Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain
The Spanish Economy
- Bloomberg takes a (right-wing?)look at the Spanish labour market here.
- Spain's population is again being boosted by immigrants. One wonders where they all get jobs, in a country with 14% unemployment. It looks as if this is mainly in the 'hospitality' sector. Explaining why hardly anyone working in a bar or hotel here is Spanish.
- Last (Galician-flavoured) bit on the Santiago myth: The cult of Saint James was just one of many arising throughout northern Iberia during the 10th and 11th centuries, as rulers encouraged their own region-specific cults, such as Saint Eulalia in Oviedo and Saint Aemilian in Castile. After the centre of Asturian political power moved from Oviedo to León in 910, Santiago de Compostela[SdC] became more politically relevant, and several kings of Galicia and of León were acclaimed by the Galician noblemen and crowned and anointed by the local bishop at the cathedral, and by the end of the 11th century SdC had become capital of the Kingdom of Galicia. Later, 12th-century kings were also sepulchered in the cathedral before the kingdoms of Galicia and Asturias were united with the Kingdom of Castile.
- It's that time of year. The reason to re-view The Local's take on Spain's zaniest Carnival celebrations.
- Another of those big corruption cases which come along so regularly.
- Nice to know that the high-speed train is not another Galician myth.
- I was told yesterday that the houses behind mine I cited yesterday don't have building licences. When I suggested to my informant that she call the agent to ask if they did, her reply was "What's the point? They'll just lie". This is what it means to live in a 'low ethics society' and explains why I tell foreigners not to believe a word estate agents(realtors) say, not to trust the often-negligent notaries and, above all, to use a local lawyer of integrity. They do exist.
- Talking of Spanish culture . . . . The concept of time:-
- Last Thursday night, I agreed with the son of my deceased friend to meet at 8. At 8.45, I left the meeting place to go and eat alone.
- Last night my ex-neighbour and I agree to meet at 9. At 9.15 she called to say she was shopping and would be there at 9.30. She polled up at 9.45.
- To be positive . . . Spring is nigh.
- If you're as interested as you should be, in the next EU budget, you should read this. Recipients of huge amounts - e. g, Hungary, Poland and Spain - are not happy about the initial (post Brexit) proposals
- And, if you're positive about the EU's future, the first article below might be a bit of a counterweight to your optimism,.
- Caroline Flack's death is the fourth suicide associated with ITV2’s reality dating show, prompting concern about the channel’s duty of care to contestants and stars. See the 2nd article below on this.
- Phrase of the Day: Naturaleza muerta: Still life. Lit. 'Dead nature'
- A Palm tree special . . .
1. A tree of about 5 or 6 metres, which has doubled in height in 19 years.
2. A self-seeded tree of about 10cm only, already about 7 years old:-
3. Another self-seeded plant/tree which I'm assured is a palm tree and which has taken at least 2 years to get to this tiny stage:-
P.S. It seems I missed the first daffodil of the year, now almost blown:-
The first lily seems to have fared better. Probably sturdier:-
THE ARTICLES
The EU is fatally complacent about the crisis that is about to engulf it. There are deep problems with how the EU is working
“There is a tendency right now within the European Union to say that Brexit is all because of crazy British nationalism and life will be easier without them – but I am not convinced”. So says French academic Thomas Piketty. “There are deep problems with how the EU is working and the kind of discontent you have seen in Britain, you also see it in France and Italy... And if we don’t fundamentally change the model then anything could happen”.
Piketty is often called “the Left’s favourite economist”. In 2013, he published Capital in the Twenty-First Century, a 750-page doorstopper arguing there has been a sharp rise in Western inequality. For several years after publication, displaying Piketty’s tome casually on your coffee table, in bien pensant circles, was positively de rigueur. Now, even Piketty acknowledges the deepening rift within the EU over the extent and pace of European integration –most recently demonstrated last weekend.
“I’m impatient,” snarled French President Emmanuel Macron at the Munich Security Summit, lashing out at his German counterpart Angela Merkel. As Paris demands further budgetary integration and the creation of an EU army, Berlin remains reluctant. “We have a history of waiting for answers,” snapped Macron.
France wants reforms to the EU budget, in response to Britain’s exit. The UK paid no less than £13.2 billion into the EU in 2018 – and our departure leaves a gaping hole. Boris Johnson has made clear Britain will stop making payments at the end of 2020 – which means the 27-member bloc, over the coming seven-year period, faces a £62 billion funding gap.
Voters across the EU’s “frugal five” – stronger North European economies including Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Austria – are sick of making higher contributions per head than more profligate Southern “Club Med” countries, led by France. “We are net contributors, so why should we increase our payments,” said Dutch Premier Mark Rutte. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also flatly refuses to pay more, threatening to use his veto.
As Paris tries to strong-arm money out of other EU members, Macron faces a growing domestic crisis. After months of gilets jaunes protests, his En Marche party lags Marine Le Pen’s far-Right Rassemblement National – expected to make significant gains in upcoming local elections. En Marche has endured repeated parliamentary defections – with some of Macron’s most important allies quitting in a bid to save their political skins. Even his Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, has re-joined former party colleagues to run for mayor in his hometown of Le Havre.
Germany, meanwhile, is in no mood to fill the huge funding gap left by Britain, let alone press ahead with further budget-pooling across the eurozone and EU. Merkel is bowing out of public life as Europe’s largest economy stagnates, with her ruling coalition in tatters.
And while Macron is besieged by protesters, and losing ground to political extremists, Merkel also knows that upping Germany’s share of the EU budget will play into the hands of the hard-Right AfD – which commands almost 100 seats in the Bundestag and, despite being founded just six years ago, is now Germany’s official opposition party.
While we want our European neighbours to prosper, it is worth remembering these realities as we negotiate a trade deal. Despite Brussels’ endless mind games, and the relentless pessimism of unreconciled Remainers in the UK commentariat, Britain starts from a position of strength.
Now that Brexit is happening, a wave of previously stalled investment is set to boost the British economy. The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its 2020 UK growth estimate, despite lowering forecasts elsewhere, with Britain set to expand 1.4 per cent this year – faster than France, Germany and the eurozone as a whole. This country is seen as an increasingly stable investment destination in a world best by political and economic turmoil.
And after 10 years of tight spending, the Government is also getting set to loosen the purse strings. While Sajid Javid unveiled a considerable public spending rise last September, his replacement – the 39-year old Rishi Sunak – is an instinctive tax-cutter.
What’s more, Sunak campaigned to leave the EU ahead of the June 2016 referendum, while Javid backed Remain. Fairly or not, the former Chancellor was seen as the one senior Cabinet member who might flinch if Downing Street pursues a firm EU negotiating line of relying on World Trade Organisation terms rather than accepting compulsory alignment with EU rules. With Dominic Raab at the Foreign Office and Priti Patel as Home Secretary, the four great offices of state are now run by seasoned Brexiteers – a statement of intent to Brussels.
Leaders of EU member states and their business lobbies know that Britain’s large trade deficit translates into billions of euros of profit and millions of EU jobs. New figures show the EU27 earned a €125 billion goods surplus from the UK in 2019 – almost two-thirds of the bloc’s entire global surplus, with Britain set to account for over 40 per cent of the EU’s sales with the rest of the world.
This is seven times bigger than the EU surplus with Canada – so if Brussels can strike a trade deal with Ottawa not involving across-the-board rules alignment, open borders and fishing rights, it can do so with London. Britain must assert, as Johnson’s Chief Europe Advisor said last night, “the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country”. And if these trade talks do fail, and WTO rules are used, the EU’s UK trade surplus translates into billions of pounds in annual net tariff payments from the EU to Britain.
Since 2016, the UK has negotiated in a lackadaisical, slack-jawed manner. That must change. We need to dismiss “sequencing” from the outset, with all issues addressed simultaneously, including our ongoing defence and intelligence commitment, which in the EU’s eyes is priceless. Far too much is made of Brussels “formidable bargaining power”. Yet, amid bitter squabbling over the post-Brexit integration, the mighty Franco-German alliance is shattered – as even Piketty himself acknowledges.
2. Reality TV recklessly blurs the line between public and private. Shows like ‘Love Island’ invite us to judge strangers – sometimes forgetting they are human beings, too
Caroline Flack, the former host of Love Island, has taken her own life at the age of 40. I’m sensitive about the age because it is not far off my own, and there seems so much to live for, especially when you are as beautiful and loved as Caroline was. Her boyfriend has said: “My heart is broken.”
I used to review Love Island for the Catholic Herald (not its natural audience) and I compared the show to a wildlife documentary: here was nature in tooth and claw, and it obviously had some animal magic because it became a big hit. Then two of its former contestants took their own lives, triggering a debate about the dangers of reality television. Had the format taken a bad turn? Was it too intrusive, too intense?
No, it had just reached its logical conclusion. Love Island is not about the commodification of sex (there is barely any in it), it’s about the commodification of everyday life, and the problem with reality television is that it has blurred to the point of erasure the necessary line between public and private.
In most careers, you do the job, you go home, the job stops. In reality television, the job is being you. You go home and you are still you, so the job goes on and on. There is nowhere to hide. You are trapped in a cycle of publicity. You do well, you become famous. You make a mistake, people talk about it. You get depressed and stop going out, people talk about that too.
Television and social media have taken the place of God as the all-seeing eye, except that God balances judgment with mercy, whereas humans tend just to judge.
Caroline had talked bravely about her mental health in the past and was facing trial for the alleged assault of her boyfriend, a case that he insisted was completely unnecessary. Either way, it was none of our business. But what little people felt they knew about Caroline made her a target for comment, almost up to the moment that her death was announced.
Time, now, for thoughts and prayers, which are welcomed and treasured, no doubt – but, as Caroline’s fans have pointed out, some of them have been sent from those who make money out of criticising others and perhaps don’t think hard enough before they do it. I know I don’t. It is something I need to work on.
Suicide is a desperately private and lonely act. In the absence of information, we leap to judgment: blame the tabloids, blame the haters, blame Love Island. But from what I can make out, Caroline liked her job and was good at it because people liked her. She was everybody’s big sister.
It is easy to dismiss television personalities because it looks like they are coasting on just being themselves, but actually a lot of work and talent goes into being a human being. If it were easy, the world would be a much nicer place.
THE PROMO
Galicia Living is a new property development outfit here in Southern Galicia (As Rías Baixas), owned by a friend of mine. So, if you're looking for a house here, get in touch with them. And, if you're particularly interested in the lovely Miño area down on the border with Portugal, let me know on doncolin@gmail.com and I'll send you my write-up on it.
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