Thoughts from Galicia: 15.4.17

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.

- Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain.

NOTE: For those readers who've used Facebook to access this blog, you can now go to my FB page Dross Bin for this.

Which reminds me . . . It's said here that, in the UK at least, hackers only need 3 pieces of information to be able to access your bank account. These are your name, date of birth and address and they're often available via Facebook.

Doubtless some folk in Spain will be pleased with the news that the state now collects as much in taxes as it did before the Crisis. Mostly via increased personal, rather than corporate, taxes. Which is not a great surprise, given the ingenuity displayed over the last few years in squeezing the low-hanging fruit of the middle class. And foreigners resident here. Even easier meat. If you'll excuse the mixed metaphors/similes.

This is a lengthy article on corruption in Spain for those interested in the subject. Sadly, if you are, you're probably foreign, not Spanish. Extract: In his 2011 Christmas speech, then-King Juan Carlos promised that “justice” would be “equal for everyone”. Today, his words amount to an insult for many Spaniards.

Sorry . . . Gib again: Here's someone who thinks Brussels has shot itself in the foot by giving Spain a veto. Might well be right.

If you're coming to Pontevedra in a car, bear in mind that - despite a great deal of humanización (pedestrianisation) of our streets - there are 10% more vehicles here than there were 10 years ago. All looking for somewhere to park.

Still on the local scene . . . We're now promised the AVE high-speed train by end 2019. And we all know that means, don't we?

Someone has asked (North) Americans: Exactly when was the USA great? Surprise, surprise - there's no agreement.

Finally . . .  I wasn't exactly surprised to read that electricity supply companies have been fined for abuses, though not a huge amount. Nor that customers complain in their many thousands of complicated bills, of opaque pricing and of being ignored by the companies. I feel their pain.

Today's cartoon. From The Times. Says it all really:-