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. Garish but informative.
Cataluña
- See the Guardian article below, headed: Why Barcelona is a street crime hotspot – and how to beat the thieves.
- Dear god! Judge Llarena has criticised German judges for their “lack of commitment” to justice. How dare these ignorant Krauts disagree with me! I suspect the judge grew up in the Franco era and is a member of Opus Dei. But just guessing.
- Here are some points from this article by Vicent Partal on 'Spain's eccentricity'. In it, he tries to explain why the authoritarian temptation is so strong in Spain. Main reasons:-
- The dictatorship’s state, now disguised as a democracy, has no incentive to effectively function as one
- In fact, it has every incentive to carry on using Francoism’s worst methods.
- People believe that their will is subservient to the law.
- Spain’s political parties are compliant machines devoid of internal democracy.
- The royals can thieve like there is no tomorrow with utter impunity.
- Judges are under no obligation to think in legal terms, but in political ones.
- There are issues which the general public have no right to put forward, not even for debate.
Finally, he tries to explain why Spain’s political leaders react the way they do when they get slapped in the face as hard as they did with the German ruling - reminiscent of the way the Franco regime reacted when it was ostracised by the UN at the end of WWII: with machismo and contempt for the international community.
Strongish stuff.
- The article mentions aforados. This is a legal term referring to those, such as high-ranking politicians, who are protected from prosecution in the lower courts. There are thousands of these in modern Spain, left over from the Franco era and earlier.
- Yesterday I suggested high commissions might help Madrid sell their very expensive sub. I was reminded of this possiblity later in the day when reading of sales of warships to Saudi Arabia.
- Here's more on the scandal of Spanish wine being sold as French.
Life in Spain
- If visiting, you might want to stay away from the Eden Roc holiday apartment complex in Magaluf.
- How to stay cool in the Spanish summer, from The Local, of course.
- And great nudist beaches, per El País.
The EU
Russia and The USA
- A cruel cartoon of Jean Claude Drunker I received from a German friend . . .
Russia and The USA
- Politics certainly is a dirty business. Reports are that as much as $50 million in Russian money went to the NRA, no doubt through a labyrinth of shell corporations and third-party groups, which then spent $35 million in support of Trump’s campaign to become president. More here.
- Will Hurd, a former CIA officer who is now a Republican congressman, wrote in The New York Times yesterday: Over the course of my career as an undercover officer in the CIA, I saw Russian intelligence manipulate many people. I never thought I would see the day when an American president would be one of them.
- But, of course, it's not Russia but the Fake Media which is 'the enemy of the people'.
- See below a Times article entitled: President Trump and Russia - the back story. Nothing new, of course.
Galicia/Pontevedra
- Interesting to see that the Guardia Civil are clamping down on offences committed by cyclists, such as riding under the influence of alcohol or drugs (or both), or not wearing a helmet. This, though, only applies to cyclists who actually venture onto the road. Neither the Guardia nor the various local police forces are disposed to doing anything about cyclists who prefer the pavement.
- More on our drugs trade here.
Finally . . .
- If I'd ever known it, I'd forgotten that the Brittonic/Celtic word aber meant river mouth. As in Aberdeen, Aberavon, Abergele, etc. Likewise inver, as in Inverness.
© David Colin Davies, Pontevedra: 21.7.18
1. Why Barcelona is a street crime hotspot – and how to beat the thieves
After Patrick Collinson’s tale of mugging, we look at how robbers get away with it, and readers share their experiences
Much as Barcelona would love to shed its reputation as the bag-snatching capital of Europe, it is not in the gift of the city authorities to do much about it. Under Spanish law, if you steal something worth less than €400 (£357) it’s a falta (misdemeanour), not a delito (crime). If you are caught, you will be fined, probably around €50, but however many times you re-offend, it remains a misdemeanour and as an offence it is not cumulative.
As a result, the thieves, who mostly operate in groups, do so with a sense of impunity, seeing the fines as little more than a tax. Understandably, the police find it demoralising, knowing that when they arrest a culprit he/she will be back on the street within hours.
There have been moves to change the law but the legal system is so bogged down with serious cases it has yet to proceed, and there is little appetite for further burdening the system by making bag-snatching and pickpocketing crimes. All the city authorities can do is warn people of the risks.
They have also made it easier to make a claim – necessary for insurance purposes. Before you could only do this by spending hours at a police station but it is now possible to do it online. The website is available in a variety of languages.
For most Barcelona residents, it’s a source of shame. Friends come to visit, you tell them the dos and don’ts, and still they get robbed – the young, the elderly, in the street, on the metro, queuing to visit some sight. It’s a plague.
Most of us warn people when we see them putting themselves at risk. And yet, despite all the warnings, in guide books and websites, over the public address system at the beach and on the metro, in several languages, we see so many people with their wallets in their back pockets, handbags draped over the back of the chair in a bar, or a camera or mobile on the table, and you think, well, what did you expect?
We sought a response from Tourisme de Barcelona and from the Ajuntament de Barcelona but as Guardian Money went to press had not received a reply.
How to beat the robbers
Lots of people responded to last week’s story with advice for holidaymakers, especially those going to Barcelona.
Margot, who has a house just north of Barcelona, said: “No handbags. Never leave a rucksack or bag in the floor in a cafe or restaurant – you can buy hooks for attaching them to tables. Use money belts for keys, cards and cash. Never stop if anyone asks for directions, or if anyone offers to remove bird excrement from you. Never have a wallet in front or back pockets.”
Many people recommended money belts. Many also suggested you keep a secondary wallet with valueless goods to hand to muggers, including Ducksis: “Carry your cash and credit cards in a money belt, but have a cheap plastic wallet filled with Monopoly money and old membership cards in your back pocket. Shout but don’t fight back.”
Many recommend taking photocopies or phone pictures of your essential documents. “I keep a photo of my passport and driving licence on my phone, and as email attachments. I know that itself carries some risks, but for me, the pros outweigh the cons,” said one holidaymaker to Turkey.
Others say place everything in your wheelie bag until you get to your hotel. “Just put your easily pickpocketable goods in your suitcase and then lock it until you get your hotel, from where you can organise the cash you carry by day, so your wallet isn’t bulging out of your front pocket,” said BoyoUK.
After Patrick Collinson’s tale of mugging, we look at how robbers get away with it, and readers share their experiences
Much as Barcelona would love to shed its reputation as the bag-snatching capital of Europe, it is not in the gift of the city authorities to do much about it. Under Spanish law, if you steal something worth less than €400 (£357) it’s a falta (misdemeanour), not a delito (crime). If you are caught, you will be fined, probably around €50, but however many times you re-offend, it remains a misdemeanour and as an offence it is not cumulative.
As a result, the thieves, who mostly operate in groups, do so with a sense of impunity, seeing the fines as little more than a tax. Understandably, the police find it demoralising, knowing that when they arrest a culprit he/she will be back on the street within hours.
There have been moves to change the law but the legal system is so bogged down with serious cases it has yet to proceed, and there is little appetite for further burdening the system by making bag-snatching and pickpocketing crimes. All the city authorities can do is warn people of the risks.
They have also made it easier to make a claim – necessary for insurance purposes. Before you could only do this by spending hours at a police station but it is now possible to do it online. The website is available in a variety of languages.
For most Barcelona residents, it’s a source of shame. Friends come to visit, you tell them the dos and don’ts, and still they get robbed – the young, the elderly, in the street, on the metro, queuing to visit some sight. It’s a plague.
Most of us warn people when we see them putting themselves at risk. And yet, despite all the warnings, in guide books and websites, over the public address system at the beach and on the metro, in several languages, we see so many people with their wallets in their back pockets, handbags draped over the back of the chair in a bar, or a camera or mobile on the table, and you think, well, what did you expect?
We sought a response from Tourisme de Barcelona and from the Ajuntament de Barcelona but as Guardian Money went to press had not received a reply.
How to beat the robbers
Lots of people responded to last week’s story with advice for holidaymakers, especially those going to Barcelona.
Margot, who has a house just north of Barcelona, said: “No handbags. Never leave a rucksack or bag in the floor in a cafe or restaurant – you can buy hooks for attaching them to tables. Use money belts for keys, cards and cash. Never stop if anyone asks for directions, or if anyone offers to remove bird excrement from you. Never have a wallet in front or back pockets.”
Many people recommended money belts. Many also suggested you keep a secondary wallet with valueless goods to hand to muggers, including Ducksis: “Carry your cash and credit cards in a money belt, but have a cheap plastic wallet filled with Monopoly money and old membership cards in your back pocket. Shout but don’t fight back.”
Many recommend taking photocopies or phone pictures of your essential documents. “I keep a photo of my passport and driving licence on my phone, and as email attachments. I know that itself carries some risks, but for me, the pros outweigh the cons,” said one holidaymaker to Turkey.
Others say place everything in your wheelie bag until you get to your hotel. “Just put your easily pickpocketable goods in your suitcase and then lock it until you get your hotel, from where you can organise the cash you carry by day, so your wallet isn’t bulging out of your front pocket,” said BoyoUK.
2. President Trump and Russia — the back story: The Times
• Donald Trump’s first visit to Moscow was in 1987, his expenses paid by the Soviets. “One thing led to another,” he wrote in The Art of the Deal. “Now I’m talking about building a luxury hotel across from the Kremlin, in partnership with the Soviet government.”
• The hotel never happened but that year Mr Trump took out a full-page ad: “An open letter from Donald J. Trump on why America should stop paying to defend countries that can afford to defend themselves.”
• It is believed that bankruptcies cut Mr Trump off from US finance. “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia,” his son, Eric, said in 2014.
• A dozen Russians with alleged crime links bought property from Mr Trump. “The Russian market is attracted to me,” he said in 2013.
• Several associates, including Michael Flynn, the security adviser he fired, had links to the Kremlin, pro-Moscow forces or Russian mafia. Mr Flynn sat next to Mr Putin at a dinner in 2015.
• In 2013 Mr Trump took his pageant, Miss Universe, to Moscow. He tweeted: “Do you think Putin will be going [. . .] if so, will he become my new best friend?”
• The 2013 trip features in an unsubstantiated dossier of allegations collated by Christopher Steele, an ex-MI6 spy. James Comey, ex-FBI director, said Mr Trump was obsessed with a claim he was filmed in a Moscow hotel room watching prostitutes urinate on a bed Barack Obama had slept in.
• Mr Trump told Mr Comey he did not stay overnight in Moscow in 2013. US journalists found evidence he did.
• Kevin McCarthy, a senior Republican, said in 2016: “There’s two people I think Putin pays: [congressman Dana Rohrabacher] and Trump.”
• In January 2016, Mr Trump tweeted: “I have nothing to do with Russia — no deals, no loans, no nothing”
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