Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
– Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’
Cosas de España/Galiza
Corruption in high places: As Lenox Napier of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/businessovertapas/</p> Business Over Tapas puts it: There’s a long-standing inquiry/scandal/plot called the Caso Kitchen – where several senior politicians plotted to subvert another inquiry/scandal/plot called the Caso Gürtel, which was to do with their improper party accounting and accepting bribes and so on on the part of the right-of-centre PP party. The saga began back in 1996 and seems to have ended without the sentencing of any senior politicians, including ex-president Mariano Rajoy. I can’t profess to be master of the detail but there does seem to be a widespread view that the cases have raised serious questions about the impartiality and integrity of Spanish judges. To no one’s huge surprise, I suspect. Most/all of the judges will have been educated during the Franco era and are unlikely to be left-of-centre.
Corruption in low places: Reports Lenox: José Luis Moreno, the disgraced TV entertainer who was arrested in late June for fraud, is reported to have had €900m stashed abroad and to have prepared a bolt-hole in Los Angeles.
Did you know there’s a Europe-wide cricket competition? Well, there is. And championship matches are to be held down on our Costa del Sol.
How on earth did they think they’d get away with this? Possibly they didn’t. ‘No such thing as bad publicity’, it’s said.
Wines: Someone comes late to the Albariño grape. Terras Gauda is my favourite.
The UK
Even after almost 2 years of dealing with Covid, says an expert, we know very little about the ecology of this virus. Understanding how and why the virus spreads is crucial for determining which control measures are effective at breaking the chain of transmission, and which are needlessly disruptive. The only thing the virus seems to obey is Farr’s Law [Epidemics rise and fall in a symmetrical bell curve]. I’m not convinced the path of the pandemic has much to do with our interventions. We’re still not completely sure about how it spreads or how to stop it. This is why the mask debate rages on.
On this, my recent houseguest confirmed that – in sharp contrast with what she noted here in Pontevedra – the majority of people in the UK no longer sport masks, even in crowds. Interestingly, the official (credible?) stat is that more than 90% of Brits are still wearing masks.
The EU
The Guardian reports here that 6 EU states have now overtaken the UK on Covid jabbing. What it doesn’t say is that 3 months initial delay on the part of the EU led to more deaths than there should have been. Which is surely at least equally relevant. Though not when you’re intent on bashing the British government.
The USA
Generalissimo Franco still lives in the Republican Party, says this chap.
Bizarrely, as I was reading this, I received fotos from a Spanish friend of this fascist bar – Casa Eladio – in Ávila – another place where Franco still lives.
Finally . . .
British TV advertising these days major on exhortations which are clearly aimed at viewers younger – and less irritable – than me. Last night’s example: Start your impossible. I’m going to list others.
Note: If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here.
Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain 