Not being what the Spanish call a philologist, I’ve no idea what the right term for this is. And nor do I know the correct phonetic symbols. But I’m fascinated – OK, irritated – by the change that has taken place in the last 10 years with the words title, hospital, castle, model and the like. All of these are now pronounced by people under, say, 40 quite differently from folk of my age. Even by professors from Oxbridge on the BBC who otherwise favour traditional Received Pronunciation. In this case, the word was, of course, Aristotle. Is this the TV-peddled influence of Estuary English? Anyone know? Anyone got a theory?

Having, as I write this, just heard a BBC report about people in the UK being sent to hospitul after being bi’ttun by a rapid puppy, I’m left wondering whether this shift in pronunciation doesn’t centre on the letter T. And on East End glottal stops. Whatever they are.

Talking to an estate agent friend yesterday, he guessed the number of vacant flats in Pontevedra at 3,500 – a total which can only rise, as many more blocks come on stream in the next two years or so. There are, he said, people with 2 or 3 flats they bought ‘off-plan’ to sell on when you couldn’t lose on property speculation but for which buyers now can’t be found and on which mortgages have to be paid. I doubt we’ve seen the worst of the consequences of the end of a boom built on sand. The bad employment statistics of this week can only get worse, as the relevant minister has finally admitted. Of course, it’s specious to blame all this on the mortgage mess in the USA but this, inevitably, is the government’s line. Nowt to do with us, mate. All the fault of those incompetent, dishonest Yankees.

You’d think all this would lead to an improvement in the rental market but it seems not. Potential lessors remain scared that a slow and inefficient judicial system will give them little protection against fraudulent lessees. As I recall, the PSOE said they’d do something about this structural problem if they were re-elected. But I suspect they’re going to be distracted by bigger problems. One of which is attending to the blackmail demands of the construction industry, which run along the lines – “If you don’t help us, you’ll lose even more of the massive tax income you get from property transactions. Not to mention legions of unemployed”. A no-brainer really. So the odds are the government will shove money in this direction, rather than towards the banking industry, à la Mr Brown in the UK. I think even El País favours the latter. On economic rather than anti-capitalist grounds, I should add.

Over seven years or so, the Nationalist mayor of Pontevedra has effected massive changes on the streets of the city. One day, perhaps, we will see these have all been part of a master plan and not made up as he went along. But, whatever the truth is, I have to say I’m very largely in favour of what’s been done. This is essentially because I don’t drive a car around the place and am, therefore, only positively affected by the strategy of reducing every road to one lane and making it one-way, while at the same time expanding every pavement/sidewalk so as to make it perfect for ten people walking abreast. One day, I’m sure a lot of people will be even happier than me about these changes. Especially if they comprise an invading infantry army. Eat your heart out, Houseman.