Dawn

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Sunday, September 24, 2017

Thoughts from Galicia: 24.9.17

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
- Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain

If you've arrived here because of an interest in Galicia or Pontevedra, see my web page here.

Life in Spain
  • Cataluña 1: Some interesting comments from a leading Basque politician. 
  • Cataluña 2: Some interesting points from a Guardian columnist. Not much optimism on display:- Madrid’s heavy-handed attempt to thwart the independence vote has only served to inflame passions and fuel dissent. President Rajoy may have the law on his side but his heavy-handed approach to the crisis, far from cowering the Catalans into submission, seems to have had the opposite effect, fuelling independence fervour and the worst political crisis in Spain since the end of General Francisco Franco’s fascist dictatorship. See the full article here.
  • Cataluña 3: One answer to a question about Rajoy’s crackdown: What do you expect? He’s a Gallego. Just in case you don't know, Galicians have a reputation for stubbornness.
  • Cataluña 4: Fascinating point: The men at the heart of the stand-off both lead right-wing parties. Both have put personal and party politics ahead of national interest.
  • Cataluña 5: The view of many, if not most, Spaniards:- They worry that the depth of the crisis and the intensity of the debate have sucked attention away from important issues, including the stumbling economy and the impact of austerity policies.
  • On the subject of Spain's stubbornly high levels of youth unemployment, click here for an report on some odd feet-dragging on the part of Madrid.
  • To be more postitive . . . Here's The Local's take on autumn in Spain.
  • And here's where to stay in the lovely region of Asturias.
  • Here - from a decent restaurant in Toledo - is an innovative approach to hand-drying, neither a towel nor a hot-air machine but just wires sticking out of the wall:-

  • I've tried both callos(tripe) and morro(jaw). So, this is the worst thing I could see on a menu:-


The EU: A comment from the man who was ostracised for blowing the whistle years ago on vast corruption around EU funds. You should know that he still believes in a (much reformed) EU: There is a great fear at the heart of Brussels: that its inexorable development towards a fully federal European political entity has never been the result of pressure from below but always imposed from above. There was never, for example, public demand for the abandonment of national currencies. The British alternative, in which pressure for change comes from below is - if it is seen to be successful - a mortal threat. So it has to be seen to be a failure. That's all you need to understand about Brussels' negotiating position. By the way, is it too fanciful to see British Remainers as equivalent to those (very many) American 'Loyalists' who feared Independence would be a disaster?

To be very positive . . . Here's The Huffington Post on why Galicia is Spain's best region. To visit, if not to live in.

Nutters Corner: Driving while female is a crime in Saudi Arabia, and one religious leader has justified the irrational rule by saying women’s brains shrink when they go shopping. Saudi Arabian cleric Saad al-Hijri, who is the “head of the religious edicts department in the southern province,” made the comments during a lecture on the “evils of women driving” this week. According to a translation of his words, women have only half the brain of a man to begin with. But when they’re shopping, it halves yet again, leaving them with only a quarter of a man’s brain. Years ago, I heard rather similar views about women's brains from my Iranian Farsi teacher. I blame the Koran . . . 

Finally . . . The latest edition of Private Eye contains a spoof article on a British media personality who promotes weird products. Just after laughing at that, I read this article on a ludicrous product promoted by Gwyneth Paltrow. You couldn't make it up.

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