Cock ups or Conspiracies?: Carlism reborn?; A Catalan clown; and Papal platitudes.

When something odd happens in Spain - which is quite often - two things happen immediately:- 1. The internet is blessed with jokes, spoof and skits that are sometimes quite brilliant; and 2. The internet is burdened with a sinfin of conspiracy theories. The latter reflects the fact that no one deals much in absolute truth here, and so theories abound as to where this might lie. I expect this to be the case - if it isn't already - with the news that yesterday the Ministry of the Interior announced that the Civil Guard had successfully raided an ETA meeting before they'd even got in their cars to go there. The result was that someone who heard it on the radio tipped off those at the meeting, allowing some of them to get away and valuable evidence to be destroyed. A simple case of premature ejaculation or rank incompetence? No one in Spain is going to believe that, especially as ranks will be closed and no heads will roll. So, make up your own theory and post it on the net. However daft it it, it certainly won't take the palmita.

As for humour, right on cue, the internet hummed yesterday with downloads of a spoof Time magazine cover showing Princess Cristina behind bars. See here for more on this. The funny thing about the court action against the Princess is that it was initiated by a far right group, Manos Limpios. Or 'Clean Hands'. As to their rationale, I can only offer that of a knowledgable friend, viz. that the extreme right wouldn't be averse to the downfall of the monarchy and the return of dictatorship and that, meanwhile, they have a particular animosity towards the Bourbons. Whether this is because they're Carlists still fighting a 19th century war, I don't (yet) know.

Incidentally, the question struck me yesterday - If the king does resign, will he be an X-rei?

Still on humour - Bankrupt Greece this week took over the Presidency of the European Union, giving it the power to boss Germany about a bit for 6 months. Surreal or what?

And talking of Presidents . . . The President of Cataluña is said to be an intelligent man but lately he seems to have taken leave of his senses. In his campaign to have Cataluña secede from Spain, he wrote both to the President of the EU and to each of the leaders of all the EU members, seeking support for his objective. He didn't, though, send a courtesy copy his letter to the President of Spain. And it seems he also excluded the Vatican. The EU President politely told him to eff off and most of the other recipients simply declined to respond. What next? one wonders. An appeal to the gods of every religion?

And talking of the Vatican . . . I see Pope Frank has railed against rampant capitalism (who doesn't?) and insisted (quite rightly) that we take better care of the poor. Which is a bit rich, coming from the head of one of the, err, richest organisations on earth. "And the greatest of these is charity", I seem to recall from my catechism lessons. And does not charity begin at home?

And talking of religious leaders . . . . The Ayatollah once said:

Holy war means the conquest of all non-Moslem territories. Such a war may well be declared after the formation of an Islamic government worthy of that name. It will then be the duty of every able-bodied male to volunteer for this war of conquest, the final aim of which is to put Koranic law in power from one end of the earth to the other.

Perhaps he later changed his mind, after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. If not, we've been warned.