I see the French football authorities have demanded a replay of the World Cup final, on the grounds that the sending-off of Zidane was illegal because the 4th official hadn’t seen the incident with his own eyes but only on the large screen in the ground. I assume they must be living on another planet from the rest of us. Though this is not a new accusation against the French, of course. But, if it does happen, will Zidane come out of retirement – yet again?

Spanish regionalism: I referred the other day to the rather emotional reaction to the acquisition of a major local company by a Madrid-based operation. Here’s a translation of an article in today’s Voz de Galicia which enshrines the prevailing attitude. This seems to be that it’s more important who owns the company than whether it’s going to expand and create both more employment and local wealth . . .

Fear of becoming a colony

Worrying. This is the description merited by what is happening to Galicia’s great companies. While other European regions fear the loss of production centres to the east, Galicia is suffering from a unique phenomenon - the exhaustion of an heroic generation that - together with other factors – is resulting either in the sale of what are called the jewels in the crown or their assault by the new Midas’s of cement. After the humiliating loss of Fenosa and the surprising bid for Fadesa, now it is Conservas Calvo which is looking for a buyer.

The Calvo case is the drop which causes the jar of regional depression to overflow. It is a conservation company which filled us with pride as we watched it grow, conquer markets, dominate powerful brands, buy factories in Italy, set up operations in Brazil, Venezuela or El Salvador. That’s why its going on the block has been greeted as a disappointment. In private conversations, you hear things like “We’ll be left with nothing”. In the public analyses, the question is being asked of what will happen to the country’s business fabric. If this continues, we’ll shortly be asking whether Galicia will become merely a place of production, exploited - like colonies – by powerful external agents who respect employment but carry off all the profits.

That’s why the phenomenon is worrying. But also because of the circumstances which accompany it. From a human point of view, perhaps it confirms the principle that the great creators of family concerns never find a second generation with the same capacity for sacrifice to carry on the business. From the political point of view, the Galician government is unlucky; all of this coincides with a cabinet of left-wingers, which has announced a great conservative offensive. And one more detail: the booming of supranational capitalism and its penetration into the more defenceless territories is provoking a reaction from the people who are damaged and subjugated. Globalisation is being met by a reaction of its own making.

How to resolve matters? Of course, it’s no use crying. Neither can we force a family to disregard a selling opportunity. I believe this is the time to construct a Galician enterprise movement, as was tried in the Fenosa case, in order to show that Galicia has more than excellent primary produce. But who will lead this? Who will bring it all together? This is the challenge. Either this leadership will be provided by the Xunta, the banking or saving bank communities or its large investors or Galicia could be drowned in an unprecedented historic pessimism. And the same thing could happen to other regions in Spain.

As I read this, I couldn’t help wondering whether the investment of Calvo in Italy, Venezuela, Brazil, etc. didn’t amount to ‘carrying off’ the profits from Galicia. And whether the family spent all their earnings in, say, Santiago in preference to, say, Madrid and Monte Carlo.

It’s always dangerous penning adverts in a language in which you’re not totally fluent. One of the spams with which I’m currently being bombarded arrives under the heading ‘Now I can ejaculate hardly.’ I won’t be enquiring further.