Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain
Spanish Politics- Looking at the mayhem in Cataluña, one wonders if Spain has politicians of sufficient calibre to solve this problem. Or even just address it. Not much evidence of such, I'm afraid. But, then, we get the politicians we deserve. Whether we're in Spain, the USA or the UK. But possibly not in, say, Russia, Or Turkey. Or Syria.
- The annual sheep show in Madrid.
- The Olive Press here offers 31[sic] 'facts' aimed at helping you, if you're moving to Spain. They relate mostly to the southern and eastern coasts and some are questionable even there. But I liked the ones about driving and roundabouts . . .
- It's reported that the number of households complaining about early morning noise from nearby bars and discos has reduced by half in 10 years. But still totalled 107,000 last year. Fines imposed range from €300 to €30,000. You must have to be recalcitrant to justify the latter.
- Richard North: Standing aside from the media hype, it has now been possible to start the long process of getting to grips with the new text, and to begin to try and understand some of its implications. This will take some time and anyone who claims to have a complete grasp of what it entails is either a liar or charlatan – or both.
- Undaunted, The Guardian has a go at it here.
The EU
- French and German divisions over another Brexit delay are about a struggle for European dominance. See the article below.
- I had a dinner with 2 English friends and 1 Spanish friend on Wednesday night, in a large pub offering a wide range of international dishes that couldn't possibly be cooked from start to finish in 15 minutes. Or at all. For, at 8.15, we were told the kitchen was closed, as the staff had all gone home at 8. To our Spanish member, this was inconceivable. And it wasn't too credible to the rest of us either. Anyway, we went next door for a curry and had a very good meal there. Though our Spanish colleague complained that the Biryani rice was the 'hottest thing I've had in my life'. Until she tried the (mild-to-us) sauce that came with it.
- Yet more proof that 'every Ffart accusation is a confession': "Ms Pelosi needs help fast. She had a total meltdown in the White House today. It was very sad to watch. Pray for her, she is a very sick person."
- Par for the course. Ffart has chosen one of the Prosperity Gospel shysters to be be a member of the federal education board.
- Ffarts's Ffraudulent Ffinances.
- Fed up of your old-fashioned analog rosary beads? Well, here's an (uncheap) PrayerBit for you.
- Possibly the very worst/best. Crooked Jim Bakker has enlisted Ffart's “spiritual adviser” Paula White to help him collect the money of gullible believers who 'need' his buckets of gunge ahead of Armageddon. During his show this week, White told viewers they had to donate thousands of dollars so that Bakker could build a new studio. She added that there was a 'Treasury Department' in Heaven paying close attention to how viewers spent their money.
- Word of the Day: Llovizna. Drizzle; mist. Apparently it's rained every day since I left Galicia on 30 September, 19 days ago.
- Reader Perry has kindly provided these additional positive adjectives which have - assuming they existed in the first place - fallen into desuetude. Possibly like desuetude:-
- Combobulated
Finally
- Check your irony meter . . . Smart doorbells designed to prevent crime are having the opposite effect as thieves simply rip them off the doorframe and sell them on the black market. The devices, made by the Amazon-owned company Ring, have a camera that records visitors as they approach the door and streams the video to the homeowner’s mobile phone. But with a retail price of between £90 and £450, they are proving too much of a temptation.
THE ARTICLE
Brexit extension: The French and German power struggle behind the row: Bruno Waterfield, Brussels, the Daily Telegraph
French and German divisions over another Brexit delay are about a struggle for European dominance.
President Macron’s political star is in the ascendant as Angela Merkel’s fortunes are waning, and the French leader is pushing her to one side.
Mr Macron regards Brexit as consolidating his political power and prestige, transforming the EU into a more European project dominated by France. Mrs Merkel worries that Brexit will damage the EU and views the prospect of no deal as a historic mistake that could break the western alliance that has kept the peace since the Second World War.
At the summit dinner last night Mr Macron blocked EU enlargement to include Albania and North Macedonia, taking on Mrs Merkel and wielding his veto.
During confidential talks between the European leaders on Thursday, the German chancellor warned them not to pretend that the EU would not grant another Brexit delay if Boris Johnson’s deal were defeated in the Commons. Yesterday the French president defied her to do just that, warning that there would be no extension if MPs rejected the prime minister’s withdrawal agreement, potentially leading to a no-deal Brexit on October 31. His undermining of Mrs Merkel’s position illustrates his political ascendancy and his growing confidence to challenge her dominance of the EU. Diplomatic sources do not expect Mr Macron to veto an extension if it is requested. It is widely known, however, that he wants Brexit to be over as soon as possible.
It is really a tussle for power between the EU’s political giants: Mrs Merkel, once dubbed the “Queen of Europe”, and Mr Macron, who has styled himself as Jupiter, king of the Gods.
The German chancellor regards Brexit as a defining moment of her career and fears that an acrimonious divorce, especially no deal, would set back international relations and represent a serious historical reversal. Mr Macron views Britain’s departure as an opportunity to secure French dominance when it has been eclipsed in the EU by Mrs Merkel’s Germany for a decade. With Britain out of the way, he believes that France would become Europe’s leading military and political power.
No longer preoccupied with her own political survival as she prepares to leave office next year, Mrs Merkel, 65, is thinking about her legacy. As she leaves the stage, Mr Macron, 41, has his eye on the main chance of installing himself at the top of the EU. If history is involved, it is his own sense of personal destiny to get Britain out of the EU so that France can be stronger.
Mrs Merkel wants Britain to remain in the EU as long as possible in the hope that Brexit is reconsidered. But although Mr Macron will not pull the trigger on a no-deal Brexit, he is eager for Britain to be gone.
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