Crookery; Tourist scams; Red wines; Kids at work; & Beggarly dogs.

Nice slogan I saw on a Spanish site yesterday:- Before we clear the crooks off the streets, let's first clear them out of the government. Who could argue with that? Well, the government, I guess.

From the unimpeachable DailyMail, comes the news that Spain has been voted the worst country in Europe for tourist scams. The percentages of visitors said to have complained of this for Spain, France and Italy are:- 25%, 15% and 10%, respectively. Pick the meat out of that. Or read more here. It might well be accurate, especially if you go to Barcelona or Madrid and are dumb enough to leave your wallet in your rear pocket. Or your bag or rucksack on the floor instead of your lap.

I recently mentioned the red wines of Toro - regarded by the doyen Robert Parker as of 'astonishing value' - and I may have previously mentioned the red mencia wines of Galicia. If so, I want to do so again, particularly the brand San Nomedio, a tremendous bottle of which I shared with my neighbour Jacobo as we waited for the lovely Esther the other night. I suspect you'll only find this in Spain, if that, but, if you do, buy as much as you can afford. As for mencia wines generally, here's how one American commentator describes them: "Spicy with rose petals, black pepper, roasted red peppers and berrylike fruit."  My view is they're great with stews and casseroles, whatever the difference is between these dishes.

I heard this entertaining exchange on a radio show last week:

Did you ever complain about anything?

Yes. 

What was it about?

Children at work.

What did you do about it?

I sent a letter to the headmaster.

Finally . . . The water pistol I use to scare off (most) pigeons and (some) seagulls yesterday hit the small dog of our longest-standing beggar. She'd long-ago learnt that bothering me was a waste of time, so this will make no difference to our respective lives. But she recognised the apology I gave about accidentally hitting her pet was specious and it buttered no parsnips. Her look at me could have killed. I suspect I've made an enemy there.

Note: Today I hand over my laptop for a change of battery. The guy has told me it'll take a couple of days, so God knows when it will re-emerge from his shop. I've pre-programmed blog posts for the next 2 days but if there's a break in service, you'll know why.