Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

 Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.  

- Christopher house:’ A Pilgrim in Spain’*

Living La Vida Loca in Spain 

• In a survey of the best countries in which to bring up your kids, the Scandinavian group naturally takes the top places. Relevant others:-

7. Germany 

11. Netherlands

12. Portugal 

13. France 

16. Ireland  

17. Spain

23. The UK

24. Italy

34. The USA [2nd last]

35. Mexico 

You can see the criteria etc. here     

• Covid in Spain . . . Giles Tremlett in Madrid: Spain’s socialist prime minister provided a reassuring contrast to the buffoonery of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. When he forced the country into a harsh mid-March lockdown, he freely admitted mistakes had been made. Spaniards were prepared to pardon. But, just as Americans cannot forgive Trump for leading the United States into a double-bump pandemic, so a sense of anger is building as Spain’s triumphant “defeat” of coronavirus threatens to become merely a brief holiday. . . . Spaniards showed discipline, solidarity and compassion the first time around. Next time, they will be less patient.  Full article here.
• I mentioned that I thought there were 42 ways to order coffee here. If you can see it, here's a relevant article from The Local. 
• Bullfighting ain't what it used to be. And might never be so ever again.  
• I've heard it said more than once that Spanish law - and slow justice - is far more on the side of the tenant than the landlord. And this attitude is said to extend even to illegal squatters, who are reported to be taking full advantage of holiday homes left empty this woeful summer. This is a report of an extreme case.  
• Taking of folk who disobey the rules  . . . Here's Day 46 of María's Chronicle.  
• Yesterday, my train from Madrid left 50 minutes late, meaning missed connections in both Ourense and Santiago. I arrived home 2 hours later than expected, having spent 11 hours travelling 625km. This is a long time to have a mask permanently over your mouth and nose. Fortunately, the rule was not being ignored by any young folk on any of the 3 trains I took. The even better news is that I can reclaim the cost of my ticket, because the delay was greater than an hour . . .

The UK

• Simon Jenkins: The Spain quarantine decision shows No 10 is still in coronavirus panic mode  . . .  The impression given by the cabinet throughout the pandemic has been constant. It is of a group of ministers and scientists in a bunker, all terrified for their headlines and reputations, blown hither and thither by unreliable data. . . This pandemic is encircling the world with a trail of unreliable data. Yet that data is converted into policies with enormous personal and economic consequences. Full article here.  
• The headline of this Guardian article: If Britain ditches overseas holidays, we can eliminate coronavirus.   

The USA

• Yesterday the USA finally overtook France in the Deaths per Million table - 465 v 463. Ignoring the newcomers of Chile and Peru, the next country to pass - maybe - will be Sweden, currently static at 567. So, a way to go. But who would rule it out? Especially if Sweden really does avoid a 2nd wave.

Finally  

• A range of things happened in my garden in my 2 weeks away, when Pontevedra was hotter and drier than normal. From good-ish to bad-ish:-

- The wisteria has gone tendril-mad, though still hasn’t produced any flowers.

- Equally, the bougainvillea has lots of new branch-lettes and, needless to say, long suckers.

- The Virginia creeper has shot up to the roof.

- Parts of my ivy hedge have died, leaving my new neighbours' new, brown plastic 'wall' totally exposed to the view from my kitchen.

- Virtually all of the 'fine' grass I've planted in the last year at the front and side of the house is yellow-to-brown and doesn't look it'll survive.

So. . . Time to get out the secateurs and to increase my water bills. And perhaps to buy some of the hardier gramón grass. Variously called, in English, Bermuda grass, Dhoob, dūrvā grass, ethana grass, dubo, dog's tooth grass, Bahama grass, devil's grass, couch grass, Indian doab, arugampul, grama, wiregrass, crab grass and scutch grass. Which my new neighbours have planted all around their house in the last few months and which looks as good as new . . . Damn them!  

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant. 

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. 

 Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.  

- Christopher house:’ A Pilgrim in Spain’*

Living La Vida Loca in Spain

• The Galician government (A Xunta) has announced that, from yesterday, arrivals who've been in countries and Spanish regions on its blacklist in the previous 14 days must declare this on a special form. This is additional to the form-filling you must do for the national government if you arrive by plane - and very possibly train or boat - from anywhere. As of now, I wait to know whether 'visited' covers driving-through-without-stopping - specifically the País Vasco and Belgium.
• If the Madrid police really want to maximise their mask-related revenue, they should go to Plaza de 2 de Mayo at 7.30 am. Where'll they'll find a motley mixture of beer-swilling young folk and wine-quaffing alkies, none of whom are wearing the things. Unlike all the street cleaners and the dog-walkers.
• On this subject, things are so different here from the Netherlands (and Finland) that the second I got up from the table in a tapas place last night - to chase my errant grandson - I was politely asked by a waiter to pull my mask up over my nose. Possibly because he was heading for the counter and the glass case of tapas dishes.
• And here's Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas on the subject: Some of these new rules seem to have been hatched without much thought. Yes, it's good to wear a face-mask at all times (and not just when you want to confuse the new face-recognition technology), but how far should one be obliged to wear one while enjoying a drink on a terraza? The police can fine you €100 for not observing the rules, apparently, if the glass isn't touching your lips. . .   But possibly not inside. 
• It's hard to imagine - once Covid is defeated - all the plastic screens being dismantled. After all, it's a sunk cost without much by way of maintenance costs and why run the risk of catching anything from customers? Most particularly the also-possibly-fatal winter flu.
• I did manage to get a glass of Albariño in an excellent tapas bar last night - Vinitus, on Gran Vía. But not Godello, as I didn't want to drink an entire bottle.
• It was odd to see paper menus on the table of the place; back in Galicia these are banned and you need to consult them via QR codes pasted on the tables.
• Here's Day 45 María's Chronicle, where she speaks for most, if not all, of us. 

The USA

• Here and here is more on the lunatic doctor first endorsed by and then disowned by Fart. As is his wont.    
• And here and here is more amusing stuff on Fart. As María wrote, who could ever have dreamt (nightmared?) that such a dolt would become the POTUS     

English/Spanish

• Three more refranes:-

- Poverty breeds discontent: Donde no hay harina, todo es mohína

- Servants make the worst masters: No hay peor cuña que la de la misma madera. [??]

- Set a thief to catch a thief: Nada major que un ladrón para atrapar a otro ladrón.

Finally . . . 

• Lenox Napier: There’s no one like the English for preparing Spanish dishes (we remember Jamie Oliver’s paella with chorizo). Here’s The Guardian’s Felicity Cloake with ‘How to prepare a Spanish omelette’ (although, it does sounds delicious!).  

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

 Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.  

- Christopher house:’ A Pilgrim in Spain’*

Living La Vida Normal  

• If there's a more problematic site in Spain than Renfe's I'd be interested to know of it. Buying tickets to Santiago and Pontevedra yesterday, I had 5 new problems. And this after the page has been reformed. I won't bore you with the details, except to say the most annoying was not finding any way to get my Tarjeta de Oro discount. 
• Talking of Spanish problems . . . It's difficult here to get wines from other countries.  Worse, it's even more difficult to get Galician wines in Madrid bars, despite the fact that Albariño is Spain's premium white wine. Yesterday, I couldn't get either this or, of course, Godello, so had to settle for Verdejo from Rueda. Of course, you can get Albariño in Madrid supermarkets. But rarely Godello.

The USA

• A soupçon of good news?

English/Spanish

• Three more refranes:-

- One can never know too much: El saber no ocupa lugar.

- One man's meat is another man's poison: Nunca llueve a gusto de todos. 

- Possession is nine tenths of the law: La posesión es lo que cuenta.

Finally . . 

For those interested, a Covid review . . .

Overview

• It will be a long time before truly accurate conclusions can be reached but here, for now, is a timely but controversial one: The panic over rising Covid-19 case numbers is as irrational as it is dangerous. The number of recorded cases is irrelevant: what matters is admissions to hospital and deaths. . . .  Globally, there is a growing discrepancy between the graph of infections and the graph of deaths.  See the full article below.

Sweden 

• The writer of this article dismisses the criticisms of the Swedish strategy, seeing it as a success which will ensure there's no second wave there and that the economy will suffer less damaged than in lockdown countries:  The secret of Sweden’s success is that its experts settled on a strategy that was realistic, sustainable and science-based.  Lockdowns don’t work, but the media continues to support them. Why? Because the media is owned by elites who see lockdowns as an effective way to exert greater control over the population. The real issue is power, not efficacy or saving lives. The Swedish model undermines this effort by providing a viable alternative that challenges lockdowns and leads countries out of crisis. That’s why Sweden has been treated with such open hostility, because elites see crisis management as a useful tool for making the structural changes they want to impose on the political and economic systems. Billionaire oligarchs do not see crises as ‘periods of intense disorder or distress’, but golden opportunities that can be exploited to their advantage.

Finland

• A  country which has kept deaths low but where the wearing of masks has never been compulsory and where, as in the Netherlands, they are rarely seen.

Spain

• The number of new cases started jolting upwards 3 weeks ago. Yet there is not the faintest sign yet of an increase in Covid deaths, which have fallen away to virtually nothing: 3 died last Thursday, the most recent day for which figures are available, compared with nearly 1,000 on the worst days in April. The "second spike" has been blamed on young people partying in Barcelona and elsewhere. But does it really matter if they get infected so long as the disease is kept away from elderly people, especially those in care homes, where it accounted for so many deaths earlier in the year? Logically, rather than confine everyone indoors, as is happening again with some local lockdowns, everyone in Spain under 40 ought to be invited to a 2week long beach party, where they can all get infected and perhaps build up herd immunity.
• The region of Madrid has now also made the wearing of face masks compulsory at all times in public – including whilst sitting outside at a terrace bar or café – and where gatherings are to be limited to groups of 10.  This leaves the Canary Islands as the only region in Spain with more lenient mask usage rules.
• National hotel chains have offered to pay for foreign tourists to be PCR-tested before they return home to avoid their having to quarantine after their trip.
• The Catalan government has now banned 'botellons’ – street drinking parties – in an effort to stop any further spread of Coronavirus (Covid-19), and will impose fines of up to €15,000.  Last Friday it had already ruled that nightclubs, venue halls and events with shows were to be banned in all of Catalonia, as well as musical activities with dance floors. 

The UK

• The word farce springs to mind, and continues to echo as one tries to get to grips with the hotchpotch ad hoc dismantling of air bridges mere moments after establishing them. The list of countries no longer requiring self isolation and those on the black list for returning travellers is as confusing as a twelve page tapas menu in Catalan.  . . . It’s hard to wrap one's head around the logic of it. Countries where cases are still relatively high have got the green light, while others who can report success stories, particularly islands such as the Canaries and Balearics, whose economies are almost entirely sustained by the art of tourism, are dragged into the mire due to outbreaks in cities not just hundreds of miles away, but safely separated by sleeves of sea. While we play a game of international musical chairs, other countries have taken the logical approach of testing all new arrivals and providing results within 48 hours. Those with the virus are asked to isolate themselves, those with the all clear can go about rebuilding the economies of their host nation. 
• One assumes this is a spoof: Quarantine chaos as Brits returning from Benidorm unaware they went abroad. . .

The USA

• The USA us now within a day or 2 of overtaking France, rising to 4th in the Deaths Per Million table. That said, the astonishing rise of the South American countries means that Peru and Chile have overtaken both countries, while Brazil and Mexico are also rising rapidly and will soon do the same. Doubtless allowing Trump to claim that the USA is doing so well it's falling down the table.
• Closer to the truth? Sweden was on the right track from the very beginning and is rapidly returning to normal while the US sinks deeper into a crisis of its own making.

THE ARTICLE

Panic over rising Covid-19 case numbers is as irrational as it is dangerous. The number of recorded cases is irrelevant: what matters is admissions to hospital and deaths: Ross Clark, Daily Telegraph. 

Why is anyone interested in the number of recorded cases of Covid 19? It might sound a daft question, given that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but it ought to be clear to anyone who spends a few minutes digging around the figures that it is a meaningless statistic. Count deaths, by all means, hospital admissions, ICU admissions – but as for the official figures of how many people have tested positive for the disease, it is pointless worrying about them.     

Why? First, because we are only – and only ever have been – detecting a small fraction of total cases of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid 19. Take the UK. Officially, as of Monday evening, there have been 300,111 recorded cases of Covid 19. Yet serological tests by Public Health England suggest that 6.5 per cent of the population of England have antibodies suggesting they have at some point been infected with the virus – which works out at 4.2 million. In other words, the official count has only managed to capture one in 14 cases of the disease. Why so few? Because in the vast majority of cases – between 70 and 80 per cent according to some estimates – Covid 19 causes no symptoms whatsoever. Those infected have no reason to assume they are infected, no need to seek medical attention and no reason to seek being tested.

Globally, there is also a growing discrepancy between the graph of infections and the graph of deaths. The World Health Organisation (WHO) keeps on telling us that the pandemic is accelerating. On Friday, it counted 218,307 new cases – a fresh high. In April, when the pandemic peaked in Europe, the daily count of cases globally never exceeded 100,000. Yet look at the figures for recorded deaths, and while there has been a small rise in recent weeks, daily deaths have flattened off at around 5,000. This is markedly less than was being reported back at April’s peak, when more than 8,000 deaths were being reported on some days. There is a slight lag between reported cases and deaths, but not enough to account for the discrepancy.

Why the divergent paths of recorded cases and deaths? Either the world is recording more cases of Covid 19 because it is testing more, we are recording fewer deaths because we have become better at treating the disease, or fewer cases are going on to develop into medical emergencies because a greater proportion of new infections now are among less vulnerable groups – they are in younger, healthier people – than was the case in April. Perhaps it is a mixture of all three.      

Look at the US, where recorded cases are currently running at more than twice what they were in April but where deaths have more than halved since then. How come? Tests for Covid 19 are now running at around 800,000 a day. In the middle of April, by comparison, the US was carrying out 150,000 tests a day. Testing is, as Donald Trump said recently, a "double-edged sword" in that increased testing has allowed authorities to establish where the disease is spreading, but at the same time it makes the epidemic look worse on paper than it actually is. He was, of course, vilified for saying this as he is vilified for whatever he says, foolish or sensible. But perhaps his critics would like to explain the divergent paths of recorded cases and deaths. Again, a lag between infections and deaths cannot explain it alone.   

In Spain, the subject of this week’s panic, the number of new cases started jolting upwards three weeks ago. Yet there is not the faintest sign yet of an increase in Covid deaths, which have fallen away to virtually nothing: three died last Thursday, the most recent day for which figures are available, compared with nearly a thousand on the worst days in April. The "second spike" has been blamed on young people partying in Barcelona and elsewhere. But does it really matter if they get infected so long as the disease is kept away from elderly people, especially those in care homes, where it accounted for so many deaths earlier in the year? Logically, rather than confine everyone indoors, as is happening again with some local lockdowns, everyone in Spain under 40 ought to be invited to a fortnight-long beach party – the equivalent of a measles party – where they can all get infected and perhaps build up herd immunity.

But whatever policy a country chooses to follow, can we please stop fretting over meaningless graphs of the number of new infections and look instead at what really matters: hospital admissions and deaths? So long as they are falling, any rise in recorded infections matters little.  

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.  

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. 

 Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.  

- Christopher house:’ A Pilgrim in Spain’*

Living La Vida Normal in Spain

• Well, the machine did let me board the plane to Madrid, where my immediate problem was finding the Uber car which my daughter had insisted I take in preference to the metro.
• Rather hotter here than in the Netherlands, of course.  40 v 27. Which didn’t do anything to ease my frustration,
• Back at the boarding gate, I suddenly felt I was back home in Galicia. The guy next to me talked trivia for at least half an hour to someone in Spain. Loudly, of course. As if no one else was there . . .
• On the - totally packed - plane, all were dutifully wearing masks. And filling in the Covid-related form they hadn’t done on-line. But this chap took things 2 stages further:-

Medical grade mask, vertical plastic face mask and a plastic body sheath covering him from head to knees. ‘Belt and braces’ doesn’t quite describe it.

• Taking his foto without his permission is probably illegal in Spain but, if you’re prepared to be seen in public like that, you’re probably not too worried about being widely seen on the net. Especially as his face isn’t shown.
• In a development which might well help the Spanish government improve its traditionally low tax take, payment by card is slowly taking over from cash. Maybe in a few years time, you’ll be arrested for simply having cash on your person, as a suspect drug trafficker. Or even just a petty crook. Though the article writer opines that; Spain is not going to become a completely cashless society for at least another generation or two. Or 30 to 60 years.
• My daughters have long told me I don’t know how to recognise a handsome’man. So, I guess it’s logical that I wouldn’t grant this accolade to Spain’s ‘Hombre Mas Guapo’. Judge for yourself here.  I find him creepy . . 
• María’s Chronicle Days 42 and 43. The expensive madness of Spanish First Communions. 

The UK

• As the government introduces a campaign against obesity, someone has had the courage to ask an un-voiced question: If we must be slim, why are so many nurses fat? Stand by for the tempest.

English/Spanish

• Three more refranes:-     

- Nothing succeeds like success: El éxito llama al éxito.

- Old friends and old wine and old gold are the best: Amigo y vino, el mas antiguo.

- Once a thief, always a thief: Quien roba una vez roba diez.

Finally . . 

• I think I mentioned that the plastic cover on your bank card contains all the data, not the card itself. And now I can tell you that it’s possible to superglue the plastic back on. Assuming you’ve kept it . . .

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

 Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.  

- Christopher house:’ A Pilgrim in Spain’*

About to abandon La Vida Normal in the Netherlands . . .

• 07.19: I’m now en route to Amsterdam airport, having been helped by the chap at Gouda station, who gave me both a ticket and a print-out of my journey, showing the platform I need to go to after the first leg of the journey, at a station in Amsterdam. Impressive.
• Checking in on Iberia last night was something of a calvario, involving the filling of a form related to my health and my recent movements. After success with this challenge, my phone declined to download the PDFs of my boarding card and the QR code which will allow me to get into the terminal in Madrid. But changed its mind when I switched from 4G to wifi. Thank god.
• I was, of course, wrong about coffee in the Netherlands. A trip to a café/bar midday yesterday involved the perusal of a card which offered at least 9 options.
• Talking of forms to fill in . . . Before we could enter the café/bar’s garden, we each had to fill in a 7-question sheet and provide a name and phone  number. All very understandable but rather inconsistent with the fact that none of the 20-30 customers inside were wearing a mask. 
• But I do have one donned here on the train, where they're compulsory. And Dutch friends all feel an obligation like Spain’s is just around the corner.
• 9.05: Having walked about 2km, I’m now at the right boarding gate, with a couple of hours to kill. Need I say that the machine before Security rejected my dowloaded boarding pass but the chap who assisted me to enter showed me to the priority section, meaning I avoided a long wait in the snaking line. I’m guessing that the problem arose because - in desperation last night - I download the pass in both Word and, via Drive, as a PDF. And I was using the former . . .
• Another lesson learned - Don’t try to negotiate the escalator with a bag in one hand and a hot coffee in the other . . .  Especially if  you’re wearing a beige jacket.
• Pleasing to see that almost everyone is wearing masks in the airport.
• I see there’s another machine here at Gate B23 requesting my pass. Let’s see what happens with the PDF downloaded via Drive. . . . If this post ends here, I got on the plane.

Life Back home

• The traffic police are about to get even more efficient/officious at raising state revenue. Basically an arm of the Hacienda now. 

The UK

• Richard North has moved Cataluña to Galicia but, otherwise, writes as pungently and as sensibly as ever here.

The USA

• The war on terror comes home. Towards a fascist state.  
• Get the Trump body. 

The Way of the World

• Just what you all suspected  . . . No one knows how to ever get out of this mess.  

English/Spanish

• Three more refranes:-

- Lovers' quarrels are soon mended**: Riñen a menudo los amantes, por el gusto de hacer los paces.

- Make the best of a bad bargain/situation: De lo perdido, saca lo que puedas.

- Man cannot live by bread alone: No solo de pan vive el hombre.

Finally . . .  

• Fotos of a beautiful walk near some ex peat-bogs yesterday near Gouda. Now a complex of lakes, with some stunning houses and gardens on the edge of these:-

Note: These are proving impossible to upload today, except perhaps the one below. To see them, click here.

Finally . . . Some folks who'd hired a boat at the café/bar but took 10 minutes to move more than 3 metres, as the driver didn't seem to understand what 'Left(Links)' meant. Or perhaps the café employee was saying 'To port'. With increasing fervour as the boat headed for the far bank:- 

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

** At least until they've lived together for a while . . 

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

 Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.  

- Christopher house:’ A Pilgrim in Spain’*

Note: Yesterday's post was scheduled to be automatically published at 10am but it seems it wasn't. So I published it late last night.

Living La Vida Normal in the Netherlands . . .

• An enjoyable - if wettish - day sightseeing in Rotterdam yesterday. Fotos below.
• And another super Indonesian dinner in Nusa in Gouda. 

Life Back Home    

• The British government continues to be consistent in its inconsistency. Having upset the Portuguese by putting their country on the Red list, it's now pissed off the Spanish with the announcement that since midnight last night, returning Brits face 2 weeks in quarantine. Theoretically at least. Not what the Spanish tourism industry needed.  
• María's chronicle Day 41 - individualismo on 2 wheels.
• A nice bit of Spanish enterprise. But don't expect early availability.  

The UK

• Hard to disagree with this . . . In general the government is handling the coronavirus crisis with all the dexterity of a blind amputee juggling machetes. Its utter ineptitude during this crisis has been a marvel to behold: its flip-flopping, its confusion, its beyond-bizarre injunctions as to where one might wear a mask and where one might not, the pubs open and the schools closed — oh, I could go on and on.  . . .  And yet, hopeless though the government has been,  I do no believe — as the left seems to — that it is deliberately concealing the true number who have died, that underfunding of the NHS has led to thousands more dying, and so on: that it is inherently wicked, rather than just useless.

The EU

• Following up on yesterday’s citation . . . As an outcome of the recent 'summit’: For the first time the European Commission will be able to borrow money on financial markets for member states, some of which will not be paid back until 2058. The commission will also be given its own new sources of tax revenue, including a levy on plastic waste or a digital tax. The Dutch PM  and his allies have made clear they saw the package as a one-off response to an unprecedented emergency. Others, pushing for broader mutualisation of debt, will seize on it as a precedent — setting the scene for future battles in Brussels.

The USA

• Trump on Mary's book.

Finally . . .  

• Those Rotterdam fotos:-

1. An interesting new sight

2. Large rabbits

3. The wake of a - rather fast - water taxi

4. The amazing replica of a 15th century sailing ship, whose owner is half Dutch and half Scottish. Called Jimmy, naturally. Who treated us to rum and an extra hour of info. Free!

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day: Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.  

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'* 

Living La Vida Normal in the Netherlands . . .

• The Netherlands v Spain 1: The people here are so damned quiet. Especially those who come up behind you fast on a bike or even a scooter.
• The Netherlands v Spain 2: A (pregnant) woman, outside her house door, backed into my path and then smiled, apologised and moved out of my way. I'm no longer used to such courtesies.
• The Netherlands v Spain 3: Dutch folk seem to say both Hello and Sorry with an English intonation.  And in the latter case they seem to mean it  . . .
• A Dutch vignette - A car driver giving way to a cyclist giving way to some ducks in the road.
• Wine prices - as elsewhere in the world - tend to be priced here, for example, as 7.99. But, unlike elsewhere, if you pay in cash you don’t get the 1 cent back in your. change. Because, in the Netherlands, the 1 and 2 cent coins exist only in theory. Very sensible, in my view, but it would be even better if the prices were ‘honest’ too.
• A shop in Gouda central station. Why Sissy-Boy??? . . .

Anyway, here's the Wiki entry.

Life Back Home 

• An interesting point . . . The COVID-19 crisis has made the la Line area’s reliance on Gibraltar even greater than normal, with the Rock giving about €500 million to the region every year.
• María's Day 40.

The EU

• Says a knowledgable observer: The real significance of the EU's latest agreement is that Brussels is now a full debt-issuing entity. Which means it will also start raising taxes directly from the citizenry, probably in small amounts at the very beginning from green taxes and the like but it won't take long for the scope and scale of its tax collecting activities to grow. In other words, like the Death Star in Return of the Jedi, the EU is now fully operational. And that, at a time when democratic norms are being eroded across the West, is a pretty scary proposition. 

Finally . . 

• By popular demand . . . Fotos of Haastrecht:-

2. A church:-

3. Possibly the vicar's fine pad, next door:-

4. The main street:-

5. Pub by the canal:-

6. The ancient bike which let me down:-

NB: The foto doesn't do justice to the rust. Nor to the ineffective brakes . . . 

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day: Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Note: I'm indebted to Lenox Napier's comprehensive Business Over Tapas for 1 or 2 of today's items. 

Living La Vida Normal in the Netherlands . . .

• Yesterday, I did a 32km(20 miles) round trip on my host's (ancient) bike. I fell off only once, when the chain came off, for no apparent reason, and I lost both momentum and stability. Fortunately I fell into some bushes at the side of the road . . . The only thing damaged was my pride.
• The coming back was rather slower than the going. Everyone in at least the provinces of Holland seemed to overtake me. Some of them at great speed.

Life Back Home  

• A soon as I saw this headline, I knew in which region of Spain the kamikaze driver lived. We have more than our fair share of these.   
• Can this article on English language papers really be true?  . . . The dossier exposes gang crime connections, shady dealings, skullduggery, and shenanigans, and much more, as our investigators unravel the actual proceedings in Spain, with bullying rife, as well as mental torture tactics applied by some to the more established operations in the market. We should know soon. 
• Some relevant advice on the EHIC card. 
• Day 39 of María's chronicle. 
• The web page of Hispania Nostra, which is dedicated to the (admirable) defence and promotion of Spain’s amazingly rich heritage. 

English/Spanish

• Three more refranes:-

- More than enough is too much: En el término medio está la virtud.

- Necessity is the mother of invention: La necesidad hace maestros/ No hay mejor maestro que la necesidad.

- No offence [to be] taken when none is meant: Palabras no sacan sangre. (This is the standard Spanish ‘apology’: I didn’t mean to upset you, so you can’t be.)

Finally . . . 

• I've been asked for pretty fotos of where I am. Well, I don't have any yet, so here's 3 from the internet:-

1. A lane I cycled down yesterday, which coould be in England:-

2. The town I'm staying in, Haastrecht:-

3. And someone with the name Haastrecht who came up in Google Images: and who I feel merits an appearance here:-

Patricia van Haastrecht. Who helped me up when I fell off the bike. Honest.

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Living La Vida Normal in the Netherlands . . .

• I could be wrong on this but, whereas in Spain there's said to be 42 ways to order coffee, here in the Netherland there seems to be just one - "A coffee, please". And it arrives with a sachet of sugar and either milk/cream in a small plastic tub or a sachet of powdered stuff. Maybe not in Starbucks and the like. But, then, I don't go into these.
• Another 'odd' thing here is that you have to look at the small roadside kilometre markers to see what the speed limit is. Not so easy at night. But not on motor/highways, of course.
• Driving to Hilversum yesterday afternoon, I read the first line of an electronic message on an overhead gantry and thought how like English the Dutch wording was:

Out and about?

Then I noted that the next 2 lines were:-

Avoid busy places

Control the virus

• In contrast . . .  In  one (surprising) regard, Dutch trains are less 'international' than Spanish ones; they don't repeat the announcements in English. 

Life Back Home 

• Advice here on how to avoid Covid in bars and restaurants. 
• The Guardian here talks of the other famously corrupt 'royal' family - the Pujols of Cataluña. Who've said they know where the bodies are buried, I believe. Note that the (judicial) investigation has taken more than 7 years.
• Day 38 of María's chronicle. 

The USA

• A challenging article   

The Way of the World

• An interesting development.    

Finally . . . 

• I wonder why all men who live alone after a divorce think that towels have to be retained until they're totally threadbare. Except me of course. But, then, I have 2 daughters who'd give me hell, if I did.

*A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Living La Vida Normal in the Netherlands . . .

• Travelling into Utrecht from Gouda by train yesterday, I got to wondering how similar the scenery was to that of East Anglia, to which, of course, it was connected some 8-9,000 years ago, via Doggerland. Both are very flat, as Noel Coward famously remarked.**
• My experience of Dutch houses to date - maybe 5 or 6 - suggests they're all equipped with narrow staircases more appropriate to mountain goats than humans. Maybe it's something to do with a sea-faring tradition. And boats. Or space-saving in a crowded country. [Friends at dinner last night all agreed it was the latter].
• Like Pontevedra, Utrecht has beggars. Though not, it has to be said, on quite the same scale. And not as young. But still something of a nuisance.
• Nice to see that - unlike in, say, Hamburg - the area around Utrecht's central station is not populated by various forms of low-life. But exiting it into Catharijnesingel street seems to mean you can't get anywhere without going through a huge shopping mall. 
• I've no idea whether it's due to high taxes or rampant profiteering but prices of Spanish wines in bars and restaurants seem to be 4 times what they are in supermarkets back home. Reminding me of the €32 tag on a €8 bottle of Albariño in a place in Liverpool last year. Is this how it is everywhere in Europe now? Compared with the mere doubling of the price when I was a youth.
• From  my experience in Utrecht's city 'museum', I'd have to warn you that this word in Dutch can mean more 'art gallery' than what Brits are used to in a museum.
• Face masks . . . Maybe only one observed all day in crowded Utrecht yesterday. Ironically, I was told by a guard on the train there to put one on. At least on public transport they're compulsory here.

Life Back Home

• There are c. 325,000 bars in Spain. As of now, 13% (42,000) have permanently closed. And this is expected to reach 20% (65,000) by the year end. One major factor is the increased working from home, meaning far fewer folk are going out for their early coffee, their ‘elevenses’ and their menu del día. An unmitigated disaster. 
• Day 37 of María's chronicle.

The USA

• The weekend interview I cited yesterday "opened a fire hose of crazy that boggles comprehension, even after accounting for the demolished standards of the Trump era and processing it several times”, it says here. A "televised fever dream." 

Quote of the Week

• As nations grapple with a new world order, celebrities begin to look like part of an outdated freak show. Their lives no longer look glamorous or enviable but bizarre and desperate. Their tweets sound needy, their Instagram posts self-obsessed and no one is calling for the return of red-carpet events.

Spanish

• Chevere: Another suggestion from a reader: When I worked in Ecuador in 1975, I often heard ‘chevere’ used to mean excellent. I was told that this was a corruption of the Basque surname of Echeveria, and that Echeveria was the best mattress on the market in Peru. 

Finally . . . 

• Of all things, I  had an ‘authentic Cuban sandwich’ for lunch yesterday in Utrecht. In a place called Papi Churros. Owned by a young English guy, who said the name was the sort of of pun favoured by Brits. But I still haven’t figured out what it is . . .

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

**  'Very flat, Norfolk.' (In his play 'Private Lives’). Always gets a big laugh. Not sure why.

*** It wasn't bad but the Maté drink was probably not very authentic.      

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Living La Vida Normal in the Netherlands.  

• I spent several hours ‘doing’ Gouda yesterday. Not a single mask observed, on a day when France tightened its rules on these. After Spain did last week.
• I took this nice foto near the Harbour Museum. Can you imagine anything more Dutch?

• The Harbour Museum was, in fact, closed. As was every other museum. Just as in Spain on Mondays. The day I always seem to chose for this activity.
• But I had an enjoyable hour in the very large St John’s church, which was taken over from the Catholics in the Reformation. After which the Choir was downgraded in importance, in favour of a pulpit and banks of seats around and below it, where the pews had been. It reminded me of a football stadium. Or a small Roman amphitheater. Most tellingly, there were none of the side altars and the massive collections of gold and silver which one sees in all Catholic cathedrals. And which make me rather angry. So I left the place in good humour, especially as the (justifiably famous) stained glass windows are stupendous.
• I cycled to and from Gouda, about 7km each way. On a bike the seat of which was a bit too high for me, causing a degree of instability, and making me a something of a liability for the majority of Dutch cyclists who rush up behind you, very rarely using their bell to tell you they’re going to hit you if you deviate a couple of centimetres from the right hand edge of the path.
• But I fared better than the hedgehog I saw splattered in the middle of the road . . .

Back Home

• Desperate measures . . A Spanish village has banned the eating of sunflower seeds in public to stop Covid infections 
• Just  in case you live in a cave, here's a BBC article on the disgraced ex king. The most accurate sentence:  'The wheels of justice turn slowly and may never lead to Juan Carlos being placed in the dock'. 
• Here’s María’s Day 36 of her chronicle.

The EU

• Yanis Varoufakis: Once more, all night negotiations in Brussels, in the midst of a crippling crisis, are focusing on the lesser issues and studiously avoid talking about the Elephant in the Room, that is Europe’s ‘natural’, and self-defeating, proclivity toward austerity for everyone, except for the financiers and the captains of corporations who are treated to the most extravagant of socialisms. More here.

The USA

• At least someone challenges the mendacious cretin.

 English

• A new word for me: Beguinage: “A house for members of a lay sisterhood in the Low Countries”. Or "An architectural complex which was created to house beguines: lay religious women who lived in community without taking vows or retiring from the world". You probably won't need to use it very often.
• Not to be confused with this . . . .

Finally . . . 

• A chat  last night . . .

- Dutch friend: We are probably better at keeping social distance because we just like it like that. We’re not like the temperamental Spanish or the kissing French. This might be why we don’t need masks. Do you know the saying “Doe maar normaal dan doe je al gek genoeg”?  It translates something like “Please act normal; thats wild enough”.

- Me: It reminds me of a recent Scandinavian joke: "With the end of of the 2 metre rule, we can now all go back to  5 metres."

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Living La Vida Loca . . .

• I'm now in a country where masks are only compulsory on public transport. There was virtually no one wearing a mask anywhere in ouda last night, though there was a degree of social distancing in restaurants. But not much.
• Being accustomed to donning a mask every time I leave the house back in Spain, I felt rather uncomfortable not wearing one here.
• But reading this article this morning left me a tad more relaxed.
• The countryside outside Gouda is exceptionally pretty. As are the villages. Water everywhere, of course, and lots of impressive traditional windmills in nearby Kinderdijk.

• Here's María's Day 35 of her chronicle back home in Galicia.  

The USA

• An interesting article on US society.
• And another amusing video from J-L Cauvin. Fart on beans. Aptly enough.

English/Spanish

• Three more refranes:-

- He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day: Quien en tiempo huye, en tiempo acude.

- He who pays the piper calls the tune: Quien paga, elige.

- Health is better than wealth: La salud es la mejor riqueza. Mas vale la salud que el dinero/la riqueza. Primero es la salud que el dinero.

Finally . . . '

• Back in France I was foxed by a menu item which spoke of ‘fish balloting in tartare sauce' . I guessed that this had nothing to do with voting so asked the waiter. Which didn't help much. So I googled it and found that balloter means to toss, and that a ballotine  is: Boned meat, poultry, or fish that is stuffed with seasoned meats or vegetables, rolled and tied into a bundle shape, and usually braised. The dish was very tasty, by the way.

• And 'braising' is first frying and then stewing slowly. For poorer cuts of meat, allegedly. Inow recall my mother used to send me for ‘braising steak’. Which presumably wasn’t really steak at all.

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.  

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Our Road Trip to Gouda

• Well, only 30 minutes after I'd written in praise of French service folk for their friendliness, we were treated to stereotypical desultory service in a café in Arromanche-Les-Bains. In truth, non-existent service, which prompted a walk-out not only from ourselves but also from a Belgian foursome who'd gone into the place ahead of us. After a few minutes trying to find another café open at 9am, we all ended up in the same one. Where the service was again friendly and efficient.
• And no one can say that the Normandy countryside isn't picturesque.
• Or that there aren't dozens of irritating French toll booths between Spain and Belgium.
• Rotterdam's port area - like Hamburg's - is booming. Once again, I had the feeling that Liverpool had been left way behind in these stakes. Though I guess it's easier to create attractive tourist venues where old facilities surround inlets, canals and pools, and are not stretched lineally for miles alongside a river that can get pretty rough.
• Rotterdam's impressive water taxis, for example, probably wouldn't be feasible on the Mersey. Shame.

Living La Vida Loca . . .

• Here are María's Days 33 and 34

English/Spanish

• Three more refranes:-

- Many hands make light work: El trabajo compartido es ma llevadero.

- Misfortunes always come in threes: No hay dos sin tres

- Money goes where money is: Dinero llama a dinero.

Spanish

• Cheveré: An interesting reader comment: I was told that cheveré is a corruption of chevrolet the american car known for being quality.

Finally . . . 

• Reader Scrooge delves once more into the murky world of grape varieties: Oh dear! identifying grapes is something of a minefield. I can make no claim to any expertise merely a passing interest. The well known (popular) ones are straightforward enough but the more obscure can be tricky. But The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is quiet explicit that Cabarnet Sauvignon is a cross between Cabarnet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. The National Grape Vine Registry agrees. Also interestingly VIVC lists Cayetano as a white grape without any references to red/black mutants. And classes it as a "table grape".  

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

 Our Road Trip to Gouda

• Well, after another 7 or 8 hours on the road, we made  it to the lovely village of Port en Bessin, a stone's throw from Bayeux and, from there, to the American cemetery above Omaha beach. An emotional experience in an exceptionally beautiful setting.
• So far, all the French folk who've served us in hotels and restaurants have refused to conform to stereotype, being unfailingly friendly. 
• And, more often than not, they've been fluent in English. Which is just as well as the French stored somewhere in our 3 brains inevitably emerges from our mouths as a mélange of French, Spanish and English. Mostly Spanish.
• But, having had a French partner for 9 years, I have at least mastered the French U  sound. Meaning that no one laughs at my attempts any more.
• Today we set off - at the respectable time of 8.30 - for Gouda, intending to see more war memorials along the way, in particular that of Lutyens in Thiepval.

The Way of the World

• In his autobiography,Woody Allen takes the micky out of some famous actor or director for keeping his watch on at night. When asked why he did so, the said celebrity asked: "Doesn't everyone?". Which, I confess, would have been my answer too. But I am discovering that I might well be in the minority.

English/Spanish

• Three more refranes:-

- Love will find a way: El amor todo lo puede.

- Make the best of it: De lo perdido saca lo que puedas.

- Man can't live by bread alone: No solo de pan vive el hombre.

Finally . . . 

• For oenophiles out there . . . Reader Scrooge has commented: The "story" that Mencia is Cabernet Franc has been about for some time and is firmly believed by many. But the National Grape Vine Registry says Not. Mencía originated in northwest Spain and was discovered along the Camino de Santiago. Contrary to prior speculation, DNA profiling has revealed that Mencía is most likely not related to Cabernet Franc. The variety is known as  in Portugal. A minority opinion suggests that the variety originated in France in the Burdeos region. Spain's grape named Jaén is a different variety entirely.
• I have absolutely no reason to doubt the veracity of this, though my own recollection was that DNA analysis had only discredited the theory that Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franca grapes were related, not proved that Mencia is the grape known as Jaen in Portugal.
• I've looked a bit further into this and identified Mencia as Jaen Colorado, as distinct from Jaen de Dao  of Portugal. I've mentioned the former before, in the context of eating grapes on the camino. Back then, I was told the red grapes were not Mencia but Cayetana. Which might well have been wrong. Unless they were Jaén rosado or Jaén blanco grapes . . . Got it? 

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

                                          Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

                                         Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Note: Our Dutch slave driver allowed us to sleep in until 6 this morning, ahead of driving through France to Omaha beach in Normandy. So, I've had time to write a brief post.

Living La Vida Loca . . .

• A useful bit of advice if you're going to be doing any autovia/pista driving in Spain. Say Pontevedra to the border at Irún, over 7 hours. 
• The owner of a  Marbella nightclub raided by police for exceeding capacity numbers claims he’s innocent, as - behind his back - 150 youths had 'sneaked into’ the place. I guess it could be true.
• Here's María's Day 31 and Day 32 of our Adjusted normal. Wherein you - like me - could well learn what 'kitty corner' means.   

English/Spanish

• Three more refranes:-

- Live and let live: Vive y deja vivir/Hay de todo en la viña del Señor.

- Look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves: A quien cuida la peseta nunca le falta un duro.

- Loves laughs at locksmiths: Amor no respeta ley, ni obedece a rey.

Spanish

• Cheveré: A word I've heard quite a lot recently from Venezuelans and Colombians. Not in the RAE dictionary, Probably because: Es un neologismo originario de la lengua efik introducido en el Caribe, especialmente Venezuela a comienzos del siglo XIX por inmigrantes africanos provenientes de Nigeria. Who'd have thought it?

Finally 

• Just in case you don't know, the cabernet franc grape of much of the wine of south west France is the same one used in the 'elaboration' of Galicia's mencia fruity red wine. Introduced to both places by the Romans, of course.

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'  

By the time you read this I should be several hours into a road trip to Bordeaux, en route to Gouda in the Nederlands. 

My Dutch houseguest is supplying the car and he insists on leaving at 4am. His custom, he says. Strange volk, the Dutch. His forenames are Petrus Hendrikus Auke Maria, for god's sake . . . 

I don't have time to write a post for tomorrow. So, I've added to this blog on Blogger all the Labels I used to have, so  that, if you have withdrawal symptoms, you can click here and select your subject on the right of the text. 

But I must confess I stopped allocating Labels several years ago. So the posts which appear under each one are old. But possibly still relevant.

Enjoy!

Note: In case you're new to this (18 year od blog), I possibly need to stress that I love living in Spain - even in less sunny Galicia - and the comments you'll read here are of things that interest, amuse or irritate me. This is not, then, a vehicle for paeons of praise about this great country. You can find plenty of these elsewhere. I sometimes have my tongue in my cheek and sometimes I'm being ironic. You'll have to figure out for yourselves when, unless I insert the irony icon -  - to help you.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Living La Vida Loca . . .

• Having woken at 5.45 to take my daughter and grandson for early trains north to Santiago and then south to Madrid, I almost forgot to go to the Comisaría for my 9am cita about my new TIE. 
• But I made it, at almost a run, and was dealt with immediately by 2 pleasant ladies, who volunteered I was the first they were doing this for.
• I was pretty sure I'd been told on the phone the fee was €12 but yesterday I found the on-line application form confusing as to what category of several I was in. So, I paid the highest amount via a bank order. To be told today that I shouldn't have done so, and that my payment shouldn't go through. 
• To make the correct payment - of €12 - I had to leave and to a bank. Where - because I was the only customer - the kind teller, having said I'd have to use (12 step) machine, came out from behind her screen and did it for me.
• Back at the Comisaría, I was given a resguardo - which hopefully the police will accept in place of my Certificate of Residence which was retained.  I also have my old card - which expired in 2011 - and while this might be good enough for receptionists and some staff in Correos - is unlikely to be acceptable to any of the various police forces I might be stopped by.
• All in all, a pleasant enough experience but I won't be surprised, of course, if I end up paying both fees.
• The thought occurred to me that I'd been treated well in both places because - between my Panama hat and my mask - all that the ladies could see was my blue eyes. Which are still relatively 'exotic' up here in Galicia. All by analogy with me finding all the women who pass me very attractive because all I can see - above the  neck - is large brown eyes and long dark hair . . .
• Anyway, the card will take 4 weeks to produce and I'll need to make another cita to go and collect it.
• More praise where it's due. My water company has written to warn me that - in the light of a very significant increase in volume - I might have a leak. This is a huge advance on 6 years ago, when one of these cost me €650. Which the same company couldn't have cared less about.
• This - from The Local - is British newsreel footage on Spain in the 1960s. Possibly a tad patronising. Not to mention replete with breathtakingly casual sexism, racism and an overall lack of political correctness.  ‘Easier’ times . . .
• A Brit who lives down in Andalucia says that Gaucin is the Notting hill of Spain. I'm not sure that would cut it for me.   
• Here's what it might look like in a camino albergue for a while:-

• And here's María's Day 3 of our Adjusted normal.

The USA

• Fart on Kavanagh’s betrayal. 
• Fart on 7/11. 

Finally 

• I'm nearing the end of Woody Allen's autobiography, which is neither as interesting nor as funny as I'd hoped. Too much of a roll-call of people he's worked with over 75 years. Many of whom are unknown to me. And virtually all of whom he's been very impressed by, in one way or another. The stuff on Mad Mia is of interest, since I’ve know a similar personality.
• Right on cue comes an article in in the Spanish media on the chap who's always dubbed Woody Allen’s voice here. For obvious reasons, he's associated with - tarred by? - WA and has lost work because of it. Farcical, in more than one way.
•  

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

 Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . . . . .

• In some parts of Spain, the only thing worse than having no tourists is having Brits return to their favourite vomiting grounds
• Talking of the South . . . A Valencian gentleman earned €500,000 over 10 years as a civil servant by doing nothing more than clocking in and out of his office. El Mundo reported this and was sued by the guy for defamation. Successfully . . . But the Supreme Court has now reversed this ridiculous verdict of the Valencia court. Though there's no sign at all of the chap being prosecuted or being asked to repay any of the half million. 
• This morning I'm trying to pay the relevant tax ahead of a cita at 9 tomorrow to progress my TIE application. The relevant government site is not responding and is giving me the message You are not connected to the internet. As I plainly am, this presumably means that the site has a problem, not me. If I can't at least download the form to fill and take to a bank today, then my application won't be processed tomorrow and I'll have to return some time later. But, then, I expect this to happen anyway. Good job it's not remotely urgent.
• Here's what O Burgo bridge now looks like, with all the fences finally gone. I suspect the last hold-up is getting all the flashy ('world first') light system installed and operating:

• Here's María's Day 29 of our Adjusted normal. Those elections.

The EU

• Germany is going to be more European than ever, it says here. Good to know.

The USA

• Life imitating art. Or at least Private Eye . . .

Spanish

• As you all know, the V and the B are both pronounced as a B in Spanish. To make things even more complicated, Castillano and Gallego use different letters in some words. So the O Vao I mentioned yesterday is O Bao in Galician. Or Castillano. I'm never certain which way round it is. But what is clear is that the Castillian version - whether it's V or V - uses the Galician O in place of El. No wonder it's confusing.
• You might be able to access this article on the V v. B issue.

Finally 

• The word Dublin comes from the Gaelic Dubh Linn, literally Black Pool. And, as it happens, Dublin is virtually opposite the infamous Blackpool in England. Oddly, the modern Gaelic name for Dublin is Baile Atha Cliath. I believe the first word means Home but have no idea about the other 2.

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

 Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . . .

• There was another aspect of Saturday that I forgot to mention. Perhaps because it wasn’t really an irritation. Arrival time for the lunch guests was 1 to 2pm but the Spanish contingent - current and ex neighbours - arrived at 3. I’d expected this, of course, and wasn’t put out by it, having planned to serve up at that time . . .
• The good news is that my Kindle has been found, in my regular bar. And the duff filter machine still gives me coffee if I pour boiled water into the cone. And today might see the arrival of my daughter's Amazon package**. And the sun is still shining brightly. And the view over Pontevedra city from my large lounge window is still spectacular.
• The pastor of one of our nearby gypsy settlements has again insisted that they've all reformed and won't be selling any more drugs. These are the gypsies of Upper Vao, who distinguish themselves from the gypsies of nearby Lower Vao, who - they say - are the real drug traffickers. I imagine many readers of the Diario de Pontevedra will be sceptical. BTW . .  . I suspect the Lower Vao gypsies are the ones - it's said - who came originally from Portugal. 
• Here's María's Day 28 of our Adjusted normal. St Christopher processions. Or, rather, the absence of them. Is he the same as San Benito, I wonder. Or do they have adjacent feast days?
• Finally . . . News that you've all been waiting for . . . In yesterday's elections, the conservative Popular Party (PP) won its 4th consecutive majority, while the leftist Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) more than tripled its parliamentary presence to win 19 seats and become the region’s second-biggest force. The group overtook the Socialists(PSOE), who maintained their 14 seats. The left-wing Galicia en Común alliance, which is led by the far-left Podemos party and has been riven by infighting, was left without representation.

The Way of the World

• Twitter promises to police language and warns its users to avoid gendered pronouns. Another good reason for staying away from it. As if this were really necessary.

Quote of the Weekend

• According to a new book by a sociology professor: A failure by parents and schools to enforce boundaries has spawned a generation of “infantilised” millennials and fuelled identity politics. "Why Borders Matter" will probably appeal to a fair share of despairing older folk.

English

• New Word of the Week: 'To onboard': To take onboard. Another of those American neologisms which you initially hate, as being ugly, and then gradually get inured to. Like sentences ending with a proposition,

English/Spanish

• Another 3 refranes:- 

- Let's get things clear: Las cuentas claras hacen los buenos amigos.

- Lightning never strikes twice in the same place: No hay tempestad que mucho dure.

- Little strokes fell great oaks: Con paciencia y saliva, un elefante se tiró a una hormiga.

Finally 

• Said view . . .

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

** No. The current tracking advice is dated 6 July, advising of delay due to 'bad weather or natural disaster'.  A call to the number I cited the other day elicited copious apologies and the information that 'the carrier' accidentally lost the parcel'. Impressive. Not. This, of course, is the same company which initially tried 3 times in the same hour to deliver it and said it'd be returned to the UK. Possibly a euphemism.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

 Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . . .

• Amazon have still not delivered the packet for my daughter which was in a local depot 6 days ago. If she’s lucky, she’ll get it tomorrow, the ‘latest date’ quoted to her on Wednesday last. In real terms, I’m cynically sure, the planned date.
• Yesterday was one of those days in Spain when when one irritation comes hard on the heels of another. First thing, I discovered - ahead of planned shopping for a large lunch party - that the Supermarkets in Pontevedra were all closed. Because it was the - unheralded - feastday of a locally celebrated holy guy - St Bloody Benito. Luckily, these things are so mad that the supermarket on my (Poio) side of the bridge was open, as the municipalities have different saints to honour, by not working. So, my Dutch house-guest and I drove down to Carrefour, to find that most of Pontevedra had discovered it was the only place open. Not just a calvario but a pesadilla. I’ve never seen a supermarket so crowded, and keen motoring skills were necessary just to move around the place, trying to find things whose location I had no idea of. And then there was the long wait to get to the check-out, at which - after logging just 2 of my items - the girl turned to deal with a woman who’d come back to pay for some items at the side. At the end of which the latter demonstrated the lack of forethought which I often complain about, by asking - after she’d paid for her goods - Can I have a bag and do I have to pay for it? So, more delay while she fiddled in her purse for the 8 centimos. So busy was the place that not only were dozens of shoppers waiting to check out but there were also more than a hundred people queuing to go in, prior to which they’d each get gel sprayed on their hands. Mayhem in other words.
• And my Philips filter coffee machine stopped working, after less that 2 years. Dutch crap.
• And I can’t find my Kindle. 
• And the plumber has twice failed to come as promised to replace two cistern systems. 
• And the gate bell doesn’t work. 
• And the blind company I visited 3 weeks ago has yet to send someone to fix/replace the main blind downstairs. 
• All adding up to my version of María’s Adjusted Normal . . .
• Talking of which, here's Day 27 of this.

The USA/Finally . . .

• A Fart Feast here, here, here, here, and here. At least I think they all relate to The Great Crook. As YouTube keeps sending me an error message, I can’t check . . . Just another of yesterday’s irritations.

English/Spanish

• Another 3 refranes:- 

- Least said, soonest mended: Cuanto menos se diga, mejor/menos hay que rectificar.

- Let bygones be bygones: Borrón y cuenta nova. Lo pasado, pasado está.

- Let sleeping dogs lie: Mejor es no menearlo/Mejor no revolver as asunto.

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Life in Spain: What has changed this century?  

• Uncertainty/Arbitrariness: Having lived more than 8 years in the Middle and Far East before I came here, I was pretty familiar with these 2 constraints on both the production and the implementation of plans. But it didn't take long to discover that the Spanish not only have an aversion to planning but are proud of this, boasting of their - admittedly  brilliant - capacity for spontaneity.  Brilliant, no doubt, because they get a lot of practice at it.
• But, anyway, yesterday midday, my daughter and I polled up for the 12 o'clock cruise, to be told it'd been cancelled because the inspector had arrived late at the place along the coast where it'd been moored. Being as cynical as the average Spaniard, I wondered if this was the truth, or whether they'd just cancelled it because numbers were few. My daughter asked for more details so as to assure ourselves the later boat wouldn't be cancelled as well, and was told that it was on the way from its overnight place. Noticing an appropriate cruise Boat at the end of the pier, I also wondered if this was true.
• In fact, we did get the cruise at 1.30 and the boat we boarded did, indeed, only take on passengers from our pier in Combarro. And the cruise was very enjoyable, involving a bottle of albariño wine and the freshest steamed mussels I've ever had. But it's a good example of why I advise newcomers to lower their expectations and to always be prepared - with a book or magazine - for a long wait. Or even, as in this case, cancellation.
• P. S. Our IDs weren't requested . . . But the printed-out reservation confirmation was.
• The verdict: The Spanish still abhor planning.  And committing to something which might be outshone by a better option, come the day of the theoretical commitment.
• Attitude to risk:  Maria commented thus on yesterday’s theme: My husband is a construction worker, and he could give you stories of how they work without regard to safety that would make your hair stand on end. This has reminded me that Spain’s accidents and deaths at work used to be way above elsewhere.And might well still be.

Current Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . .

• It’s reported that Spain will recruit and deploy an extra 40,000 officers to police tourist places this summer. Doubtless armed with a battery of on-the-spot fines. Which they will apply as officiously as ever. Contrast the UK.
• Here's Marcia's Day 26 of our Adjusted Normal 
• Our cruise took us round the island of Tambo, where centuries ago there used to be a small chapel. But, as the guide informed us - without rancour - this had been destroyed by Francis Drake and his men. Drake - Draké in Spanish - was described by our guide as a someone regarded in the Hispanic world as a vicious pirate but as a hero in the Anglosphere. Which is not strictly true these days. The second bit, I mean. Anyway, the story goes that Drake’s men chucked a statue of one of Spain’s hundreds of virgin Marys into the sea, only for it to rise of its own accord after they’d sailed off to sack Vigo.

 The USA

• This is a thoughtful essay on the current state of affairs there - Trump has pulled the US apart. That doesn’t mean that Biden can beat him.

English/Spanish

• Another 3 refranes:- 

- It’s 6 of one and half a dozen of the other: Da lo mismo/Una cosa que otra.

- It’s the pot calling the kettle black: El que tiene un tejado de vidrio no tira piedras al de su vecino.

- Laughter is the best medicine: La risa es la mejor remedio.

Finally 

An interesting video on Belgium, courtesy of reader Perry.

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Life in Spain: What has changed this century?  

• Attitude to risk: When I first came here, I quickly noticed that Spain is a country of fewer 'precautions' than others. Most obviously a lack of fences on a mountainous viewpoint above the estuary of the river Miño.
• I first wrote on this subject - under the rubric of Rules - back in mid 2001: On a personal level, the Spanish have a somewhat existential approach to rules, whatever their provenance. If they think they are sensible, they will obey them. If they don’t, they won’t. The list of (‘irksome’) rules which are frequently ignored is a long one – the most obvious ones being drink drive regulations*, speed limits*, safety belt laws*, parking restrictions and health and safety provisions. On balance, I am comfortable with what I have decided is a very sensible and pragmatic approach to life, especially when the risk of facing a sanction is very low indeed. On the other hand, the flouting of safety regulations (when they are not mad) is clearly indefensible. Last week, for example, a young girl was gored by a bison in a local zoo, through a fence that probably doesn’t conform to EU requirements. Or possible even to pre-existing Spanish requirements. One rather doubts that her parents are currently considering suing the management of the zoo. I couldn’t help but notice on the TV news that the fence had not been modified in any way after the accident, even though it had naturally become the place to visit in Vigo. Especially for children.
• Verdict: Things have naturally moved in the direction of lower risk [e.g. * not now] but not to the extent of catching up with countries which are obsessed with reducing all risks to zero. Spain still has a more relaxed attitude to risk, but not as much as it did 19 years ago.  

Current Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . .

• Renfe has a new web page. Using it seems to be as annoying as with the last one. Yesterday, I entered Pontevedra in the Origin box and up came Santiago in it. Thrice! And when my daughter changed her return date for less than a euro, she was charged the full price for a new ticket and not sent an email from which to download it. Only a call to this number - (34) 912 320 320 - resolved the problem. Usefully, you can talk to someone in English on this, although they're clearly in India. And this is the Help page in English, if you need that.
• Papeleo: Today we're going on a short boat trip around the bay. I've received 3 emails in respect of this. One of them lists all the things I have to bring. Needless to say, this includes our respective IDs. You'd think we’ll be touring a secret nuclear facility, not just having a short boat trip. And WTF does it matter if someone other than me turns up for the ride, armed with my downloaded ticket?
• Here's María's Day 25 of our Adjusted Normal - Stocking up.

The EU

• If you're really, really interested in how the British government - as a result of French duplicity and chicanery in a ‘predatory stitch up’ - gave away the UK's fishing industry and lied to the public about this, see here and here.

The USA

• Quote of the week: The American Christian conservative movement has descended into squalor, rage, selfishness, and hypocrisy.  Members have debased themselves in electing a faithless serial adulterer, alleged rapist and compulsive liar. Sounds about right to me.

The Way of the World

• Says Ambrose Evans Pritchard, optimistically: Britain should not quake before Xi Jinping: China has already peaked and faces economic stagnation. . .  China is starting to pay the exorbitant price for its wolf warrior diplomacy. . . The abdication of global leadership under Donald Trump is no more than a momentary spasm in American history. The US will swing back to normality. The world will find that American soft power is alive and well, while Xi Jinping will find that his strategy of picking off nations one by one is leading his country into a cul-de-sac. . . . If the democracies bide their time and hold together, China will eventually settle down and accept that it too is a graying status quo nation and perhaps even that its bid for global supremacy is going nowhere.  

English/Spanish

• Another 3 refranes:- 

- It's more blessed to give than to receive: Hay mas felicidad en dar que recibir.

- It's no crime to steal from a thief: El que roba a un ladrón tiene cien años de perdón.

- It's not the end of the world: Más se perdió en Cuba.

Finally 

• In his autobiography, Woody Allen says that Oviedo is A beautiful city, a little paradise. There’s a lovely bronze statue of him there, of which he writes: Nobody asked for my opinion or informed me. They just put it up. I would love to say that I did something noble and brave in Oviedo to deserve this honor, but I did little more than visiting the city, rolling around a bit, walking through its streets and enjoying its wonderful climate. He must have gone on a day when it wasn't raining. Of course, the statue might not be there for much longer.
• As a priest of the same, I'm happy to note that the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is said to be the world's fastest growing religion. 

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Current Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . .   

• It’s reported that Beach surveillance officers registered over 26,000 incidents during the first weekend of July in Andalucia. And that: 55 beaches in Andalucia were forced to close over the first weekend, after reaching maximum capacity. This left me wondering how many arrests were made and how many issued to the thousands who clogged British beaches a week or so ago. Quite possibly none. With people simply being politely asked to ‘Move along, please’.
• My new TIE: Well, I got through to a nice lady at the comisaría at 11 yesterday, after calling many times after 9. And now I have a cita for next Wednesday and a couple of downloaded forms. One of these is the tax form (Modelo 790) and the other is the application form (Ex-23). Needless to say, the latter calls for the names of my parents and also cites several documents I have to take. This is despite the fact that immediately after I gave the nice lady my NIE she identified me on her computer, confirming that they know all about me and don’t really need all the data again. But, then, we all know that the introduction of computerisation hasn’t reduced the amount of paper in Spain. Possibly the opposite. Hence the continued relevance of the word papeleo. Which is defined as by the Royal Academy as: Excessive processes in the resolution of a subject. And translated as ‘paperwork’ or ‘red tape’.
• Incidentally, a reader has kindly suggest it’s possible to get a cita on line. And this might just be the internet page you need.
• Yesterday I went to a perfumaría to look for a particular cream. During the 5 minutes or so I scanned the shelves, the shop assistant maintained a conversation on her phone. From the tone and laughter, I guessed this wasn’t her boss. So I walked out and went elsewhere for the cream. She clearly couldn’t have cared less about the loss of my custom. This is not an infrequent occurrence in Spain and very possibly a Spaniard would simply have interrupted her conversation to ask a question. It rather supports my contention that there’s little that’s more important in Spain than chatting with one’s friends. And also my other contention that the customer is still not king in Spain.
• Far be it from me to spread a rumour but I was told last night that it’s a secret that the Galician government - the Xunta - is planning to impose another lockdown on the region. Just a week before I make ta rip to the Netherlands. But I guess there are worse places to be stuck in.
• Which reminds me . . . We have a regional election coming up. Covid permitting. The press is full of stuff on this and there are election posters everywhere. Doubtless we’ll soon have the van going round regurgitating exhortations on a loop. All very boring. Especially as there’s only a snowball’s chance in hell of this conservative region not putting the right-of-centre PP party back in power.
• María’s chronicle of our Adjusted Normal Day 24, where she touches on our politics.

The USA

• Trump's fake culture war is now all he has left: With the US economy in the toilet, 'Keep America Great' no longer makes quite such a brilliant slogan.
• In a rare public rebuke, Dr Fauci has that President Trump’s claim that 99% per cent of coronavirus cases were “totally harmless” was “unfortunate”.

English/Spanish

• Three more refranes:-

- It’s just a question of putting 2 and 2 together: Por el hilo se saca el ovillo.

- It’s like talking to a brick wall: Es Como hablar a la pared.

- It’s like water off a duck’s back: Como quien oye llover.

Finally . . . 

• This is said to be the worst picture ever painted, by Watteau. A maid giving an enema to her mistress . . . .

 * A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Life in Spain: What has changed this century?  

• Another long re-post, of something I wrote in mid-2001, after I’d lived here for a mere 9 months. On the subject of Bureaucracy:-

The ugly sisters of bureaucracy and inefficiency

There are two negative aspects of life which hit you very quickly when you take up residence in Spain - bureaucracy and inefficiency. Of course, these are connected, in that a bureaucrat must be inefficient if he is to achieve his sole objective of retaining and expanding his job. But inefficiency in Spain ranges far beyond the boundaries of government offices and State monopolies. There simply seems to be the absence of a belief that efficiency is a good thing. The impression gained is that it is actually regarded with suspicion, as something which threatens Spanish culture.

I can’t say what it’s like to seek residence in the UK but I do know how easy it is to arrange connection to the electricity, gas or phone suppliers. Here, these take hours of your time, a good deal of leg work and small forests of paper. The goals of all this appear to be, firstly, to ensure continued employment for the less-than-friendly-and-helpful ‘functionaries’ with whom you have to deal and, secondly, to totally eradicate the possibility of risk for the suppliers.

The most obvious visible evidence of all this bureaucracy is the photocopying shops (‘copisterías’) which one finds on almost every street corner. Or sometimes all in a row. These all possess the most impressive machines and appear to be the busiest (and conceivably speediest and most efficient) places in Spain. Certainly one of the cheapest, reflecting the volumes of paper with which they deal. Then there are the numerous express photo shops, who will provide you very cheaply with the endless copies of your picture that you need.

Another reflection of the complexity that results from untrammelled bureaucracy is the existence of ‘gestorías’. These are high-street offices whose sole purpose appears to be to help you through the interstices of the Spanish system. To shine a torch where there are only darkness and dead ends, not just for you and me but also for millions of Spaniards. They seem to be a cross between a solicitor, a tax accountant, an insurance agent and the Citizens’ Advice Bureau. Needless to say, these are the last people in Spain who are going to rail against bureaucracy and inefficiency, even if they seek and achieve the latter themselves. Which, naturally, they don’t.

Then there is the ‘notario’, (the notary), who is there to put his stamp on such things as your property purchase contract. The nice thing about this is that he serves as an agent of the State, acting for both parties and ensuring that legal niceties are observed. Even so, it is usually the buyer who pays all the fees. Of course, if the State didn’t insist on his existence and involvement, nobody would have to pay him.

As well as the notario, there is the asesoria. This seems to do for companies what the notario does for private individuals but I couldn’t swear to that. I only know that my British friends with language schools here (always called ‘academies’), spit when they have to use the word.

Finally, there is the need to carry your identity card with you at all times and to quote your tax number for a variety of transactions, including connecting to each the five utility companies you will have to deal with. I  have never been anywhere in the world where my identity has had to be proved so often when using a credit or debit card - including each visit to the supermarket. And I refuse to believe the standard line that it is all for my benefit.

The most puzzling aspect of all this is that everyone seems to tolerate it with complete equanimity.  No-one seems to question whether things couldn’t be done more efficiently. Or whether things should be done at all. I seem to be the only person in my street who finds it amusing but odd that the mayor of my local district should send me a personally signed and stamped confirmation that I am connected to the water company. And no-one in Spain appears to have realised that there is an alternative to the frustrating system of multiple, separate queues in banks and post offices. As I say, it’s as if they believe that introducing the efficient single queuing system prevalent in other countries would strike at the very soul of Spanish culture. The thin end of the wedge. And maybe they are right. Certainly, if efficiency became the totem it is elsewhere, it would create a rip in the fabric of Spanish society that could well grow quickly. I suppose the real question is how long – in a competitive world – can they hold out against the god of efficiency? Maybe they have already given up in Madrid and Barcelona.

Meanwhile, I love to provoke the look of complete bewilderment on the faces of people when I tell them that nobody carries proof of identity in the UK and that no-one there seeks it when credit cards are presented. This is quite simply beyond their comprehension, so inured are they to the way things are done here.  

The verdict: I don’t think much has changed. In fact, for Brits things got worse with the abolition of our tarjeta de residencia and its replacement by a paper certificate, useless because it’s sans foto.  The upshot of this was that for several years we’ve had to carry either at least a Spanish driving licence or, worse, a passport at all times. 

BUT . .  relief is on the way . . . See below. 

AND . .  . There’s now sensible queuing in most offices. 

En passant, I’ve found the (unavoidable) notaries to be among the most inefficient people in Spain. Or some of them, at least. With 2 or 3 things I’ve had to do, I’ve needed to make several trips before getting what I wanted. I guess they don’t have to try very hard, it being compulsory to use them for so much.

Current Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . .   

• As of this week, we cardless Brits resident here can apply for a new Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero (TIE), just for us. And it’ll carry the necessary foto.
• But, as of this morning, no one is answering the number at the offices (the Comisaría) where I need to make an appointment to get an application form.
• My daughter was advised yesterday morning that her package had arrived late at night on Monday in a depot in the nearby town of Porriño and would be delivered by 6pm last night. It wasn’t. And the advice from Amazon was that was because of ‘bad weather or a natural disaster’. The local news stations seem not to have heard of either of these. And it was one of our warmest, sunniest days yet.**
• María’s chronicle of our Adjusted Normal Day 23.

That's the lot for today, folks. I'm clocking off now as Grandparent duties are calling again . . .  

Plus I need to keep calling the bloody Comisaría every 5 minutes. No use going there to talk to try to talk to someone about an appointment. I tried that on something else a couple of weeks ago for something else and was sent home by the police on the door with a flea in my ear.

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

** The book was originally due to be delivered on  3rd July. And then yesterday, the 7th. Amazon have just told my daughter it'll arrive 'by the 12th'. The excuse is now 'Covid'. Which we thought had boosted Amazon's business. We could drive to Porriño to pick it up within 30 minutes!

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

Life in Spain: What has changed this century?  

Racism: Are the Spanish racist? They certainly don't think so but the Dutch author Vernon Werner certainly thinks they are. Right on cue comes this article from The Local, headlined Spain is not the US but it is in denial about racism. And then there was this El Pais article as well yesterday. As for my posts on this subject . . . Here are the earliest I can trace, from 2004:-

August 2004: It's frequently said that the Spanish are not racist but that they detest gypsies. To be honest, it’s easy to understand this. As I was crossing the bridge today, a mother with a wheelbarrow full of detritus collected from the town’s rubbish bins was encouraging her two young kids to toss large chunks of it into the river below. Saying anything on these occasions risks later retaliation, my Spanish friends insist. But I could not stay quiet and so remonstrated with the mother. However, in what I like to think was sagacious and judicious compromise, I made my comments in English. In truth, the Spanish probably would be more racist if the immigrants already here were spread more widely throughout the country. On the other hand, the almost-daily reports of drowned Africans who didn’t make it alive it to the Spanish coast surely provoke at least a degree of compassion.

October 2004: Meanwhile, the soccer race row rumbles on. Today’s papers report that only one Spanish journal and one brave person in the ‘football community’ have rejected the coach’s defence that he is not racist and that his comments were just a bit of fun. The captain of the Spanish team has gone even further and said that anyone who thinks the coach is a racist must be mad. This view is endorsed by the outraged sport commentators who point out that, whereas the French press has been quite muted, the British tabloid press has been rabid on the subject. Since these are known to be scabrous organs, they must be wrong, so what’s all the fuss? I never thought I would be siding with the British tabloid press, on the one hand, and sympathetic to political correctness, on the other, but ... hang on a minute!

November 2004: Different cultures, different perceptions. Some observations on the clash last night between England and Spain:-

While the UK media regard the main issue as the racism displayed both before and during the game - by the trainer and the crowd respectively - this is a non-issue for 90% of their Spanish counterparts. The main take for them was the abject performance of the England team and the clear superiority of the Spanish eleven. The main subordinate issue was the madness of Rooney. Indeed, one paper went so far as to award the highest performance marks to the English trainer for taking Rooney off before he self-combusted.

One reason for this dichotomy is that the [rather more serious] Spanish media despise the UK tabloid press and regard any issue of importance to them as ‘sensationalist’. Their gut instinct is to reject it out of hand. One feels some sympathy for this, generally speaking.

Another, rather more serious, reason is that Spain appears to be now where the UK was about 30 years ago in terms of attitude to racial taunts and empathy with their effect. Here, a very acceptable defence to any suggestion of insult runs along the lines of – “It was all in good humour. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Don’t get upset….. Now you’re being hypersensitive and obsessive”. This helps to explain why both the Spanish trainer and the local media can’t understand why anyone reacted to him calling Henry “a shit of a nigger’. And why they were even more nonplussed about the entire UK media dismissing him as beyond the pale for later saying ‘I have black players round to dinner. They tell me there is racism in the UK whereas there is none here. And I know how the British treated people in their colonies.” As far as almost everyone in Spain is concerned, it was more than enough for him to say “Hey, it was all a bit of joke about Henry, to motivate my players. Let’s forget about it”. So, to keep on asking him questions smacks of a vicious witch hunt.

With the honourable exception of the left-of-centre El Pais, none of the national or local papers reported or commented on the disgraceful monkey-chanting of last night’s match. However, all the papers did report that the UK Football Association had formally complained to the international football authorities about the same thing at the previous night’s match between the junior teams. This was too much for both the ‘Presidents’ of the two stadiums, each of whom denied that there had been any racist chanting at all. Maybe they will change their mind when they listen to the soundtrack of the games. Or perhaps their lawyers have told them that making monkey grunts every time a black player touches the ball doesn’t technically qualify as racist chanting, unless a monkey is the claimant.

To bring this sad blog to a close, perhaps the wisest thing said about the affair was that both the dire quality of English football and the appalling behaviour of the Spanish fans should ensure that it will be a long, long time before they play each other in another ‘friendly’ match.

Verdicts:-

1. Racism:  Not much change, I suspect.

2. Prostitution: Ditto. Even if at least 1 of the 3 brothels in my barrio -  and 1 up in the hills 16km from the city - have closed.

Current Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . .   

• Here's María's Day 22 of her chronicle of our Adjusted Normal.

That's a lot for today, folks. So, I'm clocking off now . . . Grandparent duties call.

Except for this beautiful foto of an insect caught in amber billions of years ago . . .

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain’* 

Life in Spain: What has changed this century? 

• Prostitution. Another large, complex subject which I’ve often cited as a shameful blight on Spain. Essentially, you can’t avoid it here. Every city, town and even village has at least one brothel - usually in its outskirts. They used to be called American Bars but these days it’s Clubs(Cloobs). And you really can’t miss their neon lights - usually pink or purple - and sometimes the large depictions of virtually naked women, also in lights. What the industry is based on, of course, is the large-scale trafficking of women from Africa, Eastern Europe and South America. There are said to be far more prostitutes in Spain than in Germany, which has double the population. The legal situation, I think, is that - as in the UK - prostitution itself is not illegal but that standard aspects of its institutionalised provision certainly are. Such as ‘hiring’ rooms to women with no papers. Brothels are regularly raided only to re-open again - sometimes under a new name, such as Working Girls - a few months later. Something of a game, then. 
• Anyway, here are my earliest posts on the contentious subject, both of January 2004:-

-  It says in one of the local papers today that there are 8,000 prostitutes in Galicia. The article conjectures that each of them turns an average of 2 tricks a day at a unit price of 60 Euros. This means, says the paper, that almost 350m Euros a year is being lost to the taxman. I am struggling to understand this. It’s not the maths; that’s quite easy. It’s the concept that the tax authorities can’t get to grips, as it were, with the business. For, at the back of each local newspaper – just after the heavily religious ‘gravestone’ reminders of the illustrious dead – there are 2 to 3 pages of ads which leave nothing to the imagination. Including the name, address and phone numbers of the establishments offering a bewilderingly wide range of services. And then there are the pink-lit, roadside places [with discreet parking and names like ‘Venus’] which have the word CLUB in 5 metre neon-lighting on the roof. This, as we all know, is short for ‘puti club’ – puti being a corruption of the Spanish for whore, puta. So, you’d have to be a particularly dense taxman not to know where this ‘missing’ revenue is being generated. But perhaps there is a another explanation.

- A high court in Andalucia yesterday pronounced that the owner of a brothel was obliged to include his employees in the social security system and, thus, pay taxes on their income. The judges made an analogy with illegal immigrant labourers and so the inference to be drawn is that brothel owners have this obligation even though prostitution itself is [was then?] against the law. Three of the twelve judges went out on a limb and said they had misgivings about the brothel owner being able to dictate working hours [and practices?] to female employees. I wonder whether he will be similarly liable for accidents at work, whatever these might include. Pregnancy, for example. The mind boggles.

Current Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . .   

• The London Times comes to Galicia, in  the context of the rich, powerful and very greedy Franco family. See the article below.
• María's Day 21 of her chronicle of her Adjusted Normal. A dilemma.

The USA

• An interesting open letter from a Spaniard to his American friends
• Trump re-mixes his Independence Day speech.

Quote of the Week

• Don't scorn languages. It's the polyglots who prosper

Social Media

English

• New Word of the Week: To chaffer: To haggle about the terms of an agreement or price of something.

English/Spanish

• Firstly I need to explain that yesterday’s ‘also’ should have been ‘clad’, as in Al que no quiera(e) caldo, siete tazas. I have real problems with Spanish words into English ones. I usually manage to change them all back but missed this 
• Another 3 refranes:-  

- It’s a small world: !Que pequeño es el mundo!/El mundo es un pañuelo.

- It’s as broad as it’s long: Tanto monta, manta tanto/Isabel como Fernando.

- It’s his/her own lookout/Tough luck!: Con su pan se lo coma.

Finally 

• Peter Skellern was one of my favourite performers and here’s one of his best songs - You're a lady. And here, discovered last night, is a nice Spanish version. Como siempre.

THE ARTICLE

Family and Spain vie for Franco’s palace: Alasdair Fotheringham, Times

Franco’s heirs will clash with the Spanish state in court this week over the Fascist dictator’s summer residence, which the socialist government says was obtained by fraudulent means. The mock medieval Meiras palace in northwestern Galicia was built at the end of the 19th century by the family of Emilia Pardo Bazán, a writer, and bought by an association of Franco supporters in 1938, during the civil war.

The government claims to own the palace, arguing that Franco’s purchase was illegal. Its lawyers are expected to argue that the funds used to buy the palace were extorted from local workers in the form of “voluntary” donations from their pay. They will also claim that when the building was bought by Franco in 1941, at a fifth of the 1938 price and three years after his wife, Carmen Polo, had begun renovating the palace, the bill of sale was fraudulent.

The Meirás palace, in the small village of Sada, was used by Franco’s descendants as a summer residence after the general’s death in 1975. After Carmen Polo, who was given the title “Lady of Meiras” by King Juan Carlos, died it went on sale two years ago for €8 million. It is now run by the Francisco Franco National Foundation and is open for limited visits by the public after the regional government declared it to be a building of cultural interest.

One of the government’s arguments as to why the property belongs to the state was that until 1990 it was protected by the civil guard.

The controversy has generated a book, Meirás: a Palace, a Warlord, a Plunder. The co-authors, Carlos Babío Urkidi and Manuel Pérez Lorenzo, who also produced a report on building works inside the palace grounds, will be witnesses in the trial.

The socialist government has already clashed with Franco’s family after ordering the exhumation of the dictator’s remains from the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum.

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain’* 

Life in Spain: What has changed this century? 

• Culture: Spanish culture is far too big and complex a theme for me to make any other generalisation than one I’ve made several times over the years - it’s the best of the 6 I’ve lived in. Though I’ve always added the rider that this is the comment of someone who retired ‘early’. I’m not so sure I’d be anywhere near as happy to have worked here and experienced the negative aspects of Spanish culture that I’ve touched on from time to time. Anyway, here and here are a couple of posts from back when this blog was far more observational than it is these days.
• Tomorrow - Prostitution . . .

Current Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . .   

• These plastic bollards are ubiquitous in and around Pontevedra city:-

But wherever they are, they share one characteristic . . .  several of them are either listing or horizontal. In fact, I hit one in the underground carpark of Mercadona supermarket last night. Where, incidentally, an employee told me she’d never heard of vino de Jerez. So obviously couldn’t tell me where it was in the booze aisle. But I found it.

• María’s Day 20 of her chronicle of our Adjusted Normal. The part(ies) continue. As per Omar Khyam: Tomorrow? Why, tomorrow I may be myself with yesterday’s seven thousand years.

The USA

• Kanye West is to run for president. Well, after a stupid, narcissistic, crooked ‘celebrity’, why not a clown rapper, known best for his love of huge arses? Donald Trump, for example.
• Meanwhile, US Covid deaths per million have reached 400 and will overtake France’s 458 within the next 2 weeks. Rising to 4th in the global ranks.

English/Spanish

• Another 3 refranes:-  

- It never rains but pours: Al que no quiera(e) caldo, siete tazas.

- It makes no difference: Tanto monta, monta tanto.

- It’s a question of swings and roundabouts: Lo que se pierde en casa se gana en otra.

Finally . . 

• Below is a fascinating article on the impact of hormones - and their cessation - on what were traditionally called ‘women’. No idea what the correct term is these days.
• Last night’s supermoon (I think), rising and risen

THE ARTICLE

Caitlin Moran: Me, drugs and the peri-menopause: Goodbye, nice, jolly, happy Caitlin. Hello, angry Caitlin

When you’re dealing with the menopause, or perimenopause, it’s useful, I think, if you’ve “done some drugs” in your life. I know this runs counter to what is still, societally, our conception of the menopause – something that happened in 1962 to Ena Sharples, which she referenced only by mouthing “troubles down below” to Minnie Caldwell – but, as the acid house generation now begins its own voyage into ovarian cessation, I feel we are better equipped to deal with it, simply because of all the drugs we took.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a while. The last time I got spliffed up on some hash or weed, or dropped a wobbly egg (I think these are the terminologies; it’s been a long time), it was 1997 and still acceptable to wear bootcut jeans. But I can still remember what a comedown was like. The day after doing Ecstasy, when you can feel the drugs leaving your body, hour by hour, and the list of things that you felt inclined to do last night – dance, talk, laugh, jump off a wall because it was funny, kiss and hug people, shout, “I LOVE YOU!” at strangers, because, in that moment, you really do – gradually gets smaller and smaller, until you want to do none of those things any more

Now, all you want to do is curl up in a ball and concentrate on feeling terrible. You enter a phase of regret. Your synapses, having been bathed previously in lovely, warm, syrupy rushes of serotonin, have now run out of serotonin and all that’s left is cortisol and adrenaline. You might feel a bit angry. You definitely feel woeful. Why is everything so awful now? Have you wasted your entire weekend? Christ, everything feels so effortful. Why must there be a bad bit? Why does the world look so bleak? Everyone loved you when you were a happy, dancing lady. But no one wants to go near the sad, crying woman now. She keeps talking about how doomed the planet is. She’s no fun any more.

And, as with the payback for two days of Rhubarb & Custards, so with the payback for fertility. As I have realised with my ongoing reproductive shutdown, the main thing that’s happening is: you’re not on drugs any more. Since the age of 13, when my ovaries cranked into action, I have been regularly bathed in oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone. You can wikipedia what these hormones/drugs do – and their functions are many, varied and amazing – but now my body is essentially running out of them, I can tell you what their primary effect is. They make you a bit stoned and lovely. That’s my scientific analysis. The hormones of a fertile woman just make you… nicer. All those gendered clichés about women – that we’re kinder, gentler, more patient, more encouraging, more self-sacrificing – that’s because we’re kind of high on nature’s sexy Valium. We’re all a little bit off our actual tits. We’re pleasant company. You like hanging out with us.

When you are of childbearing age, it’s sensible that your hormones make you generally forgiving because small children are, quite regularly, terrible people, and keeping Mummy just a little bit tipsy and philosophical on shots of warm oestrogen prevents many, many children from being told, “Go to your room and don’t come out again until you’re 18.” And, as with dealing with the constant low-level ass-hattery of small children, so with being able to deal with the constant low-level ass-hattery of bad bosses, thoughtless partners, needy friends and society itself.

Ah, everyone’s trying their best, you will think, as your ovaries pump out those feel-good hormones. I’m sure things will get better, in time. I’ll just calmly fold up and put away all these tiny socks and booties and put on a pie, and by the time I’ve finished, I’m sure the world will be smashing.

However, as your perimenopause gathers pace, you experience what I can only describe as increasing sobriety. The hormones disappear and you don’t feel drunk any more. A fertile woman’s life is Friday night, 8pm. A peri or menopausal woman’s life feels like Sunday morning, 11am.

Suddenly, the poor behaviour of other adults comes sharply into focus, as you deal with your hormonal hangover. You don’t have any “lady forgiveness” left in the tank. You don’t continue to presume that things will “just get better, in time” because you’re now in your forties, or fifties, and can see they haven’t. You’vechanged, massively. Your body’s turning into an entirely new thing, but the things that felt unjust when you were 17 are still here at 45 and you start to realise the monolithic things you’re up against. The pay gap. The career slip involved in having children. The second shift. Emotional labour. Sandwich caring. The gender imbalance in politics and business.

You’re still trying to feel proud of your decision to spend your years keeping the house nice, supporting others, baking and cleaning and feeding and smoothing over difficult situations, but you’re starting to realise there’s no medal for all of this. No one was keeping count. You can’t cash in any aspect of those thousands of hours in exchange for social status, increased job prospects, shares or early retirement – the things the men in your peer group are starting to enjoy.

Like someone in the midst of a regretful and anxious hangover, you start to ask yourself: have I made a fool of myself? Have I wasted my time? While I was drunk, did I… did I make a mistake? Would I have led the life I did if I’d been… clean? You start to feel fearful that you have made unwise decisions. And scared people get angry. Menopausal women, now suddenly sober, get angry.

Of course, this is the cliché of the suddenly furious menopausal battleaxe, that somehow the menopause has “made her angry”.

No. It’s that the menopause has stopped her being so blithe and forgiving. It’s uncovered her actual personality and thoughts, underneath all the hormones. This is a very important distinction.

Female anger (and rage) is fascinating. Because it is largely absent in young women, it’s presumed that it’s unfemale, something women will never do. If an older woman gets angry, people often react as if there’s something temporarily wrong with her – “Calm down, dear”; “Someone’s having a moment”; “Is the HRT wearing off?” – rather than realising the truth, that this is who she is now. Older women, as the months and years go on and their hormones dwindle ever more, settle in to their newfound anger and realise it will be a permanent part of who they are now.

Men, of course, not having been bathed in oestrogen, have had their anger all their lives and so are used to it. For a menopausal woman, though, it’s a new experience. At first, we struggle to deal with it. It’s almost like being a teenager, but in your late forties. You are suddenly dealing with massive waves of negative emotion on a scale you’ve never experienced before and you can be a little ungracious as you learn to handle it. For those around you, it’s disconcerting to find a previously placid woman suddenly raging about shit she was fine with two years ago and demanding change. These can be years of great upheaval in nuclear families: teenage children whispering, “Mum’s turned into a total bitch,” husbands distressed by their wives suddenly shouting about equality and feminism and “everything being different from now on”.

You don’t want to run a household any more. You don’t want to be endlessly encouraging, loving and kind. Who, when sober, does? You meet up with your coven of similarly menopausal friends, all of you stoking each other’s fires of outrage and talking about how you will spend the next 30 years of your life, not in service to others any more, not doing the invisible work that is taken for granted. You are, as you head slowly towards your pension, rebelling.

Yes, you are having a midlife crisis. Yes, all of this is underpinned by a growing awareness of mortality, of being more than halfway to the grave.

If I finished this column here, it might end on a slightly discordant note. Without context, it looks, just a little, like middle-aged women regretting their previous 20 or 30 years and wanting to start again. But what we have to remember is that men have midlife crises too – and what do they do, around this age? What do we observe as normal for men? Well, their midlife crisis is either to relive their adolescence again – the motorbike, the tattoo – or to have their thirties and forties again by remarrying a younger, still oestrogen-drunk woman, having a second family and posting things on Instagram like, “It’s sweeter the second time around.” Men don’t have a distinct, separate third act. Largely unchanging in their hormonal set-up from birth to grave, they tend either to repeat the first or second act again.

Women, however, unable to repeat their second act because their fertility has ended, have to work out a new third act. Physically and emotionally, we are something else and so our third acts tend to see the formation of entirely new lives. We get into hillwalking. We found charities. We start meditating. We garden. We get PhDs. We learn to tango. We start our own businesses. We get involved in campaigning. We buy a lot of wind chimes and put them up in the garden, despite the fact the neighbours hate them.

What we do, in fact, looks a lot like what people who’ve successfully completed rehab do.

Please don’t get me wrong. We feel protective and loving towards all those young women out there who are still high on oestrogen. There is no looking down on them, because we were, inescapably, them and, in time, they will be, inescapably, us. But this third act – angry when we need to be, sober, new – feels like there’s no comedown at the end of it.

In fact, if it were possible, I’d sell it to you, outside clubs, for £20 a pop.

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain’*- after exists - 

 Life in Spain: What has changed this century? 

• English teaching/speaking: When I came in 2000, I was frequently told how poor both of these were in Spain, or at least Galicia - thanks, in large part, to a traditional emphasis on grammar and an almost complete avoidance of conversation practice. Though there were unos listenings. Or ‘dictations’ as we actually call them. (I recall visiting a new School of Languages in Vilagarcia around 2005 and being told the up-to-date language lab wasn’t in use). The first thing I seem to have written on this theme was in January 2004: Elections Nonsense: The socialist opposition party, the PSOE, have said that they will ensure bi-lingual teaching [Spanish and English] in all state schools if they are elected. Thirty per cent of lessons will be given in English, with the local teachers backed up by a phalanx of native speakers from the UK and USA. In order to achieve this, the school day will be extended. Thus, in one fell swoop, the PSOE has lost the support of one of its most reliable constituencies, the less-than-taxed teaching profession. Brilliant. Especially as no one normally believes electoral promises here.  

• I seem to recall President Zapatero promising that schools would be swamped with 200,000 native-speakers as teaching assistants. This never happened, of course, but - judging by the volume of American, Australian and Irish accents around me these days - mostly young females - I conclude that a fair few did come in the end. And, in the process, enormously increased the supply of private English teachers on the market. Which has had the result of keeping the cost at the same level - max €15 an hour - which it was 19 years ago. Or about half in real terms. Useful for beer money but - unless you can find a profitable niche - not enough to keep you in much else.

Current Life in Spain: Living La Vida Loca . .   

• As promised, taxes and handouts will be rising. The Local: Spain is to hike taxes to offset the impact of the coronavirus crisis. President Sánchez also pledged €9 billion for Spain's regions to reinforce the public health system, which was stretched to the maximum by the epidemic.
• Our officious traffic police are about to become even more zealous, it says here.
• María’s chronicle of our Adjusted Normal Day 19.
• The Movistar/O2 saga: An irony and an oddity: 1. When I called Movistar re the fault last Saturday morning, I had to give my fixed line number 3 or 4 times. Because - said the woman at the other end - the line was bad. . . .  2. Yesterday I received the inevitable machine call asking me to rate Movistar’s performance. As I was trying to switch to loudspeaker, I heard the computer thank me for my feedback. Which can only have been the wind and/or my (unintended) heavy breathing. 

The USA

• A preview of Fart's Mount Rushmore speech.

The Way of the World

• Another interesting view from the Scottish iconoclast, Effie Deans.

 Spanish/English

• Another 3 refranes:-  

- Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: El major halago es que le imiten a uno.

- In for a penny, in for a pound: Ya que estamos en el baile, bailemos. 

- It just makes things worse: Es peor el remedio que la enfermedad.

Finally 

• Caitlin Moran: Daisy May Cooper has said that her daughter had told her ‘I’ve got a present for you’ and took her to the garden shed. Where her daughter had done a poo on the floor and put a tiny Union Jack flag in it. Cooper’s daughter is 2. It’s good to see she’ll be winning the Turner prize by 2025 at the latest.
• I might be ‘a bit nervous in the Fanny way’ turned out to be a rendering of ‘a bit nervous in a funny way’.

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain’*- after exists - 

Life in Spain: What has changed

• Education: My first comment on this seems to have been in June 2004: There are now British levels of rancour and chaos in the Spanish education world, resulting from the new government’s decision to suspend a keynote reform of the last administration. This was called the Law of Quality and it was designed to improve university education. But it also strengthened the position of religious instruction in the curriculum and the rather more secular new government takes exception to this. The uncertainty that now surrounds this subject has been exacerbated by the refusal of at least one Autonomous Community [Madrid] to take any notice of the suspension of the law. A complete mare’s nest, then. Stuff the kids. 
• Verdict: One of the problems in talking about this is that it's a devolved matter, meaning policies can differ between Spain's 17 region's (Autonomous Communities), especially if there's a local language, such as Basque, Catalán/Valenciano or Gallego. But there are national edicts and every new government seems to bring one in. I can't really say what the current one is but I can say that concern is as great as ever that a higher percentage of Spanish kids drop out of school/college than elsewhere, and that Spain doesn't do well on the PSA annual international tests. So much for the changing national policies, then.

Current Life in Spain  

• Depending on how you look at things, this large and sparsely populated country is among the most densely populated in Europe. It says here.
• This is a powerful article on the residual influence of Frncoists in today’s Spain. Taster: For Spain, the consequences of fascism’s victory still live on, in power relations and structural inequalities that plague the country to this day.
• María’s Adjusted Normal, Day 18. To mask to not to mask?
• I clocked this terrifying warning on the gate of a restaurant in my barrio. Can it really be genuine?
• 

Maybe the owners are Francoists. And Vox supporters  . . . And maybe they could use a spellcheck.

The USA

• I mentioned a high level of religiosity. This video from a nicely-spoken - and possibly well-educated - imbecile needs to be seen to be believed. Abject bloody nonsense.
• Speaking of cretins . . .

English/Spanish

• My banker has postponed a meeting scheduled for this morning on the grounds that - with my daughter et al arriving midday - I might be ‘a bit nervous in the Fanny way’. I’m still waiting for a translation, but I assume predictive text is responsible. 

Finally 

• Does everyone know about Google’s reverse image search function, via which you can check if someone's foto is now being used for nefarious purposes?
• As the ex owner of 3 border collies, this made me laugh . . .

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain’*- after exists - 

Life in Spain: What has changed?

• Corruption: According to a recent article (HT to Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas): The annual amount of corruption in our country is estimated at 90 billion euros, or €2,000 per citizen, but the means are not in place to end it.
• Fun: Is this still the superordinate goal of Spaniards? I think so. Especially after 3 months of its suppression.

Life in Spain  

• El Pais here talks of the unreliability of Spanish data re the virus. Disturbing.
• Better news here, if you bought a Spanish property off-plan and haven’t been able to get your deposit back from the developers.
• Surprising to read that the current left wing government has used the infamous 'gag law' even more that the right wing  government which introduced it. But I guess the virus has played a part in this, in helping the various officious police forces I’ve labelled ‘officious’.
• Modern slavery down South.
• Trivia: I was wrong about the pelican crossing near the bridge. At least at certain times of the day - it seems - the previous system of conflicting signals for drivers and pedestrians is still in operation. Forcing me to stay alert.

The USA

• According to officials who listened in, President Trump tried to bully female leaders of US allies while seeking approval from President Putin in “delusional” phone calls. Trump called Angela Merkel “stupid” and Theresa May “a fool” over Brexit. In contrast, to Mr Putin he talked mainly about himself, emphasising how much smarter he was than the “weaklings” who held the presidency before him.
• A broad alliance of American conservatives is putting pressure on President Trump to wear a mask in public to convince his supporters to follow suit and help reverse the surge of coronavirus cases sweeping the southern [Republican] states. Perhaps they’ve realised that 1. Their president is killing people, and 2. He’s likely to lose the November election. Tellingly, they weren’t so concerned when the hotpots were in Democratic states.

Social Media

Says it all . . .

English/Spanish

• Another 3 refranes:-  

- If you lie down with dogs, you get fleas: Quien con niños se acuesta, cagada se levanta. Quien con perros se echa, con plugs se levanta.

- If you think the worst, you won't be far wrong: Piensa mal y acertarás.

- It you want good advice, consult an old man: Quien quiere saber, que compre un viejo.

Finally 

• I might have killed a tree or 4 but no one can take away from me my success with training the bougainvillea at the back of my house over the years:-

• For Blues lovers: Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup was a delta blues singer and guitarist, best known for songs later covered by Elvis Presley and dozens of other artists, such as "That's All Right", "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine." Hang on for the Elvis version of the last one. Not exactly Blues . . .

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain’*- after exists - 

Life in Spain: What has changed? 

• Corruption: At the higher echelons of Spanish society - especially among politicians - this is all about money. Down below, it’s far more about nepotism, croneyism(amiguismo) and the avoidances of taxes in the large ‘black’ section of the economy. I’ve written about it - in both general and particular terms - many times over the years. 
• The Verdict: My impression is that - thanks to exposés - corruption might well have reduced in the politico-commercial nexus but that nothing much has changed below this. Spain is still not a meritocracy, for example. As María noted the other day, personal relationships still count for too much. You can see Vincent Werner’s comments on this subject at the end of this 2018 post, plus many more of his acerbic (and controversial) views on Spain. 

Current Life in Spain  

• The saga of a switch from Movistar to O2 . . .  Well, I never got to the Movistar shop. As I was arriving in town, a técnico called me to say he could only check my connection during the morning. So, I returned home and let him in. He solved the problem in only 5 minutes or so, saying it was due to a loose wire at the back of the modem. Not a ‘connection’, I rush to say, as I’d checked all these.
• There was a fight in the changing rooms of Pontevedra’s Zara store the other day, which ended with 3 women going off to hospital. I confess to expecting that the main protagonist - who was ignoring the rules about how may items she could take in - will be said to be a resident of my barrio. Which is code in our local media for ‘gypsy’.
• The UK’s ability to control people during its lockdown has been unfavourably compared with Spain’s acknowledged success on this. I’ve mentioned that, in part at least, the latter has been due to officious police forces and potentially huge fines. So I wasn’t too surprised that the former will be using drones above Spain’s beaches to keep locals and tourists at the right distance from each other. I’m not suggesting this is wrong, just that it’s hard to imagine British police going to these lengths. Though I might well be wrong on this.
• Here’s María’s Day 16 of said Adjusted Normal.  A trip to the clinic

English/Spanish

• English: ‘Child gate’. 2 words,  2 syllables. Spanish (according to Amazon, at least): Barrera de seguridad de niños, 5 words, 11 syllables . . . . No wonder they talk fast. 

The USA

• My elder daughter asked me yesterday why stupid folk in the USA appear to be even thicker than those in other countries. I suggested a mixture of low intelligence and high religiosity. Bang on cue comes ex Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who says God is upset with Fart’s peace plan for the Middle East. COVID-19, she claims, is divine punishment of the USA for putting too much pressure on Israel. So, why did her ‘just and merciful’ god inflict it on the rest of us?
• Another overheard phone chat . . .

 Social Media

• For all the talk of “cancel culture”, no [extremist] today can really be silenced at all. However many times you’re no-platformed, there’s always another platform. There’s always a new cesspit into which to sink.

The Way of the World

• An interesting post from Effie Deans. ‘Old lives don’t matter’.

Finally . . .  

• According to Nicholas Jubber - a young English chap writing of his experiences in Iran in his book: ‘Drinking Arak off an Ayatollah’s beard’ - It’s no coincidence that the names of Ireland (Eire) and Iran come from the same root. Long before Hitler made Aryanism unpalatable, it suggested a shared ancestry spanning the Indo European world. Some support for this contention comes from the Wiki page for Eire, where the word is said to have reached us - from a proto-Indo-European word - via Proto-Celtic, Proto-Goidelic, and Old Irish. 
• Can’t resist posting this simple schedule, which rather tickled me:-

• And this amusing but very serious video:-

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.