Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain’*
Life in Spain: What has changed this century?
- Education: My first comment on this seems to have been in June 2004: There are now British levels of rancour and chaos in the Spanish education world, resulting from the new government’s decision to suspend a keynote reform of the last administration. This was called the Law of Quality and it was designed to improve university education. But it also strengthened the position of religious instruction in the curriculum and the rather more secular new government takes exception to this. The uncertainty that now surrounds this subject has been exacerbated by the refusal of at least one Autonomous Community [Madrid] to take any notice of the suspension of the law. A complete mare’s nest, then. Stuff the kids.
- Verdict: One of the problems in talking about this is that it's a devolved matter, meaning policies can differ between Spain's 17 regions (Autonomous Communities), especially if there's a local language, such as Basque, Catalán/Valenciano or Gallego. But there are national edicts and every new government seems to bring one in. I can't really say what the current one is but I can say that concern is as great as ever that a higher percentage of Spanish kids drop out of school/college than elsewhere, and that Spain doesn't do well on the PSA annual international tests. So much for the ever-changing national policies, then.
Current Life in Spain
- Depending on how you look at things, this large and sparsely-populated country is among the most densely populated in Europe. It says here.
- This is a powerful article on the residual influence of Francoists in today’s Spain. Taster: For Spain, the consequences of fascism’s victory still live on, in power relations and structural inequalities that plague the country to this day.
- María’s Adjusted Normal, Day 18. To mask to not to mask?
- I clocked this terrifying warning on the gate of a restaurant in my barrio. Can it really be genuine?
Maybe the owners are Francoists. And Vox supporters. . . Who could do with a spellcheck.
The USA
- I mentioned a high level of religiosity. This video from a nicely-spoken - and possibly well-educated - imbecile needs to be seen to be believed. Abject bloody nonsense.
- Speaking of cretins . . .
English/Spanish
- My banker has postponed a meeting scheduled for this morning on the grounds that - with my daughter et al arriving midday - I might be ‘a bit nervous in the Fanny way’. I’m still waiting for a translation, but I assume predictive text is responsible.
Finally
- Does everyone know about Google’s reverse image search function, via which you can check if someone's foto is now being used for nefarious purposes?
- As the ex owner of 3 border collies, this made me laugh . . .
* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.
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