There are two things you should know if you are planning to entertain Spanish friends. Firstly, if there is no bread on the table, they will go into paroxysms of alleged deprivation. Secondly, if there is bread on the table, they won’t eat it. Or not much of it anyway. Although clearly an essential item, it seems merely to serve as some sort of prandial comfort blanket. As I write this, it occurs to me that I could probably get away with putting the same pieces on the table for the next few years. Except that, before not eating it, Spanish guests like to break it up and put it on a side plate. This might get difficult after a week or two.

Our friend Manoel [yes, ManOel] leaves for the UK on Saturday, in search of whatever it is that the UK offers to young people these days. Like a job, for example. He intends to maintain his blog from there but to turn his critical spotlight from the Spanish to the Brits. This should make interesting – though not necessarily comfortable – reading. Manoel writes in English and displays a wonderful capacity for well-founded neologisms such as ‘angriable’ and – for a joke told by my daughter - ‘untasty’. You can find out for yourself on theremon.blogspot.com

The pendulum of politics has now addressed itself to the Spanish education system. The new socialist government has confirmed that it will reverse the last great reform of the previous conservative administration and downgrade religion in the curriculum. Plus it will scrap the new university entrance exam and re-institute the system of locally adjudicated exams which was said to favour abuse. At least I think this is what is happening but wouldn’t swear to it. Being Spain, the competing alternatives have acronyms based on the laws which enshrine them – LOCE and LOGSE, I think. My eyes tend to glaze over when these hove into view so I quickly lose the thread. Anyway, the Catholic church is not at all happy with this either.

And the pendulum swings in other ways too. Only a few years ago, Spain lost its regionally oriented car registration plates in favour of ones which tell you nothing. Given that this was said to be at the bequest of Brussels, it’s a tad surprising, then, to read that the new government is going to return to a system which indicates the place of first registration.

Meanwhile, down at the local level, there is some sort of crisis taking place in the Galician [or Neanderthal] branch of the PP party. As previously indicated, this involves a chap who was fired a year or so ago for taking advantage of the Prestige oil disaster. He has now come out of the long grass and openly allied with the main rebel against the geriatric president of the Xunta. One of the government ministers has stirred the pot by suggesting that all the main participants are people whose assets have steadily increased during their long years of political tenure. What on earth can he mean?

There was a wedding at the big private club down the road the other day. The entrance is in a one-way street but this didn’t stop a fair proportion of the guests driving down it the wrong way so that they could secure a parking place near the entrance. In fact, I met one as I was heading the right way. But being a woman – and a lady – she smiled charmingly and then graciously reversed to the main road. If it had been a man, we might still be there now.