Dawn

Dawn

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Catalan Referendum; Gib v Spain; A police state?; Noise monitoring; Zozobrar; & Depression



Pujol's real legacy: Out of the blue, the vice president of Cataluña has admitted that the independence referendum planned for November 9, might not take place if it is vetoed by the Spanish government. IF? One could bet one's life on it. As I've said, following the conveniently timed revelation of Pujol's massive corruption, President Rajoy will surely have told the Catalan president that he was holding the latter's cojones in his hands. As if he needed to.

Gib 2 Spain 1: Having found in favour of Gibraltar twice in the past few months (depressing the Spanish media), the EU has now pronounced it endorses Spain's claim that ciggies are being smuggled from the Rock and that criminals are laundering money there. This is despite Gibraltar complying with all EU regulations. Anyway, Brussels has called on the UK, Spain and Gibraltar to cooperate on addressing these concerns. Given Spain's continual harassment of Gib over the last 3 years, I wouldn't have thought the Gibraltar government would be terribly well disposed towards cooperation, at least not until the border controls are eased by Spain.

Someone once said that nations get the politicians they deserve. And now we all say it. Here in Spain the ever-more-autocratic government has announced that the police will be allowed to confiscate cameras used by demonstrators 'if they believe they will be used for illegal purposes'. They might just as well as said " . . if they believe they will be used as bananas". We all know they will be confiscated and why. Will there be much protest? Probably not. Will the government get back into power next year? Very likely.

Some good news . . . Malaga is going to install expensive street sensors to detect noise levels and to monitor how much of a nuisance bars, discos - and even people talking - create. It's not much but it's a start.

Spaniards - unlike, say, the French and the Germans - have no difficulty with the English th sound. It's pretty common in (Iberian) Spanish. Sometimes, though, too common - as in the word zozobrar - 'to sink'. Imagine our Teutonic and Gallic friends trying get their tongues around that! I suppose the English equivalent is 'thither'. Or even better - 'hither and thither'

There are 150 varieties of fish and seafood in British waters. And the locals eat mostly (75%) cod, salmon, prawns and tuna. And the last mentioned comes in tins. Funny people.

Finally . . . So, Robin Williams has exercised his ultimate right and taken his own life. Per the statistics, three-quarters of us won't understand how he could have done this to his loving family. But a quarter of us will empathise totally. Whatever, it's undeniably sad. Though no sadder than any other death yesterday. We just think it is.


House for Sale in Pontevedra

My neighbours are moving to Madrid and selling their lovely house. Lots of pictures here. Brief description: South west orientation. Completely renovated. In a development with swimming pool, extensive green areas, place for parties, excellent community environment. €395,000.

Basics
4 floors
322 sq m constructed, 283 sq m usable
5 double bedrooms
3 bathrooms
Plot of 336 sq m
Terrace of 336 sq m plus
Garage
Completely furnished
Excellent condition
5 built-in wardrobes
Lumber room
Covered laundry room
Central heating
Private garden

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