Dawn

Dawn

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Spanish democracy; Lying in court; The Guardia Civil in action; Brits and property; & The perils of Youtube.


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. 

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. 

No comments: