Dawn

Dawn

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Thoughts from Galicia: 24.12.24

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.

Cataluña and Spain
  • Just to rub things in, Barcelona FC thrashed Real Madrid 3-0 last night.
  • President Rajoy – doubtless in shock – is now doing what he does best: Saying little and doing even less. Here's a cartoon – from the Voz de Galicia – which reflects his approach. Which is not listening to either of the 2 (almost) winners of the elections-cum-referendum but insisting that he'll continue with his failed strategy of applying the law. When it suits him, of course.
  • Specifically, Sr R has refused to meet with Sr P – outside Spain – to start on the (very) long process of resolving the crisis. He insists that Sr P returns to Spain, where he'll be immediately arrested, of course.
  • He's also said he won't be advancing the date of the next national elections.
  • But give him his due - Sr R has repeated his long-standing position that he will talk about a solution so long as this is within the law. No one knows what this means. A legal referendum in Cataluña in several months' time??
  • Meanwhile, the temperature in the region is rising even higher as, after jailing several Catalan politicians, the relevant judge is now investigating several more for various things.
  • From The Guardian: The alacrity with which the justice system has responded to the Catalan crisis is in marked contrast to the glacial pace with which it is handling the hundreds of corruption cases involving members of the ruling Popular party.  . . In the EU’s 2017 “Justice Scoreboard”. Spain came third to last among 28 member states in terms of public perception of judicial independence, above only Slovakia and Bulgaria. Some 58% of Spaniards surveyed rated judicial independence as “very bad” or “fairly bad”.
  • As one academic commentator has put it: It's not so much that there's no judicial independence in Spain; it's more a case of the government choosing to see this as a legal issue, not a political one.  You can say that again.
  • Nice comment in one paper: Los lideres del resto de España dan la callada por respuesta tras el mazazo de los resultados. 'All the other leaders around Spain are keeping their mouths shut after the results hammering'.
The UK
  • More witless TV ads:-
- BUPA: More than just medical insurance. As if . . .
- McCains – We are family. From the makers of frozen chips and potatoes . . .
- The Albania tourist folk – Go your own way. Albania is different, I guess.

I confess that I don't often regret my failure to enter the advertising business after I graduated a few decades ago.

Galicia
  • El Gordo national lottery ('The Fat One') was not so much as fat as obese here, dropping more than €500m in the region. Indeed around €520m in Lugo alone.
  • Return flights from our 3 airports for 29 Dec to 1 Jan, in euros:-
- To Madrid: Vigo 58; Santiago 98; La Coruña 126
- To Bilbao: Santiago 387
- To London: Santiago 140
- To Paris: Santiago 130

Scalping the festive locals?

Pontevedra
  • El Gordo blessed us to the tune of more than €11m, much of it going to the gypsies who live at the bottom of my hill. They were pictured waving their tickets in front of their (probably illegal) shacks. I wonder how much will be spent on improving - or even replacing - these.
Finally
  • A view with which it's easy to concur: Eventually the consensus will emerge that social media is unhealthy and antisocial.
Today's Cartoon


No comments: