As
I am now in my very late 40s, it's inevitable I'll occasionally
suffer from absent-mindedness. Like this morning, when I realised –
just in time – I was about to put toothpaste on my shaving brush.
Hey, ho.
If
you've read the John Carlin article I cited yesterday, you'll know
that people in Spain don't always get their jobs on merit. Quite
logically, the default position of existing employees is to assume a
new one has got his or her job through connections – called a
'plug-in' or enchufe in Spain. One of my friends who got a job
on merit nonetheless spent the first day fending of various questions
from her new colleagues all designed to identify to whom she was
related and how senior (s)he was.
Changing
Spain 1: A Congressional Committee
yesterday discussed how to change Spain's workday. As everyone knows
by now, Spain is the only country in Europe (the world?) to retain
the ridiculous split-day horario,
with a 2-3 hour midday break and office/shop closure at 8-9pm. The
result is the highest total of hours worked and one of the lowest
productivity levels in Europe. Let's hope they move from talking to
doing. But I'll be surprised if they do.
I
say that Spain's split-day is ridiculous but there are a number of
ways we foreigners can benefit from it. Firstly, you can go shopping
at 4pm, as I did today, and be the only person in the supermarket
apart from the now easy-to-find staff. Secondly, you can take
yourself to the beach, knowing it'll be empty, as everyone's gone
home for the main meal of the day. Thirdly, it's a good time to drive
– on empty roads – and to visit those tourist places that don't
need someone to open them up for you. Cathedrals, say. Plus several
other benefits I can't think of right now.
Changing
Spain 2: In A Coruña, they've
introduced the equivalent of Britain's 'lollypop ladies' to help
school kids get from one side of a zebra crossing to the other in
safety. And I see from the foto they've even installed bollards to
stop cars parking right up to the crossing and obscuring the vision
of drivers. What next? A ban on the use of mobile phones while
driving? Oh, we've already got that, for all the good it apparently
does.
Talking
of the law, there was a strange case in the Madrid
Provincial Court this week. Two women had accused their employer of
sexual harassment, claiming he'd fondled them, frotterised them,
kissed them, patted their backsides, sent them suggestive letters and
made proposals of a sexual nature. A lower court had found him guilty
but the three judges in this court pronounced that what he'd done
hadn't been of a sexual nature; it had only been 'sentimental'. No, I
don't know what the hell they meant either but here's a few of the
English words said to correspond with the Spanish sentimental
- sentimental; affecting; pathetic;
emotional;
easily affected; ridiculously affected. Any the wiser? No, me
neither. The worst thing is that, if I read the report correctly, the
court said that, while he wasn't guilty of sexual harassment, what
he'd done did amount to the more serious crime of 'sexual abuse'. But
since he hadn't been accused of this, he couldn't be condemned for
it. Perhaps in the next court. Meanwhile, the two women are being
treated for depression.
A hearse has been clocked doing 187kph on a motorway near Salamanca. So, the quick and the dead in this case.
A hearse has been clocked doing 187kph on a motorway near Salamanca. So, the quick and the dead in this case.
Still
on roads – The 12km point on the A55 in Pontevedra province is one of the
two most dangerous spots in Spain, we're told. I think I know where
it is – down near Portugal – and will certainly be on the
lookout when I next go that way. Quite soon probably.
As
regards the Spanish economy, here's our Ambrose pointing out, quite
rightly, that the deficit targets for this year are impossible and
that, in trying to achieve them, Madrid is chasing its tail in
a downward spiral.
One
of the problems may be that Sr Rajoy, being unfamiliar with
parliamentary revolts, is unaware of what is brewing in the German and Nordic parliaments. He may well find out that others can play
hard ball better than him.
Finally
. . .Forgive me for pointing out that the easiest way to get these
posts as they arise is to use something like Google Reader.
Especially Google Reader, where subscriptions to this blog are now
nearing the nice round figure of 200.
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