Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain
Spain - A Guardian columnist writes: The world is not going through [the predicted] “war of civilisations”. What we face is far more complicated and disparate. This is the age of a thousand cultural clashes, and these battles take place within countries, not between them. They tear our societies apart and polarise politics to such an extent that it will be for ever altered. Reading this, I wondered if Prime Minister Rajoy's biggest failure was not doing nothing about the vast corruption in the PP party but handling the Catalan problem in such an incompetent, non-statesmanlike way that he opened the door to the far-right Vox Party. Instead of taking steam out of the issue, he injected more into it.
- Neither I nor, it seems, Brett Heatherington is likely to be braving the tourist hordes in Sevilla again any day soon. But here are 14[!] reasons why you should think of doing so, from The Local. There might be some of you who didn't see it 17 months ago.
- The problems I have with the RENFE web page are gnat bites compared to those described here, though the message quoted is very familiar to me. I had to laugh at the last sentence: In January, RENFE announced a €700,000 overhaul of its services, including website upgrades. I wonder where the money went.
- I knew - from visiting the museum at the Arapiles(Salamanca) battle site - that Wellington has Irish troops in his army but didn't know there'd been an Irish 'Legion' fighting on the French side in Spain during the Peninsula War/War of Independence. The "Wild Geese", as they were known.
- Back to today and tomorrow . . . Get ready for the roaches!
- Telegraph columnist: We keep going round and round in circles. Why? Because we can’t escape the technical difficulties and the parties are avoiding the only real choices they have left for themselves: leave without a comprehensive deal or stay in the EU. Instead, they talk, grandstand and play the waiting game . . . . We all know that the dynamic in Parliament would transform overnight if either main party committed itself openly to Brexit or Remain, but the central problem is that every decision taken is motivated by a political calculation around what choice, what cautious step will alienate the least voters. . . In politics it’s often stupid to try to be clever when you could just be honest. What we’re left with is a kind of unintelligent fraud, all the more frustrating because it’s obvious that many capable men and women are wasting their talents trying to pull it off. Nigel Farage is right to warn that even if a customs union is a winner in Parliament, it could be a big loser in the country, precisely because it is the product of a grand bargain between political elites that most voters no longer trust.
- As I've said a few times, having long since given up on a sensible Brexit, I now favour the plug being pulled on the whole kit and caboodle. I suspect Mrs May would love to do this too but is afraid it would destroy the Conservative party for many years. Just possibly for ever. But, if it's not done, the odds still favour a (disastrous) No Deal Brexit and a further hit to my pound-based pension . . .
- Telegraph deadline: Donald Trump's bid to take on the EU could crush the German economy. First para: The EU’s Trade Commissioner held out an olive branch to Trump last week as the bloc tries to prevent tariffs being put on the auto sector – but the move looks likely to fail. An escalating trade dispute between Brussels and Washington now appears inevitable – and Germany will feel most of the pain as Donald Trump gains political capital at home. Worrying.
- There's a species of scum in the USA called 'prosperity gospel preachers'. These make many millions by raking in dollars from gullible souls who believe their schtick about the Bible giving financial advice, through which God will make them rich. Or the preachers at least. One of the greediest of these shysters, Kenneth Copeland, was invited to dine with Fart before the National Day of Prayer last week. As Ed Brayton says, this not surprising. Firstly, because they are both con artists, and, secondly, because Fart is essentially a secular prosperity gospel preacher himself. More on this here.
- Parts of the Netherlands have become so popular that the Dutch Tourism Board has stopped promoting tourism to them and is trying to divert visitors to less well-known destinations such as Eindhoven or the Frisian lakes. Surely an out-runner for other over-visited destinations.
- British holidaymakers were duped out of more than £7 million by travel fraudsters last year. More than 5,000 people reported falling victim to travel scams, a 14 per cent increase compared with 2017. The police say that the scammers are using ever more sophisticated techniques to dupe travellers. Fraudsters typically create fake websites or social media profiles to promote properties that they have no right to market. They cannot take card payments, so typically ask victims to pay via a bank transfer, which is not protected by the Consumer Credit Act.
- Word of the Day: Alegría
- It wasn't good to hear on the yesterday's morning news that a serial rapist being sought around London had abducted 2 women in the centre of the town I used to live in, 200m miles away. Especially as my 2 daughters were visiting their mother there. Fortunately, he was seen and chased, when the women escaped. The police eventually captured the sick bastard, after finding him sitting in a tree on a nearby farm. The litany of his several assaults and rapes on Sunday is almost impossible to believe. Let's hope he ends up here. Until he dies.
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