the café on La Coruña station yesterday evening, I picked
up a rolled-up copy of El País
from a shelf. When my friend, Eamon,
pointed out it might have belonged to a nearby customer, I replied
that, if it had, he would surely have told me; and that I now
preferred to adopt the Spanish practice of acting first in my own
interests and then, if necessary, apologising profusely later. Five
minutes later, on the train, I put the paper on my (window) seat, along with my ticket, and went to see if I could find the Panama hat
which I had, of course, left in the same carriage on the incoming
train earlier in the day. I got back to find a young guy throwing the
newspaper in the bin and my ticket on the floor. Acquainted with the
facts, he apologised profusely. And sat in the aisle seat he'd been
allocated. I rest my case.
The Perils of Living
in Spain: According to The Local, these are the 10
“quirky habits” you will inevitably pick up if you live here. I
admit to 5 of them:-
- Kissing people - even strangers
- Swooning over random kids
- Eating late
- Swearing
- Barely tipping
- Treating everyone else on your birthday
- Cancelling if it's raining
- Being direct
- Following seasonal rules
- Eating standing up
Click here for more
details.
SPANISH
SOCIETY
What's
Done and Not Done: Anyone interested in
knowing the Spanish take on my contretemps with my neighbour, the lovely
Ester, should read María's
insightful comment to my post of yesterday.
Primary
School Teachers: The ration of females
to males here is 76/24 here but this is only the 5th highest in the
EU, after Lithuania, Hungary, Eslovenia and Italy – in each of
which females represent more than 90%. I would have thought the UK
was even higher but possibly not. The EU average is 85/15, with
Denmark(69/31), Germany (70/30) and Luxembourg(75/25) dragging it
down.
Secondary
School Teachers: The EU average of
females to males is 64/36, against Spain's 56/44.
So . . . . In both primary and secondary education here, men are represented more than in most (?) EU countries. Which won't last, of course,
especially in primary education.
SPANISH
POLITICS
Cataluña: The ex-president, Artur Mas, is being taken to court for attempting to set up an independence referendum. That should calm things down up there.
Corruption: It's generally recognised that Spanish politicians and businessmen are the most corrupt in Europe. Instead of citing the cavalcade of investigations and court cases, I've added a schedule to my blog. See the end of this post for the first idiot's guide to what's currently being alleged by the police or the courts. I'll be adding new cases as they emerge, at the top, so the list could get quite long. Even by the end of October.
GALICIAN
STUFF
Avoiding
Damp: Here's an article that will be of special interest in anyone living in
Green Spain. Where the colour is not an accident.
PERSONAL
STUFF
Car Care: Arriving at my car yesterday evening, I noticed a new 30cm scratch along the front RHS bumper/fender. When the car was new, the first scratch - actually my fault - reduced me to despair. Now, I just shrug and cover them up with black electricians' tape - until I've got enough for a mass paint job. They're inescapable here, where 'kissing' is an established way of getting your car out of a
tight space.
FINALLY
Words: The standard past participle of the verb 'to drag' is, of course, 'dragged', But yesterday I heard a US politician use 'drug'. Checking on the internet, I found this was a version used in some dialects. I'm guessing this was an English usage taken to the American colonies in the 16th century. Like 'spit' for 'spat' and 'gotten' for 'got'.
THE
GALLERY
CURRENT
CORRUPTION CASES
The case
|
Who
|
Position
|
Allegation
|
Status
|
Gürtel/
Correa
|
37 politicians and businessmen
|
Senior position holders
|
Illegal party financing
|
|
Black
Cards
|
Numerous
ex-politicos and businessmen
|
Senior position holders
|
Use of
'black credit cards' to avoid taxation on income
|
Trial just started
|
Bog standard
case
|
Ventura Sierra Vázquez
|
The mayor of Vilareño de Conso,
Galicia.
|
Falsification
of docs and corrupt practices.
|
Trial just started
|
Bog standard
case
|
José Ramón [Nené] Barral
|
The ex-mayor of Ribadumia, Galicia
|
Money
laundering and drug smuggling
|
Under investigation
|
Bog standard case
|
María Antonia Munar
|
Ex-president of the Balearics
parliament
|
€4m
bribes for changing property
classifications
|
Awaiting sentence. 4 years
demanded.
|
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