Rajoy the Silent, Baby Boredom, Spanish non-Colonies, and Swingtime.

President Rajoy's change of tack via an announcement he'd finally come to Parliament to answer questions about corruption has had the - doubtless desired - effect of kicking into touch the Opposition's planned motion of censure. I'm guessing the PSOE was fooled into thinking the rare event of Sr Rajoy opening his mouth would take place at the end of July, whereas it's much more likely to take place at the end of August. Meanwhile, the papers are compiling lists of the 10 questions that need answering to prove that Spain is a genuine democracy. I predict disappointment.

Sr Rajoy's aides have also announced that this year he won't be taking his holiday in the resort of Sanxenxo ("The Marbella of Galicia" Ha.) but in a rural guest house. The fact there'll be no one there to shout insults at him is surely just a coincidence. The place is called A Casa de Alicia and is a Toprural. Its outstanding feature - apart from isolation - is the questionable decor of the main bedroom. You can see other fotos here. By the way, the single opinion on the place gives it 10 out of 10 for everything. I wonder who that was then.

Rajoy, though, does speak occasionally, if only in a serpentine way. As with his recent pronouncement that "The decisions that are most necessary are the hardest to take". I mean, WTF? As the kids say. Last word on him - One of the papers yesterday has him dressed as a Snow White dwarf, morphing from Mutey to Grumpy. It's better in Spanish.

Switching on Sky News yesterday evening, I got the full blast of the wall-to-wall, 360 degrees coverage of Katie's kid. Or 'Baby Cambridge' as he's allegedly called for the moment. The high spot of all the vamping from the commentators was the breathless statement that Prince Bill was ensuring the child was securely strapped in the baby seat in their (gas guzzling) 4x4. As if there was any possibility that he wouldn't. For me, though, the funniest sight was of something we now take for granted - the police wearing so much gear and paraphernalia that even the skinny ones look like fat-bellied pigs. Which is appropriate I guess.

Unusually, I felt sorry for Penelope Cruz yesterday. The Spanish beauty decided to dar luz to her embryo on the same day as Kate. Internationally, this must have meant a loss of quite a lot of media space. Not sure about Spain.

I must admit I wasn't aware that, apart from the 'enclaves' of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Africa, Spain has not just one but 5 or 6 islands off the coast of Morocco. Some of them complete with fortifications. One is even a Rock (Peñon), complete with a strip of land connecting it to the coast, with the border in the middle of it. Rather like Gibraltar. Fotos here.

Nice to see obits of Bert Trauttman in the Spanish papers.

Finally . . . I had the pleasure of listening to a group of young swing musicians in the main square yesterday. Here's one of their tracks and here's another. Worth considering if you're having a do that needs to go with a . . . swing. Very probably quite cheap.

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