Dawn

Dawn

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Thoughts from Madrid, Spain: 20.3.19

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
            Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain
Spain
  • There are now 5 ex-army generals putting themselves forward as election candidates for the far-right Vox party. This certainly says something about the party but one assumes this ostensibly democratic development isn't a prelude to another coup aimed at re-creating the one true, indivisible, Catholic Spain. But, then, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.
  • This is the point of this dangerous profession.
  • A positive comment . . . The Good Samaritan character aspect of the Spanish goes into overdrive when you're a grandfather pushing a kid in a buggy. You can't move for people smiling at you and offering to help you manoeuvre the bloody thing. The Spanish reluctance to acknowledge the existence of strangers simply doesn't apply to babies and young kids. Quite the opposite.
  • A negative comment  . . . My elder daughter gave birth in Madrid in mid January and took the opportunity of a special office in the hospital to register the birth and get a certificate. But when she went last week to get the baby's passport and (absolutely essential) ID card, she was told at the police station (la comisaría) that she first needed to go through another birth registration process in another place. When she asked why the hospital certificate wasn't valid for the passport and ID processes, she was told this was merely a form of memento or souvenir. She was not pleased, especially as no one could give her an explanation for why this was so. Not that - after 15 years here - she expected one. Just likes to be arsey.
Local News
  • The Spanish morning coffee-hour is an amazing thing. At this divinely appointed time, virtually everyone in Spain quits whatever they're doing and heads for a nearby café. So it is that at 10.30-11.00 you can't find somewhere to sit down and then, an hour or so later, you're the only person in the place. I've seen this at its most illustrative in Pontevedra cafés close to schools, where - come 11 - the institutions seem to be abandoned to the pupils. Or perhaps to them and the caretaker.
Brexit, the UK and the EU.
  • Today we might find out whether the hapless, visionless, strategy-less Mr May is going to beg the EU for a short or a long delay of the Brexit. Or possibly both, with the latter being conditional on terms demanded by the EU technocrats. Who know full well that if they go to the lengths of treating the UK like Greece or even Italy, this will almost certainly backfire and result in a No Deal Brexit in 9 days' time. Delicate decisions. Who'd be a politician? Quite a lot of stupid, greedy bastards, it seems.
  • As befits a pantomime, the rogue Speaker of the House of Commons, Mr Bercow - while detested by the British government - has become, I'm told, a TV 'hero' in Germany. And possibly elsewhere as well. Quite fitting for these Celebrity Times, I guess.
The UK
  • Mrs May - A verdict: From the start, the Remainers felt abandoned, and now the Brexiteers feel betrayed. MPs are deadlocked, parliament is at loggerheads with the executive, the different forms of democracy are straining against one another and hate crimes are on the rise as people define themselves against “the other”. Instead of bringing harmony, Mrs May has entrenched division. That is the greatest failure of her leadership. As with Mr Cameron - who got a million quid advance for memoirs that few will be interested in - history won't be at all kind to her.
Spanish
  1. Tips on learning it.
  2. Here's a nice article on how the adjective 'Spanish' is (mis)used in other languages. I wonder why they've left out the best known in English - Spanish practices. Possibly another decision born of delicacy.
Finally . . .
  • Following an example of this when my son-in-law paid for the flat rental, I again warn readers against dynamic currency conversion, which costs you but gives you nothing except the (false) feeling you've done something beneficial. A nice bit of duplicity on the part of the banks, then, which brings them millions in undeserved fees/pure profit. You'll meet it most often when you're withdrawing funds from a non-euro account at an ATM. Just say No to the question: Would you like this to be charged as pounds to your account?. Or something similar.
  • Talking about the flat . . . There are comprehensive instructions for various things, all in almost-English that was never checked by a native speaker. So it is that, if the you can't get the hob to work, you should 'gold your finder' on the key symbol. Or 'hold your finger' as someone has kindly added in the margin.

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