I have noted occasionally that the Spanish are individualistic. This, of course, is a weasel word for inconsiderate. Perhaps the best demonstration of this lies in the way they park in a city where space is at a premium. Going town early yesterday, I was the 8th car in a line parked down a cul-de-sac near the bridge. Apart from the first one, all seven of the previous cars had left between 3 and 6 metres between itself and the last car parked. The most notable achievement was that of the woman who arrived just ahead of me and proceeded to take her car a full 30 metres beyond the already-handsomely-spaced cars before parking it in no-man’s land. And this despite the fact that she would have to walk back the extra 30 metres to get out of the cul-de-sac. After nearly four years here, I still don’t know whether people consciously decide to make things difficult for their fellow citizens or jut don’t think about it at all. Perhaps someone Spanish could let me know. I am, of course, aware that it makes sense to leave some space so that your car is not the victim of exit-by-shunt. But 3 to 6 metres!

I was going down to town to visit my bank. Banks here are bywords in expense and inefficiency and I have just told mine that I am so fed up that I am moving my accounts elsewhere. My hope is that they will think I am stupidly Anglo-Saxon enough to do this, even if a small Swedish forest will have to be chopped down to supply all the paper required for new direct debit arrangements, etc. Meanwhile, I just wanted to pay in some money. As I stood in a queue of seven people, I noticed that, whereas the number of tellers working was only two of a possible six, the total of other employees sitting around doing nothing or reading the paper was seven. In other words, the same as the number of customers in line. This is why a thirty second transaction took ten minutes and helps to explain the reputation the banks have. To give you some idea of the latter – I have been regularly told by Spanish friends that none of the routine errors are genuine mistakes, but rather try-ons designed to fleece the lazy, inefficient or innumerate. I rather doubt this but can understand why the banks are referred to as ‘thieves in white gloves’.

If anyone reading this is a shareholder of Banco Santander and is planning to keep their shares ahead of the acquisition of Abbey National in the UK, I have a word of advice for you. Don’t. The management can have little idea of how a bank is run in the UK. Worse, the Abbey National is on the block because it is losing money. It’s hard to see how it can be turned round by the introduction of ‘Spanish practices’ that would lead to a mass exodus on the part of its remaining customers.

When I got back from town yesterday evening, I noticed that there was a warning triangle in the road, advising of a large crane working a few doors down. When I went out two hours later, someone had driven over it. Which is exactly what happened to me the first and last time I put mine in the road. Perhaps it’s a local sport no one has told me about.