I mentioned the word ‘bum’ [see blog of 9 Aug] to some Spanish friends last night and was told that it should be spelt ‘boom’, as in English. Apparently, the Spanish Academy has not yet ruled that ‘bum’ is acceptable, even though it correctly denotes the Spanish pronunciation. I had to admit to some amusement at the thought of a roomful of academic crusties wrestling with this problem. Canute-like, striving to stem the tide of linguistic change, refusing to accept that it is the one area where the people can be said to have true sovereignty. It put me in mind of the recent failed attempt by the equivalent German body to simplify German spelling. ‘Nein, danker’, said the people. ‘We like things the dumpkof way they are’. So doubtless the Spanish bummers will win out over the boomers.

Here’s a nice wrinkle of Spanish traffic law – if you get stopped for not wearing your seat belt, you will be fined 90 Euros. If you see the police patrol looming up, pull over and put on your belt but are observed doing this by the patrol, you will be fined 180 Euros. Now, if they were to apply this logic to the drivers who slow down for a speed trap indicated on the map which the police have been obliged to publish and then speed up again….. I guess they could abolish income tax, for a start.

Which reminds me…. I have been advised that the traffic police are not obliged to put a copy of a parking ticket on your car ‘in case, for example, it rains or blows away’. They can just send you a notice of fine three months later and defy you to do anything other than pay up. Seems just a tad open to abuse to me. I am considering the International Court of Justice in the Hague but can’t seem to find their number in the Pontevedra phone book.