You'd
think they'd learn. Yesterday the woman deputising as President of
the Spanish parliament was filmed playing Candy Crush on her
computer, just behind the speaker during the debate on the
President's State of the Nation speech. Or so it was said at the
time. It was later suggested the game was actually a similar one
related to the film Frozen. The lady herself insisted she'd been
reading the newspapers. Well, she would, wouldn't she.
During his - pre-election - State of the Nation
address, President Rajoy naturally painted his picture in
exceptionally rosy - not to say phantasmagorical - tones. As usual,
he claimed Spain was growing faster than any other economy in Europe.
In fact, there are 10 better. But, as Adolf said, if you're going to
tell a lie, tell a big one. People closer to the ground say his
description of a Spanish populace now feeling the benefit of his
austerity polities bears little relation to reality. This is from one
sceptical commentary: Family income,
which comes mainly from work, incomes or rentals; from bank deposits,
interest payments, property speculation and state aid, is still
falling. Wages have fallen: extra payments, overtime
and the number of employees per family has also declined.
Furthermore, the money that went into households such as unemployment
benefits, aid to dependants and so on has also been trimmed. The
owners of premises or homes that were paid rents have had to lower
them – those who still charge their tenants anything, or who don't
have empty shops or apartments. Bank
deposits have gone from receiving a tiny interest to now paying
account maintenance costs. On the other hand, costs continue to
climb: taxes (both indirect and direct); official fines of all kinds
(especially from the traffic police); gasoline (although there is now
a brief and watered-down respite on the prices), electricity, water .
. . The balance of the family budget gives rise, in the majority of
cases, to red numbers. HT to Lenox of
Business over Tapas for this. It helps to explains why shops and
cafés are still closing, even in this city made prosperous on the
back of civil servant salaries.
Spanglish.
The latest:-Un outsider,
as in: La agencia no es para nada un outsider: es un shop[!] de buen tamaño. And: El
campeón del mundo, un especialista y un outsider.
The pronunciation? - oat-seeder?? I also saw El
ranking this morning but I suspect it's
pretty well established now. At least its not an
-ing invention, unlike un
footing, un lifting, un
parking, etc.
Spain
is less and less different.
1. Zebra
crossings here don't have anything like the Belisha beacons that
adorn those of the UK. Indeed, until last night, I hadn't seen a
decently sized and visible sign for motorists. But now I have and I
guess we will see more and more of them.
2. Speed
bumps first appeared in Pontevedra about 5 years ago and they were of
a reasonable height and incline. Now, there's scarcely a street
without its fair share. And the height of them has soared, along with
the angle of the incline. Some of them are higher than the adjacent
kerb, at 6 inches or 15cm. And several of them can only be negotiated
at a speed of around 10kph, if you want to prevent the front of your
car hitting the road on the way down. And the improved road accident
statistics? Conspicuous by their absence.
Cricket:
The shocks continue. 1. Afghanistan has a cricket team; 2. It
qualified for the World Cup; 3. It yesterday beat Scotland. There was
much joy - and not a few tears - among the players. BUT: that's not all. . . The
United Arab Emirates (UAE) also has a team in the competition. I
assume its women's team plays in burkas. White, of course.
Finally .
. . Walking to the station yesterday morning, I saw a good example of
the irritatingly selfish parking that effectively eliminates spaces
for others - when drivers leave 1-3 metres between their car and the
next one. On the way back, I filmed it, though by this time there
were only 2 cars, rather than the original 3.
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