Thoughts from Madrid, Spain: 24.12.19

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

                  Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain

Spanish Politics

• Ahead of some regional elections next year, the leader of the PP party is rebranding it España Suma (All Spain) and has invited both the 'centrist' Ciudadanos party and, tellingly, the far right Vox party to come under his umbrella. I believe the idea is an all-right coalition, to replace the socialist PSOE party to which they're denying the capacity to govern. But Ciudadanos, it seems, would prefer a combination of PSOE, PP and themselves. Leaving Vox out in the cold. This show will run and run.

Spanish Life

• Even some Catalans might have found this amusing. On second thoughts . . .
• If you buy property in an urban development or a block of flats, you may automatically become a member of a ‘Community of Owners’. Here's a guide on the implications of this. 
• As Spain's energy companies invest in major PR campaigns, the word greenwashing has entered the Spanish language, advises Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas. It's not yet in the dictionary of the Royal Academy but you can find a definition here, 

Galician Life   

• There are officially around 800 Brits working in the region, compared with:-

- Portuguese c. 8,300
- Italians, Venezuelans, Rumanians, Brazilians, Moroccans, Colombians, and Italians: c. 2-3.000
- Chinese, Dominicans, Senegalese, Peruvians, Cubans and Argentineans: c1,000-1,500
- French: c. 700
Those growing fastest are the Venezuelans, the Colombians and the Cubans.

• Times change. When I came here 19 years ago, my neighbours laughed at my suggestion I could make a fortune tripping over the uneven paving stones in our street. But I see that someone in Vigo has been compensated several thousand euros for exactly that. Though not in my street.

    The USA 

• The world's greatest expert on wind energy speaks:- I’ve studied it better than anybody I know. I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. They’re noisy. They kill the birds. You want to see a bird graveyard? Go under a windmill someday. You’ll see more birds than you’ve ever seen in your life. They’re made in China and Germany mostly, But they’re manufactured tremendous, if you’re into this, tremendous fumes. Gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right? So the world is tiny compared to the universe. So tremendous, tremendous amount of fumes and everything. You talk about the carbon footprint, fumes are spewing into the air, right? Spewing. Whether it’s in China, Germany, it’s going into the air. It’s our air, their air, everything, right?

So, now you know.

Finally . . . 

• Reader Eamon has reminded me of the good old days of this blog when there used to be quite a few Comments from angry Spanish readers who'd basically tell me:-

1. You are totally wrong
2. Your own country [to use a presidential phrase] is a shithole, and
3. If you don't like it here, go back to your shithole of a country.

I almost miss them.