A coincidence? I wonder. The day after I cite
Hitler's preference for the big lie, it appears in this article by a
British eurosceptic. On the other hand, as he regularly writes about
the EU, he'll know a thing or two about big lies.
The Spanish government
has responded aggressively to the EU request for information about
the incident in Ceuta in which 15 people died after rubber bullets
were fired at them. "Stop criticising us and help us to solve
the problem of illegal immigrants", it demanded. To which one
possible response is - "Help yourselves: Get out of Africa".
(Before any Spanish reader takes offence . . . I think Gibraltar
should be returned to Spain as well. And yes, I know Ceuta and
Gibraltar are 'different'. At least in Spanish eyes, if not to the
rest of the world. And certainly not to the Moroccans.)
The Pokemón
corruption caseI read a
dew days ago that the Galician President, Sr Feijoo, had said
something like he was sorry this had happened but he wasn't going to
take any action. Yesterday the Voz de Galicia
cartoonist put it this way.
Dimisóns
is Gallego for 'Resignations'.
Another big
corruption case going through the Galician courts - what on earth
will these do when all the dirty linen has been washed? - is that of
the Board of the NovaGalicia Bank, as it's now called. These
gentlemen allegedly defrauded the owners by a mere €19m via some
fraudulent manoeuvre, enriching themselves at the same time. Which
represented 10% of the bank's net worth. You almost have to admire
their chutzpah
You may be crazy but you're all mine! The Spanish
daily timetable (horario) is at least 2 hours behind that of
the rest of the world. It doubtless makes for inefficiency as it
involves a 2-3 hour break in the middle of the day. I say 'middle'
but this break usually begins at 2pm. And it means trips to or from
the office to home 4 times a day. Which is hard to justify. A
campaign has been started to bring Spain's horario into line
with that of others and - equally radical - move the clock back one hour to
where it was before Franco decided to align it with Germany and not
Spain's natural partners - Portugal and Britain. The government made
positive noises about all this last September, and promised action.
But nothing has yet been done. A small indication of what it's up
against is these comments from one office worker:- “Reduce
lunchtime? No, I’m completely against that. It's one thing to
eat. It's another thing to nourish oneself. Our culture and customs
are our way of living. But a shorter nap might be acceptable."
This chap is only 26 but firmly already set in his (Spanish)
ways. More here
Finally . . . Telefónica has announced plans to
invest some €200 million in creating high-speed fibre and 4G
networks in Andalucia. As I sit here struggling with a download speed of 0.4-0.7megas you can appreciate how thrilled I am to hear that.
The Environment
January: 31 days. On which it rained: 28 - 93%
February: 19 days. On which it
has rained: 19 - 100%.
So, 47 out of 50 - 94%, and rising.
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