Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain
Spain- Do you know all the new faces - some of them rather odd - seeking imminent election? Test your knowledge here.
- More here from the Guardian on the empty-village challenge and its importance for said elections.
- I've mentioned a few times over the years that the Spanish media has a higher (lower?) threshold of acceptability when it comes to showing the bloody results of accidents and terrorist activities. To demonstrate the point, here's a foto of the aftermath of one of the Sri Lanka atrocities. I wonder in which other countries it will appear in the media.
- I'm just finishing my guide for camino 'pilgrims' who pass through Pontevedra city. I was going to cite a new brochure on Galicia and North Portugal - O Eixo Atlántico - but the English is so bad I've decided against this. The booklet is comprehensive and glossy, so expensive to produce. But, as usual, the Galician Xunta decided against paying a native speaker even a pittance to look at the English version and merely went with the translation of one Xiana Vásquez, who can be assumed to have a computer and access to Google Translate. And might well be someone's relative.
- Richard North today: As the moment of truth on Brexit draws closer, the political classes are under great scrutiny, while an increasingly disillusioned electorate deserts its traditional parties and goes chasing after the empty rhetoric of the nearest available demagogue.
- Don Quijones remains pessimistic about Italy and endorses the view expressed here that her intractable problems could well bring down the Euro. Or even the EU. Herein one of the reasons some of us share DQ's pessimism: The problem illustrates the contradictory rules of the EU and the European Central Bank, which prevent countries from investing in growth and make it impossible to leave the eurozone without triggering the crisis they’re seeking to avoid. Technocrats who think they know best don't have to answer to voters if they're wrong. So, they plough/plow on with their dreams and illusions, ignoring realities. Especially those of poorer members who lack the clout of the Northern European members. And the perennially dreaming France, of course. It will surely end in tears, say I. Meanwhile . . . .
- One British pundit claims that:-
- The EU is reforming into a two-speed Europe of a closer integrating Eurozone and an outer ring. Is it really? Can it?
- Under either a soft Brexit or the [widely misunderstood] Norway Option, it is likely that within about 5 years Britain would be the leading part of the outer ring. Really?
- Pigs can fly.
- The new president of Ukraine is a comic and Fart is a clown. So, a meeting between them should be at least amusing. Possibly hilarious.
- Meanwhile, Fart has begun legal action to block a Democrat’s attempt to reveal his personal finances. So, Fart believes in the law when it suits him but ignores it when it doesn't. A life-long strategy, it's said. What a man to have as your president. And possible role model.
- Ex Congresswoman Michele Bachmann again: If President Trump were to reveal a Middle East peace plan that divides the people from the land or pressures Israel or touches Jerusalem, I believe that that action could be sufficient to deny him a second term. This is because the Bible asserts that God will punish whoever harms Israel in any way. If there really is a god, I'm sure he finds Ms Bachmann a bit of a trial.
- Word of the day: Miercoles. This means Wednesday but yesterday I heard a kid say it, with feeling, when he fell off his scooter. And I guessed it was a polite version of mierde, or 'shit'.
- Word of the day: Copacetic. 'In excellent order'. Said to be heard only in North America and of unknown origin. Though there are several theories, of course.
- I hear of a company which will pay me for listening to the many podcasts I already listen to. Am checking it out and will report.
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