Islam; The niqab; BBC standards; Syria; Good News; Brothels; and Film clips.

I've read the Koran a couple of times and each time have concluded there's enough material there for both a good religion and a bad one. Watching the Kenyan siege and listening to commentaries on the internecine sectarian violence in Syria, the question again arose of how much the adherents of peaceful Islam are doing to suppress the adherents of murderous Islam. The answer would appear to be Not enough. Perhaps things will improve once oil is not important to us and the Middle East can be left to tear itself apart.

Meanwhile, the BBC this morning reported the results of a recent London poll which showed significantly increased anti-Muslim attitudes among young people in London. The Muslim woman given a chance by the BBC to comment on this not only did this poorly but also insisted on wearing a niqab for the interview, even though she admitted she didn't in her job. She insisted that the majority of Muslims are peace-loving (doubtless true), and she blamed the media for not stressing the 'extreme Islamist' nature of the Somali terrorists, for example. What she didn't do was answer the question of whether her choice to wear the niqab both got in the way of communication and (unsaid) risked increasing anti-Muslim attitudes.

Talking of the BBC . . . You know the game is up when whoever writes the News copy has the announcer says 'amount of times' instead of 'number of times'. I give up.

And talking of Syria . . . Here's a thought-provoking video.

Good news from Spain:-

1. August tourist numbers were 7% up on last year and were the highest since records started in 1995. This possibly reflects that both Egypt and Turkey saw lower numbers because of civil unrest. Cataluña was the biggest beneficiary of this upsurge.

2. The Spanish government is increasing penalties for maltreatment of animals. Ditto for those sexually abusing minors.

Bullfighting, of course, doesn't fall into the category of cruelty to animals. Nor even slowly lancing a bull to death, apparently. I wonder if this is enshrined in statutes. Perhaps as a blanket exemption for Fiestas.

They say that no one in the UK is ever more than 70 miles away from the sea. Likewise, in Spain, you're never more than 7km from a brothel. I exaggerate, of course, but not by much. Clubs are a regular part of the landscape here. Years ago, Spanish friends of mine claimed they only went there for a drink but I was sceptical. Now comes some evidence suggesting I might have been too harsh on them. A recent survey in Madrid reveals that, while a quarter of young men admit they've visited a brothel, the main reason for doing so was "morbid fascination and curiosity", rather than a desire to use the services of a prostitute. Most interestingly, 5% of young women admitted to visiting a Club.

Finally . . . I recently posted a clip of Sara Montiel's 1969 film Esa Mujer, set  in Pontevedra. For fans, here's a couple more. One set along the coast between Bayona and Vigo, where the wind howls incessantly. Topically, the huge rock face you can see behind the convent (really a monastery) is the one against which the illegal 4-star hotel I mentioned recently is built. And one where she seen harvesting percebes (goose barnacles). Sort of, as this is usually done in more dangerous circumstances out at sea.