Pontevedra Pensées: 27.12.16

If you're living here in Galicia during this season of excess, you might like to know there are tough penalties for giving your teenage kids even a sip of anything alcoholic in public. The same applies in other parts of Spain, it says here. As I said yesterday, Spain is not the place it used to be. There are very good reasons for some clampdowns, of course, but one sometimes gets the impression their rationale has more to do with revenue than with improving society. Not unique to Spain, of course. But relatively more recent here.

The parties of the Left in Spain continue to set about destroying themselves with a vengeance. Witness this comment on Podemos: He was championed as being the man who could bring about real change in Spanish politics. But now, radical leader Pablo Iglesias is threatening to quit his own party Podemos after rumours of a furious row with his right-hand man. Former professor Iglesias issued the ultimatum as rival Inigo Errejon prepared to address the party’s national conference. Iglesias said he would walk away from the party if Errejon wins a key policy debate at the party’s Citizen’s Assembly. Errejon, by the way, looks like a 14 year old refugee from a Harry Potter film. Iglesias does at least look like an adult, even if he sports a pony tail and invariably dresses like an adolescent. Maturing doesn't seem to be good for either of them.

Talking about improvements to society and about the mad lengths to which these can go . . . It's reported in the Times that: A controversial “blacklist” used by British banks to identify terrorists and potential money launderers has grown so bloated that it includes details of a 3-year-old member of the royal family. And that: Hundreds of individuals were included partly on the basis of unverified blog posts and even far-right or extremist websites.

Some good news – About the saffron industry. Click here.

And some amusing comeuppance news, here.

A bit of Corruption news, here.

And some surprising news here. What number did you come up with?

Finally . . . I read this comment last night: It's highly probable that very adult in the room wants sex with someone other than the person they're currently having it with. Or just with anyone. Can this really be true?

Today's cartoon . . .