Covid  

Back in January, Portugal was the worst performing nation in Western European nation. Now it’s said to be the best. Just luck, or did they do something very right?

Cosas de España/Galiza 

A Solomonic judgement? The Constitutional Court has said no one can get a rebate in respect of the tax they recently adjudged inoperative unless they’d appealed before its judgement. In other words before they’d given us grounds for doing so. I guess this makes sense to the country’s highest lawyers, if not to the rest of us. I assume the judges were leant on. As happens when appointments are political. In the EU, for example.

Here, from Marinero, is more than you possibly want to know about Christopher Columbus/Cristóbel Colón. I have to admit it knocks a big hole in the claim he was born round the corner from me in Poio. Roll on those DNA tests.

My Madrid-based daughter is struggling with the bureaucracy to get her UK licence changed for a Spanish one, even though she applied (just) before the deadline of last December 31. Ironically, when – years ago – she asked about doing this at the Comisaría, the response was: “Why bother? You’ll only risk getting points on your licence.” This ‘pragmatic’ advice ignored the fact that, if stopped, she’d have been fined €300 for not changing her licence within 12 months of becoming resident in Spain. As Oscar Wilde said, ‘There’s only one thing worse than an unhelpful Spanish bureaucrat and that’s a helpful one’.

Mark Stücklin fears the new housing law – aimed, in part, at protecting tenants – will be a boon for the squatter mafia.

In the Anglo world, dirty jokes are ‘blue’, whereas here in Spain, they’re ‘green’. At an exhibition of Japanese art at the strangely named CentroCentro in Plaza de Cibeles, I leant that a Tokyo ‘green house’ was a brothel. I also noted in the ‘erotic’ section that the size of the male members was enough to give young virgins either fear for their lives or excessive expectations, followed by disappointment.

For many years, in Madrid’s (fine) metro carriages, just about the only route details not displayed on the pillars and walls were that of the line you were on. Making it hard to check if you were on the right track. But I now see that, on Line 10 at least, the common sense step has been taken to show only information of that line. As OW would have said. ‘Better late than never’.

The Way of the World 

Mr Zuckerberg admitted it will take five to 10 years to build the metaverse, in which people will attend office meetings, concerts and social events virtually, as a hologram or virtual avatar.

Finally  . . . 

FB is still recommending me gun dog groups. Heaven knows why

I have to confess to a love of Mudejar – or even neo-Mudejar – architecture. As OW said, ‘They’re like pistachios, very more-ish’..

Kids again . . .  While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform she asked, “are you a policeman?” “Yes,” I answered and continued writing the report. “My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?” “Yes, that’s right,” I told her. “Well then,” she said as she extended her foot toward me, “would you please tie my shoe?”

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