Earlier this year we has a Spanish Minister
saying he was sure St Teresa of Ávila was important up in Heaven and
that she was doing her bit to persuade God to help Spain through her
recession. As if this wasn't daft enough, now comes the Interior
Ministry's decision to award the Gold Medal of Police Merit to an
image of the Virgin Mary. I suppose there's no point in looking for
logic. Or not rational logic anyway. Suffice to say the police are
not amused at being passed over in favour of a painting.
What they will be amused by - as you will
be if your Spanish is up to it - is this interview with a rare
creature these days - a man who's been employed on a permanent
contract. HT to Richard in Ferrol, I think.
Corruption is a major concern for Spaniards these
days. 95% of them believe their lives are affected by it. Here, word
for word, is what President Rajoy said about it in his rapturously
received State of the Union address the other day:- "
". From which I guess we can conclude that earlier promises/threats to do something about it are as valid as an estate agent's blurb.
". From which I guess we can conclude that earlier promises/threats to do something about it are as valid as an estate agent's blurb.
Which reminds me . . . Las oposiciones are
the exams you need to do well in to get the lifelong comfort of a
civil service job from which you can never be displaced, come what
may. The list of exam successes tend to be headed by the offspring of
local politicians. And the subsequent appointments are known as
regalitos. 'Little presents'. Of course, this could all be due
to a superior education but one does wonder. The Spanish call it
'edogamy', another of those words I never heard before I came here.
The British Embassy tells us that Brits bought
5,200 properties in Spain last year – up 26% on 2012.
Unsurprisingly, virtually all of these were along the southern and
eastern coasts. Despite all the scandals of the last 10 years, I
wouldn't mind betting most of them believed the assurance that, apart
from the estate agent being honest, the notary was sufficient
protection. When will they learn?
Here's an interesting list of the the major
abandoned properties in Spain. I particularly like the station. Which
may or may not be converted into a luxury hotel, if they can convince
themselves there'll be some customers. Which used to be easy in the
good times but is a tad harder now that we again deal in reality.
Sadly, Spain's leading Flamenco guitarist, Paco de Lucía, died
suddenly of a heart attack yesterday. I have to admit I'm not really
into this art form and didn't know of him but the clips on the TV
have been very impressive. Here he is playing: Entre dos Aguas. Clearly a genius. I may join the rush to buy some of his stuff.
Finally . . . . Courtesy of Lenox's Business over
Tapas, here's something to warm the cockles of Alfie Mittington's
heart: An online 'paella police' group known as Wikipaella has
stepped up its campaign to stop the culinary 'prostitution' and
'crimes against rice' they claim are perpetuated
against Valencia's most famous dish. More here.
The Environment
January: 31 days. On which it rained: 28 - 93%
February: 27 days. On which it has rained: 27 -
100%.
So, 55 out of 58 - 95%.
No comments:
Post a Comment