Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain
Spain- Spain continues to be better than others as regards refugees. But not those who try to get over the razor wires in North Africa, I suspect.
- Current refugee developments in the Med.
- Spain decides to stop being nasty to prisoners.
- Why Spain needs more feminism in the classroom.
- Nice things to do this spring here in Spain.
- I knew there were VAR problems but the biscuit is surely taken by the news that, during a match in Spain, the ref called for an opinion and there was no one watching the screens . . .
- Talking of the mad world of football . . . I could swear I read yesterday morning that it was certain that Mourinho would be the new real Madrid trainer, just before it was announced that Zidane was returning to the job, after 9 months off.
- A warning for my all-too-common drunken compatriots.
The UK
- I've reached the First World War in Robert Tombs' monumental history of the English. Many times up to now I've been struck that England - going back to before the Norman invasion of 1066 - was rather different from its continental neighbours. I'll cite some of these in due course but I was reminded of this overview of mine by these sentiments in an article on Brexit. By a Remainer who, nonetheless, felt some good might eventually come of it:- Britain has never been obliged [largely because of the absence of revolutions and invasions] to stare deeply into her soul and re-imagine herself. Until now. Should we crash disastrously out on March 29, our Brexit-driven political class will be faced with an even greater quandary: Once we are no longer entwined with our neighbors, who will they have to blame for NHS waiting lists, the housing crisis, queues on the motorways, foreign criminals and straight bananas? Maybe, just maybe, all of this madness will not have been entirely in vain. Sooner or later, Brexit will devour its children and once it has, perhaps we will get the revolution we actually need.
- The British parliament will vote today on Mrs May's "improved deal". She has brought back from her final negotiations a not-unexpected "Instrument relating to the agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community". Per Richard North this morning:- As a title, it's meaningless. But then, so is the document. I suppose the prime minister must be given ten out of ten for trying. Although she stopped short of holding a press conference at the foot of the steps as she disembarked from her RAF transport, and thus resisted the temptation to wave a piece of paper declaring "peace in our time", she has done just about everything else possible short of actually negotiating a new deal.
- President Fart has claimed he called Apple CEO Tim Cook "Tim Apple" in order to save time. I wonder if this came after or before he'd (ludicrously) alleged he actually called him "Tim Cook Apple". The man lies so instinctively he does it to cover slips that don't matter a jot. Making himself look utterly foolish in the process. The Dunning Kruger effect at work. Will the American public really give this sleazy clown another 4 years??
- Word of the Day: Obra
- Odd word of the Day: Mistresspiece: A feminine masterpiece. Time to re--introduce it! Oh, no. On second thoughts . . . We can't say things like actress these days. It will have to remain lost.
- Warning: A UK friend of mine was called by someone claiming to be from his bank and citing the last 4 numbers of his account. Suspicious, he rang off and called his bank, which confirmed the call had been from scammers and that an attempt had been made to withdraw 4k+ pounds from his account on the internet. When he said that he didn't have/use an internet account, he was told that you automatically get one when you open an account. Asked how the scammers could have got the 4 last numbers of his account other than via the bank, he was told that the scammers would probably have hacked the account of a place where he'd used his card. So, in the end my friend prevented the loss of 4k but spent over 4 hours on the phone doing so.
- Every now and again, expat.com sends me an invitation to a get-together somewhere in Andalucia or Cataluña. When I don't reply, I get a follow up telling me I'm a 'very famous member' and asking me to say whether I'm attending or not. As it's news to me that I'm very famous, I'm wondering if other people get the same reminder. If so, I'll be deeply hurt, of course . . .
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