Spanish
life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
- Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain.
Life in
Spain:-
- Taking a copa of wine in Dos de Mayo square in Madrid last Saturday, I wasn't surprised that they didn't have Galicia's godello white wine but I was rather taken aback that they didn't have albariño either. All that was on offer was rueda.
- My
daughter has owned a flat in Malasaña for 10 years now and
has watched its gentrification gathering pace in the last few years.
The barrio was once (in)famous as the epicentre of the movida
after Franco's death and is now famous again, as the centre of Spanish hipsterdom. My daughter has an ático flat and has watched the
tenants change from whole latino families to hirsute, single
hipsters.
- It would be easy to fill this blog with translation errors noticed on a daily basis, even in places where a lot of money has obviously been spent on setting up an exhibition. One will suffice for now – paradojas given as 'parodies' in a foto exhibition in Madrid. Oh, and scotched ham. Whatever that is. Or should be.
- I went to the Pontevedra branch of the state tax office yesterday morning with my enquiry about completing Modelo 600 in respect of a donación to my daughter. To find that they'd changed the system yet again. Where there was once a receptionist who directed you to a machine which would tell you which office and desk to go to, now there's a receptionist handing out a brochure telling you you have to call a Madrid number or go through an internet process so that the national tax office can give you an appointment at your regional tax office. So, it is I have to return to the latter at 11 this morning. As usual, no apology for the waste of my time. It's a different concept here . . .
- Undaunted, I then went to the local tax office - the one of the Galician Xunta, not the state - to ask about processing the form. Yes, it was true, the guy at the Information office advised me, that I'd had to come here with my Modelo 600 when I sold a house but this is dealt with by a different office when an asset is being passed as a donación. So I will go there at 10 this morning.
- My daughter told me that when she went to register at the town hall in Madrid, she was directed to an office across the square. There she was told things had been moved to another building. Since when, she asked. "Seven years ago", was the reply . . . .
The
Washington Post has an interesting take on the stand-off between
Barcelona and Madrid on the independence referendum scheduled for
October 1 in Cataluña. Click here for this. Contentiously, the
author claims that: There is a growing conviction in Barcelona
that Spain looks less like a democracy than a state still mired in
the legacy of Franco-style authoritarianism
Which reminds me . . . In the face of
growing disaffection with endemic corruption among Spain's
politicians, President Rajoy has retorted: I won't deny that there
have been corruption cases in the Popular Party, like in other
parties. Some very serious. However, this is the exception and not
the rule in Spain. Not from where we're sitting, mate.
The
Spanish language: Can any reader tell me if there is a difference
between huevos rotos and huevos
estrellados? And
possibly provide a translation that works in English. A normally very
reliable site gives merely 'fried eggs' for the latter but I wonder
if this is really what it means to Spanish diners.
Here
in my barrio of Poio,
across the river from Pontevedra, there's much rejoicing among many
of my neighbours on the national Supreme Court deciding that its
Galician equivalent was wrong to declare their houses illegal. Maybe
some of the 40 or so empty ones will now be sold
Nutters' Corner:
I can't resist citing this video of the execrable Jim Bakker
in action. Enjoy. The End Times are clearly an ill wind that
blows some good for some folk. What a lovely wife. Or is she the
world's first face-lifted parrot?
Finally
. . . How many people knew that Tom and Jerry were originally
2 street dandies – Corinthian Tom and Jerry Hawthorn – in Pierce
Egan's verse story Life in London, published in 1821?
Today's cartoon:-
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