The video shop owners of Pontevedra are protesting about the number of pirate DVDs on sale in the town. Either things have changed since I last went to hire a DVD or this is a monumental piece of chutzpah. My recollection is that everything on the shelves was an illegal copy.

There’s been a lot of bother up in Barcelona about buildings that collapsed when a new Metro station was being built. And now, having investigated this, one of the leading local politicians has accused his predecessor of being responsible for systematic charging of a 3% kickback on all local contracts. I wish I could understand what is going on but since Spain is blessed with both central and local governments and as, in this case, the latter is composed of several parties in a coalition, there are an awful lot of people with long names and even more party acronyms to master. One of these days. But I think I do understand the concept of a 3% commission.

Presidents around Europe are said to be keen to employ the services of Spanish advisers in their upcoming referendums on the Constitution. I suppose this must be a reflection of Zapatero’s ‘magnificent success’ [as President Chirac labelled it] in getting 32% of the population to vote in its favour. As I’ve said before – Desperate times; desperate measures.

Quote of the Day

The trouble with Paul is that he’s so charming and courteous you forget for a while that he’s mad.

A friend of Paul Foot. His enemies are less kind.