Spanish
life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
-
Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain.
Life
in Spain:-
- I'm thinking of starting a new section - Recycled Lists from The Local: Here's one I'm sure isn't new: 12 Signs You've Cracked the Spanish Language.
- I felt a shiver of something when reading here that Spain's property market is booming again., albeit in respect of rentals. Allegedly, leases have risen 21% in the last year, even more in Madrid and Barcelona.
- Elsewhere in this market, the major BBVA bank if offering c. 2,000 of its overvalued properties at alleged bargain prices. It prompts the question - Is Spain's banking industry still the country's largest estate agent/realtor?
- So, Spain is Different is finally to be replaced in the world's consciousness by Spain is part of you. Maybe. More on this here, in Spanish. With a HT to Lenox of Business Over Tapas for this and other tidbits today.
- Tourism is, of course, very important to the Spanish economy. Some even suggest it's a greater component than the official figure. So far this year, receipts have grown by 15%, to €28bn, in Anglo terms. Trouble is, the industry pays badly, offering salaries that few can really live on. The average salary is €22k a year, well below the national number. But actual wages can be much lower than this, for very long, anti-social hours. As low as €12-13kpa. or €1,000 a month. Or even as little as €800. Can't be right. Needless to say, much of this is paid as 'black money'. One irony is that the Spanish - by international standards - are very poor tippers. So, outside guiri areas, there isn't this compensation for low wages.
- As mentioned, Spain recently celebrated 40 years of democracy, under the aegis of the perceived-to-be-wonderful EU. The ex king - who abdicated in disgrace - wasn't invited (by his son) to the official celebrations and is reported to be pretty miffed. No one else to blame but yourself, mate.
- It's reported that 84% of Spanish voters believe the PP governing party is dragging its feet vis-a-vis its endemic corruption. Pretty easy to guess who the other 16% are.
Interesting developments up in restless Cataluña . . . A member of the secessionist government there has been sacked for doubting the October referendum will take place. See The Guardian on this here. My own view is that the Generalitat is riding for a big fall and will all have resigned by the end of October.
The EU: Attached is an article from resident British observer, Matthew Bennett, together with Google's machine translation. Like me, MB finds the 'state funeral' of Helmut Kohl more than a tad disconcerting. Btw, Matthew . . . How many double letters does a man really need in his name?
Here in Galicia, our population continues to fall and is now down from 2.8m to 2.7m - despite the influx of foreigners. Real foreigners, that it. Not Spaniards from other regions, who are often given this label.
Finally . . . Here's a map of all of Spain's petrol/gas stations, with thanks again to Lenox. I believe the red ones are the most expensive and the green ones the least expensive. Quite a lot of red ones in the poor region of Galicia. One wonders why. But guesses at a cartel.
Today's cartoon:-
THE ARTICLE
El funeral de Kohl o
Europa como proyecto elitista de hechos consumados: Matthew Bennett
Enterraron a Kohl. Con
el primer "acto de Estado" europeo, en palabras del mismo
Jean-Claude Juncker. La ceremonia tuvo lugar en el hemiciclo del
Parlamento Europeo. El féretro estuvo cubierto con la bandera
europea, con sus doce estrellas, y fue acompañado por soldados
alemanes y soldados del Eurocuerpo. Se tocó el himno europeo,
una adaptación de la Oda a la Alegría de Beethoven y
Schiller. Y como no, en el Siglo XXI, se emitió en directo por
Facebook Live. Hablaron los tres presidentes europeos—Juncker
(Comisión), Tusk (Consejo) y Tajani (Parlamento). Kohl, dijo
Juncker, "era un verdadero europeo".
No era, por lo
visto, el funeral deseado por los hijos. Poco he leído sobre los
últimos deseos del propio Kohl con respecto a la ceremonia. Quería
que Viktor Orbán hablara pero no pudo ser: hizo declaraciones
Merkel, la hija política "traidora" con quien el
viejo Canciller estuvo enfrentado. Sus hijos no se hablan
con la viuda. El hijo mayor describió los planes para el funeral
como "impropios" para su padre. Querían que se hiciera una
ceremonia religiosa delante de la Puerta de Brandenburgo, el gran
símbolo de la división y de la reunificación alemana. Tampoco se
le ha enterrado al lado de su ex mujer, la madre de sus hijos, en
Ludwigshafen, sino en Speyer, como "expresión del amor de Kohl
por Europa", según The Guardian.
a Unión Europea ya
tiene actos de Estado sin ser Estado. El supra-estado como hecho
consumado. Hemos presenciado un acto de gran simbolismo
comunicativo-mediático. Se nos quiere animar como ciudadanos
europeos a creernos más unidos y más europeos, resaltando un nuevo
aspecto de una identidad común cuando ningún ciudadano del
continente ha votado por la creación de un Estado europeo. Y los
líderes nacionales ya pueden esforzarse por lograr un nuevo legado
político-existencial: el de Gran Estadista Europeo. No sé si vendrá
con cruz o medalla.
Felipe González dijo
que Kohl quería "una Alemania europea y nunca más una Europa
alemana" pero también señaló el engaño—me imagino sin
darse cuenta—"nunca pensó que la dimensión social de la
construcción europea fuera un estorbo para incorporar a Europa a la
economía de la globalización". Merkel dijo que "ahora nos
toca a nosotros mantener su legado". Es decir, el legado que le
acaban de montar. Macron tuiteó—con una lectura algo selectiva de
la historia—que "Europa es la historia de las mujeres y los
hombres que han tenido el coraje de luchar contra los odios".
En enero, el primer
ministro holandés, en pleno primer mes de la presidencia de Donald
Trump, dijo que la Europa «cada vez más unida» ya estaba muerta,
«enterrada». Se preguntaban por el rumbo de Europa, por qué era,
exactamente, Europa, frente a Trump y al Brexit. El Ministro de
Finanzas italiano, Pier Carlo Padoan les dijo a Bloomberg que «ese
es el desafío que ofrece Trump y que ofrece el Brexit. Ellos tienen
una visión, nosotros no».
En marzo, Jean-Claude
Juncker presentó cinco opciones para el futuro de Europa. Es decir,
admitió en el Parlamento Europeo que los países europeos no sabían
qué era Europa, ni hacia dónde se dirigía. Las cinco opciones
eran: seguir como siempre, reducir el proyecto al mercado único,
crear una Europa de varias velocidades, intentar hacer menos con
menos, o avanzar haciendo mucho más juntos.
Luego ganó Macron las
presidenciales francesas y perdió autoridad Theresa May con sus
desastrosas elecciones anticipadas. Parece claro que, con el funeral
de Kohl, se va a apostar por "más Europa, más juntos, más
centralizado todo". Y va a ser una euro-revolución desde
arriba. Los pueblos no serán consultados sobre la jugada. Vamos a
ser más europeos, nos guste o no, nos parezca sensato o no, funcione
o no.
Sintiéndolo mucho por
los lectores europeos convencidos, me parece más siniestro que
bonito lo que acabamos de ver. Los líderes nacionales podrían haber
presentado sus condolencias con el mismo respeto en una ceremonia de
estado alemana, pero optaron por montarnos un show europeo. Parece
claro que Europa tiene un nuevo rumbo frente al desafío del Brexit y
mi escepticismo no se arraiga, en este caso, en mi condición de
ciudadano británico. Me causaría el mismo estupor si, en estos años
de desconexión, pidiera la nacionalidad española para seguir siendo
europeo.
No obstante la decisión
del Reino Unido, no estoy convencido de que "más Europa"
sea el camino correcto para los europeos, no así, no con esa falta
de legitimidad. Otra cosa sería si los ciudadanos de los 27 estados
miembros hubiesen decidido todos juntos—mediante referéndum, por
ejemplo—intentar crear ese Estado europeo. En ese caso, nada diría
en contra. Pero el último intento en ese sentido—refrendar la
Constitución europea en 2004-2005—fracasó. Las naciones europeas,
en su conjunto, no la querían.
The funeral of Kohl or Europe as an elitist project of accomplished facts: Matthew Bennett
They buried Kohl. With the first European "act of State", in the words of Jean-Claude Juncker himself. The ceremony took place in the Chamber of the European Parliament. The coffin was covered with the European flag, with its twelve stars, and was accompanied by German soldiers and soldiers of the Eurobody. They played the European anthem, an adaptation of the Ode to the Joy of Beethoven and Schiller. And of course, in the 21st Century, it was broadcast live on Facebook Live. The three European presidents - Juncker (Commission), Tusk (Council) and Tajani (Parliament) spoke. Kohl, Juncker said, "was a true European."
It was not, apparently, the funeral desired by the children. I read a little about Kohl's last wishes regarding the ceremony. He wanted Viktor Orbán to speak but could not be: statements Merkel, the "traitorous" political daughter with whom the old Chancellor was confronted. Her children do not talk to the widow. The eldest son described the funeral plans as "improper" for his father. They wanted a religious ceremony to be held in front of the Brandenburg Gate, the great symbol of German division and reunification. Nor has he been buried next to his ex-wife, the mother of his children, in Ludwigshafen, but in Speyer, as "an expression of Kohl's love for Europe," according to The Guardian.
The European Union already has acts of State without being a State. The supra-state as a fait accompli. We have witnessed an act of great communicative-mediatic symbolism. We are encouraged as European citizens to believe in a more united Europe, highlighting a new aspect of a common identity when no citizen of the continent has voted for the creation of a European state. And the national leaders can already strive to achieve a new political-existential legacy: that of the Great European Statesman. I do not know if it will come with a cross or a medal.
Felipe González said that Kohl wanted "a European Germany and never again a German Europe" but also pointed out the deception - I imagine without realizing it - "never thought that the social dimension of European construction was a hindrance to incorporate Europe into the economy Of globalization ". Merkel said that "it is now up to us to maintain its legacy." That is, the legacy that you have just assembled. Macron tweeted -with a somewhat selective reading of history- that "Europe is the story of women and men who have had the courage to fight against hatred."
In January, the Dutch prime minister, in the very first month of Donald Trump's presidency, said that the "increasingly united" Europe was already dead and "buried". They wondered about the course of Europe, why it was, exactly, Europe, in the face of Trump and Brexit. Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan told Bloomberg that "this is the challenge offered by Trump and offered by Brexit. They have a vision, we do not. "
In March, Jean-Claude Juncker presented five options for the future of Europe. That is to say, he admitted in the European Parliament that the European countries did not know what Europe was or where it was headed. The five options were: to continue as usual, to reduce the project to the single market, to create a multi-speed Europe, to try to do less with less, or to advance doing much more together.
Then Macron won the French presidency and lost authority Theresa May with his disastrous early elections. It seems clear that, with Kohl's funeral, he will bet on "more Europe, more together, more centralized everything". And it's going to be a euro-revolution from above. The villages will not be consulted on the play. We will be more European, whether we like it or not, whether it seems sensible or not, whether it works or not.
Feeling much for convinced European readers, it seems more sinister than beautiful what we have just seen. The national leaders could have presented their condolences with the same respect in a ceremony of German state, but they chose to mount a European show. It seems clear that Europe has a new course in the face of the challenge of Brexit and my skepticism does not take root, in this case, as a British citizen. It would cause me the same stupor if, in these years of disconnection, I asked for Spanish nationality to remain European.
Notwithstanding the UK decision, I am not convinced that "more Europe" is the right path for Europeans, not so, not with that lack of legitimacy. Another thing would be if the citizens of the 27 member states had all decided together - by referendum, for example - to try to create that European state. In that case, I would say nothing against it. But the last attempt in that sense - to endorse the European Constitution in 2004-2005 - failed. The European nations, as a whole, didn't want this.
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