Here's a thing - Members of a Spanish political
party, I've read, are not allowed to publicly oppose its policies and
can be fined for doing so, particularly where they're in government.
Contrast this with, say, the British Conservative party, which has
endless trouble with eurosceptic members. "The Bastards",
as John Major called them. Anyway, this presumably explains why PP
members who oppose the proposed Abortion law amendment nonetheless voted
for it in the secret ballot. The PP party continues to claim it has a
democratic mandate for this regressive measure, even though polls
show 80% of Spaniards are against it. I guess the party's definition
of 'democracy' is different from ours, but more in tune with that of
the Catholic Church - "Something which we think is good for the
people".
The princess who was "economical with the
truth": Reader Diego has kindly provided this gloss on what I
wrote yesterday: "In 1997, the Constitutional Court determined that
the condition of imputado gives you the right to lie. It is
one of the crucial differences in the statuses of witness and
imputado. There are certain limits to this right - not doing
harm to others - but they don't apply in this case. The only
consequence of being caught lying would be undermining your
credibility."
The Interior Minister has admitted what
we all suspected - that the Guardia Civil didn't fire rubber bullets
above the heads of the Sub-Saharans trying to swim their way into
Ceuta, but at them. So their behaviour wasn't 'impeccable' after all.
15 of the swimmers died. So it'll be interesting to see who resigns
or is sacked. Or even just disciplined. You know my guess.
The Guardia Civil, by the way, is regularly voted the most
trustworthy institution in Spain. My assumption was this was
because they were the people in Spain least susceptible to bribery.
But then I read a week or two ago that 17 officers were on trial in
Malaga for taking bribes from passengers for not opening suitcases,
or helping to “speed things up” at customs.
Sales of
property in Spain fell again last year, for the nth year in
succession. Nonetheless, interested parties continue to talk up the market. "Things have finally bottomed
out. So buy now and beat the price rises." And, indeed, there
some good things happening. For, despite land-grabs and
house-demolitions, it seems Spain remains as popular as ever among
Brits for holiday and retirement homes. In fact, interest has risen
and overtaken that in France. Perhaps the Spanish government has been
right, then, in showing no concern at all about what's reported in
the British media. And who can
blame them on this evidence? 'Trust in the sun and the stupidity of the masses. All else is irrelevant'. I'd be prepared to bet that most of the new buyers won't use an independent lawyer. Simply because the local estate agent tells them they don't need to.
Here's an example of the articles now belatedly appearing
on energy bills and their penalisation of low consumers like me. In
fact, things are getting worse, with the fixed component element
rising to 60% of the average bill. Even more of mine. A money-printing licence.
So Tom Finney has died, at 93. I saw him play just once, in a testimonial on Merseyside. I was on my way to the match with a friend, when a car stopped and asked us the way. When the driver heard we were going to the stadium, he gave us a lift. Only later did I discover that it had been Tom Finney himself. I can't imagine this happening with Wayne Rooney or even David Beckham. But things were different in the past. A foreign country, as they say.
So Tom Finney has died, at 93. I saw him play just once, in a testimonial on Merseyside. I was on my way to the match with a friend, when a car stopped and asked us the way. When the driver heard we were going to the stadium, he gave us a lift. Only later did I discover that it had been Tom Finney himself. I can't imagine this happening with Wayne Rooney or even David Beckham. But things were different in the past. A foreign country, as they say.
Finally . . . Beware of Youtube. You click on for something,
see a song you recall from childhood, then another and the next
minute you're fighting back waves of nostalgia. Not good for the
soul.
The Environment
January: 31 days. On which it rained:
28 - 93%
February: 15 days. On which it has rained: 15 -
100%.
So, 43 out of 46 - 94%, and rising.
So, 43 out of 46 - 94%, and rising.
No comments:
Post a Comment