Thoughts from Galicia, Spain: 3.2.19

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.

           Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain

Spain

• Politics: Here's The Economist on the urgent need for 'a coalition of the sober'.
• Some interesting revelations on the genetic links of today's Spaniards. Which won't please all of them,.
•  I didn't know you can get into Cordoba's Grand Mosque for free between 08.30 and 09.15. After which you'll be joined by the massed ranks of jostly, noisy tour groups, in  a sea of selfie sticks. As I think I stressed after my visit last year.
• Wild boars are very much in the news these days, as here for example. In Galicia, the Xunta is urging us to eat more of their meat, so as to induce hunting. Which is fine by me, since I'm an aficionado of boar stew. As of now, I have to go down into North Portugal to find it on a menu. 
• Here in Galicia, the pre-Lent celebrations - Entroido - began on Friday night. As would happen in the UK, after 2 weeks of sun, it started to rain. Yesterday, my midday tiffin was disturbed by this rather loud marching/dancing troupe:-

• As I've said, this week sees the funeral cortege and immolation of our parrot, Ravachol. Prior to these, you can express your condolences in writing here at the temporary Bótica(pharmacy) in the centre of town, next to the permanent bronze statue of him/her:-

• Here's The Guardian on the Camino. Specifically a bit down in Portugal. I once did it 'backwards' as far as lovely Ponte de Lima.
• Brexit: Readers might wonder why I've never expressed concern about losing various rights here after this. Well, this is because I've never believed for a second that the Spanish government would be stupid enough to shoot itself in the foot. Which I suppose means I don't believe the various pressure groups - however admirable - were really necessary, if understandable. Another reason, I guess, is that, if my optimism proved unfounded, I was in a better position than others, in that I could take out either Irish or Spanish nationality. But it does seem we permanent residents will have to apply for a new card. On the one hand, more bureaucracy. On the other, this will hopefully replace the useless NIE paper certificate. And obviate my need to use an ID card which expired 8 years ago.
• Corruption: Just in case you thought this had gone away, here's the Voz de Galicia with news of a wide-scale social security fraud involving at least 59 people and €19m euros. You'd wonder how they all though this could be kept secret. Or perhaps they don't care about spending a couple of years in clink, after which they'll make a trip to Andora, Switzerland or Luxembourg. All in the EU, of course.

The EU

• Surveys regularly show that in Europe - and possibly outside it - the French are universally considered the most difficult to do business with. I'm reminded of this by the spat between the French and Dutch governments over the 'secret' purchase by the latter of shares in Air France/KLM, aimed at effecting parity in government participation. And, of course, in influence over decisions. The French are reported to be furious, although mainly because another government is doing precisely the same kind of thing it does all the time.   

The EU, the UK and Brexit

• Sir Ivan Rogers, ex UK Ambassador to the EU: What surprises me is the extent of the mess. For the truly interested in this subject, much more from him here on the subject of British mistakes.

Brexit and The UK

• RN today: There is a cause for considerable gloom. Just sorting what should have been the relatively simple process of agreeing the mechanical processes of leaving has all but torn the political system apart, with issues unresolved 32 months after the referendum. And now, even if at the eleventh hour, we do reach an agreement, the hardest part is yet to come. Dear dog! 
• I've said that I now feel Brexit should be abandoned. The article below is from a Brexiteer who used to think this but has now changed her mind. Quite persuasive.

Spanish

• Words of the Day, all of them new to me: 

- Un carajillo - A coffee with brandy
- El pichichi - The leading scorer
- Un showcooking - Have a guess.

English

• Odd Old Word: Ice-chair: 'A chair on runners to hold a lady who is pushed along by a skater behind her'. A gentleman, presumably.

Finally . . .

• As I've said, when I go to the edge of town, I park my car on a very convenient bit of wasteland. Yesterday's bad news is that the council is going to acondicionar this. Meaning tarmac and drainage I guess. If so, gone will be the days when I could always find a space there any day of the year. Progress.

THE ARTICLE

We promised the voters we would leave - if that means backing Theresa May's Brexit deal for now, so be it: Janet Daley

You can’t say I didn’t warn you. This column has been pretty much consistent in its prediction of what was to come – if not particularly consistent in its recommendation of a remedy. And here we are at last, faced with the two ghastly choices: a bad deal or No Brexit. Theresa May’s terrible Withdrawal Agreement looms out of the miasma of confusion and incoherence as the only possible way of avoiding the trap laid long, long ago by the invincibly arrogant Remain forces.

Forget about No Deal: that has been definitively eliminated from the realm of possibility by Mrs May’s decision to let the Commons vote to rule it out. And in the absence of the possibility of leaving without a deal, there is no more scope for serious negotiation. So that’s it – game over. The only question now is how the MPs who will have to vote on these equally horrendous alternatives judge their moral obligations. (I say “moral” because those who are most exercised by this see the question as one of ethical and social significance.)

Paradoxically, the Never Leave option – sometimes known as “an extension of Article 50” – could seem, to those who regard their commitment to Brexit as necessitating a purity that can brook no compromise, less wicked than the prime minister’s botched Withdrawal Agreement. Better to give up altogether, or even to precipitate an incalculable breakdown of our political functions, than to accept a messy, self-cancelling mongrel arrangement which delivers so few of the original objectives and which reneges on the true intention of the country’s decision.

Let me say at the outset that I unreservedly respect this view. The Letters page of this newspaper has carried many impassioned statements to this effect which have moved me nearly to tears. There can be no doubt that there is, out there in the country as well as in Parliament, a solid phalanx of thoughtful, courageous individuals who regard surrender on these terms as a monumental betrayal of the country’s historic values. Yes, I get that. But in the end, the argument for purity must face the consequences – and I don’t mean the claptrap about imminent economic collapse – of failing to come out when we absolutely swore to the world and our own people that we would.

If we chuck it in for the indefinite future, which is what “extending Article 50” actually means, then we will not only be letting down our own Leave-voting electorate, but demonstrating to every other populace in Europe which might have thought escape was a remote but useful possibility that there is no hope. If the UK, with its stable democratic institutions, huge economy, eminently rational population and unique international security connections cannot manage to break out of this stagnating, hidebound protectionist bloc, then what chance would any of the smaller players have?

And if no one can ever leave, what chance is there of bringing about meaningful reform from within? Why should the EU oligarchy and its dominant national players ever feel a need to respond to criticism or demands from the heads of inconsequential member states (whom they often despise) when everyone knows that there is no choice but to take what is on offer. Raising objections to EU Commission policy at Brussels summits will just make you look like an angry toddler throwing a tantrum. So it is not just our own country’s future that is in question. If the UK decides, in some form or other, not to go through with this at the appointed time, it will have massive repercussions on the EU and all its member states.

The overweening superciliousness of the Commission will get a new surge of confidence, at precisely the moment when it seemed under serious threat from populist resistance not only in the Eastern accession states but in Italy, a founder member. Just as the smashing of the Greek government’s rebellion served as a warning to anybody else with ideas about resisting German economic domination, so the crushing of Brexit will make it clear that there is no practicable escape even for strong countries with confident democratic traditions. Staying true to the Brexit commitment is not just a matter of selfish national pride: it is necessary to serve as an example to those states that remain within the EU that exiting is possible, and therefore the threat of exiting is realistic, and therefore demands for reform cannot be ignored.

But of course, the first consideration must be the effect that failing to leave would have here at home. I do not believe that the British populace will take to the streets and throw things at the police. That is a French custom. Rioting here is more of a delinquent, anarchic thing than a form of organised political protest. But something very terrible will happen to the relationship between the people and the political class. Where there is already distrust and benign cynicism, there will now be utter loathing and endemic suspicion. What will have been revealed in devastating, unforgettable form is the contempt which those who govern feel for those who elect them.

The people will hear clearly that their national leaders believe them to be fools – or worse. And they will not be able to un-hear it for a generation. The basis of our stable, remarkably good-natured political settlement will be rocked in a way that it has not been for a century or more. This is simply too great a price to pay for immaculate fidelity to a perfect ideal.

What is on offer is not what we wanted or what we would choose. But what is most important is to get the hell out of there. That will be the beginning, not the end. Once we are a sovereign nation again, we will be negotiating on terms that will be at least half our own. There is even a chance that Mrs May will feel free to step down (happy day!) once she has got her face-saving deal through the House, with an air of personal satisfaction: “My work here is done…”

In the end, there can be no other responsible choice. Vote for the deal.