Illegal erections; Spain is different 11; Santiago trains & planes; & Clever clerics.

And I thought it was bad enough for our new bridge in Pontevedra but it's now emerged that the famous Gaudi Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona doesn't have a building licence. My guess is it'll be regularised. Like our bridge.

Spain is Different 11

1. Chatting to a visitor today has reminded me that the Spanish aren't big on entertaining at home. Dinner parties, in other words. Maybe it's got something to do with the custom of eating out - which is relatively cheap - or with the small size of many Spanish flats.
2. My visitor also advised me that beggar blight is as bad in London these days as it is in Pontevedra.

Incidentally, when I talk of Spain being different, I don't of course, mean it's unique. There will be other cultures which share traits found in Spain but not in Britain, the USA and/other European countries. Sorry if this is obvious.

You may find this a little hard to believe but the reactionary Archbishop of Madrid - a man who has organised protests against same-sex marriages and warned of a new civil war - has just been given an award designating him Madrid's leading intellectual. God help us! There must be an election due.

The enquiry into the tragic rail crash near Santiago several months ago is working its way to the conclusion that the cause was the absence of an appropriate safety system on a curve previously described both by engineers and drivers as dangerous. As of now, the only person charged is the hapless driver but we may yet see others in the dock for criminal negligence

Talking of Santiago . . . The airport there has a new terminal. Not many flights but a new terminal. Expense has been saved by not having large Arrivals screens. But, if you search hard enough, you'll find a couple of small ones, round the side.

Finally . . . The American pharma company, Pfizer, is trying to take over AstraZeneca. The latter is the result of an earlier merger of a UK company, Zeneca, with a Swedish company, Astra. In the British media, it's invariably described as British but I wouldn't mind betting it's Swedish in Sweden. For which there's a lot more evidence.