I Don't Speak Your Language, Can You Shout A Bit Louder?

Last week saw the return of the programme on Spanish television where politicians are subjected to direct questions from selected members of the public. Previous editions had featured Prime Minister Zapatero and opposition leader Mariano Rajoy, and both appearances made the headlines. This time it has been the turn of politicians from other parties, and the headlines have all been made by Josep Lluis Carod Rovira, of the Catalan nationalist party Esquerra Republicana. Carod Rovira was confronted by questioners who clearly were not there to sing his praises and who insisted on using the Spanish translation of his name, José Luis. The response of Carod Rovira to this was to say "I'm called Josep Lluis, not José Luis, both here and in China."

The whole incident was silly, the questioners were obviously out to show their disdain for all things Catalan, and Carod Rovira replied in a way that made it clear that the only audience interesting him was to be found within the boundaries of Cataluña. A pointless confrontation between rival nationalisms, but which did at least serve to highlight another issue. One of the questioners raised a common complaint made by those who live outside of regions such as Cataluña or the Basque Country. The argument goes like this; a person from Castilla-León who wants to work in the public administration in Cataluña has to speak both Spanish and Catalan, whilst someone from Barcelona who wants to work in Valladolid is only required to speak Spanish. Discrimination, so the argument runs, and those of us who live here in the capital can expect to hear this point being made fairly frequently.

Now regular readers of this blog, assuming there are any, should be aware by now that nationalism is not really my thing. However, on the issue of public services and language I take sides. Sometime long ago in a distant nation not far from France I decided, mistakenly as it turned out, to embark on a career in local government. Now things work a bit differently on this island and moving from one local authority to another was accomplished by the relatively uncomplicated procedure of filling in application forms and attending interviews. Occasionally though, things were slightly more complicated. Some Welsh local authorities would insist on applicants for a position in their district having knowledge of the local language. This to me always seemed entirely reasonable, even though it put me theoretically at a disadvantage – theoretically because I never actually applied to work in any of these areas.

People who complain about such a situation show zero interest in the provision of services to the public and should probably not be allowed to occupy a position anywhere in the country. If you think that the administration exists with the sole objective of providing you with a secure existence for the rest of your days then it is natural to see it as wrong that you be required to actually learn anything to be able to fulfil this role. On the other hand, those who believe that the administration should be responsive to the needs of those who pay for its existence might find it comprehensible that José Luis the funcionario from Valladolid should be capable of communicating with those he is supposed to attend to in the language which they habitually use. So instead José Luis and friends remain in their comfortable offices in Valladolid or Burgos, paying no attention to the public assistance telephone which has been ringing non-stop for the last 3 years, whilst bitching constantly to their colleagues about a non existent flood of Catalans who are not taking all of their jobs. Sympathy? Not here, or in China.

Anyone Know A Good Builder?

Having posted already this week on music, cinema and football I think it’s time for a bit of politics. Strange events took place this week in Valencia and led to the resignation of the leader of the PSOE in the region, Joan Ignasi Pla. What lay behind his resignation was the revelation that he had not yet paid a substantial bill for work done on his home several months ago by a company that has significant construction interests in the region. On the face of it, that doesn’t seem such a big deal, at least if it is judged by the ethical standards governing much political activity on the shores of the Mediterranean. What makes the story truly interesting is where it came from.

Pla was not brought down by the right wing press trying to damage PSOE chances in Valencia. Instead the revelations came from the Grupo PRISA – traditionally close to the PSOE and owners of the Cadena SER radio station and the newspaper El País. In his resignation statement Pla placed the blame on the media and on members of his own party who were settling accounts – or in other words just what Pla had failed to do himself; I must remember to write down the name of his builder.

There are several angles to this story. On the one hand you have a Grupo PRISA increasingly disenchanted with the PSOE and a government that now has other media friends. At the same time the national leadership is said to want the vice president of the government, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, to lead the party list in Valencia for next year’s general election. She constantly emerges in opinion polls as the most popular member of the government, and the PSOE had a disastrous result in the May local elections in Valencia. Pla was not seen as helpful to the cause, and he is no longer in the way.

Next week I intend to get back to some genuine political ranting, I feel I haven’t done enough recently. To get fired up for this I am going to spend the weekend in the city that used to be known as “Red” Bologna.

Spanish Football For Beginners....The Home Strip

All football teams have, as I’m sure you know, a home strip and an away strip. Some teams have more than this and Atlético Madrid is a case in point; for they also have an asset strip. Last time I wrote about their use of the pelotazo I expressed some doubts about the benefits of this operation for the football club itself. They had jumped onto the supposedly highly lucrative train that takes them to a shiny new stadium whilst the old site gets redeveloped with thousands of new flats and big profits. However, having read the latest on what is being planned it seems fair to say that Atleti could be about to enter the record books as the only football club to engage in this kind of operation and not actually make any money out of it at all. They could even lose money. Now it's almost customary when I write about the club for me to describe their supporters as being "long suffering" or something similar. However, given what seems to be happening I have to wonder whether it's just plain masochism that makes someone follow the team.

So what’s wrong with the Atleti pelotazo? In the end it’s quite a simple case of mathematics, unless I have seriously misinterpreted what I read in the press. So let’s take a look at the balance sheet:

Income:
The club is expected to net €250 million from the redevelopment of the Vicente Calderón stadium - sounds pretty impressive but we haven't got to the other side of the sheet yet


Expenditure:

• €160 million (paid in advance) to redevelop the existing stadium - La Peineta - that will be their new home. Seems quite a lot to convert a stadium, you could probably build a new one for that money.
• €80 million as the contribution to burying the stretch of the M30 ring road that currently passes the Vicente Calderón
• €20 million on the athletics track at the new stadium if Madrid is awarded the 2016 Olympics. That has to be a really good running track for that price! I bet they use top quality gravel.

So now let’s work out the profi.....oh dear, either my maths are wrong or it is not looking good for Atleti. It also appears that the agreement on the redevelopment includes a clause that adjusts all of these costs for inflation, with - you've got it - Atleti paying the extra whack if the paperwork takes a long time to go through. An additional "detail" is that they will not even be the owners of the land on which the redeveloped stadium sits. So they could end up paying almost 200 million euros for redeveloping an existing stadium that will not even belong to the club after work has finished. Now I can offer an explanation for why those who run the club might want to pursue an operation that could leave it losing money. It seems that about 3 years ago two property companies and the Caja Madrid bank bought into the ownership of the club, which was already in the name of yet another property company. What I cannot explain is why the fans of the club seem willing to put up with what looks like being a huge scam carried out at their expense. It’s a funny old game, football.

Cinema....Mataharis

After my recent lament about the lack of good Spanish cinema this year, we are now seeing the releases that have the potential to change the situation. Last week I saw the latest film from Iciar Bollain, Mataharis, and I’m happy to say that the verdict is positive.

The film focuses on the lives of 3 women who work in a private detectives agency recognisably located in Madrid's Gran Via. We have one older woman (played by Nuria González) whose life outside of work has clearly reached a dead end with a husband with whom she hardly communicates. Of the other 2, the busy Eva (Najwa Nimri in the best performance I have seen her give) tries to cope with the demands of her work and bringing up 2 young children; on top of this she then discovers a secret about her husband (it's not for nothing that she works where she does!) that makes her reconsider her relationship with him. The third main character is Inés (María Vázquez) who finds that her passion for her job is challenged when she is asked to take on a case that is by no means what she expected it to be. Via the different stories of these 3 women, we get a portrait of the struggle to reconcile domestic life with the demands of work, as well as being reminded that the typical work of a private detective isn’t exactly Raymond Chandler.

The film lacks the power, as well as the almost unbearable constant tension, of Te Doy Mis Ojos, the last film from Bollain. However, after such an accomplished work, Bollain has no need to demonstrate with every film that she can get to grips with the “big” issues. Things are looking up for Spanish films, and with the release of El Orfanato and the upcoming Las 13 Rosas the autumn looks promising.

Yo No Crucé La Frontera, La Frontera Me Cruzó

The Mexican presence in Madrid is not very noticeable, particularly when compared to that of countries like Ecuador, Peru or Colombia. However, go to a concert by Los Tigres del Norte, as I did last night, and you no longer feel that you are in Madrid. Almost 3 hours of music from one of the country’s veteran groups, I felt at times like I was almost the only one who didn’t know all the words to their tales of emigration and drug cartels. Most striking was their relationship with their audience, those who didn’t get a handshake were probably up on stage having their photo taken with one of the band’s members. Or they had their dedication read to everyone as note after note was passed up to the front. The bouncers next to the stage got nervous at this mixing of audience and group, but everything happened with such a good spirit that even they started to relax a bit after a while.

Let me just say in passing that Mexico is one of my favourite countries in the world, I have both travelled and worked there. I like the people, the food, the music, the geography and the cities. It’s just a pity it’s so far away. Like some other countries it has a reputation that doesn’t correspond to the reality of the place. So for Mexico and those who didn’t go to the concert, I leave the last word with Los Tigres.

For King And Country

Well, another Fiesta Nacional has passed so now that the helicopters have stopped flying overhead it’s time to take stock. “King” Mariano Rajoy, known until his video appearance last week as the interim leader of the Partido Popular (PP), should be satisfied that his party achieved their objectives for the day. Hundreds of PP supporters demonstrated their love of the nation by disrupting the homage to Spanish troops killed in overseas missions with their anti-Zapatero chanting. In addition we got a glorious display of Spanish flags, including many that belong, ahem, to another era.

Meanwhile in Valencia, hundreds of demonstrators gathered to burn photographs of prominent personalities. What’s this? Photograph burning? Where are the judges, the police sent out to hunt down the perpetrators, the indignant headlines in El Mundo? You see this was different, it was a fascist group burning photographs of nationalist politicians from the Basque Country and Cataluña. So that’s alright then.

As the prices of basic foodstuffs rise sharply this autumn we can at least have the consolation that not everything is more expensive. Patriotism, for example, has never been cheaper.

Espe's Pearls

I tried to resist, really I did, but another post on Esperanza Aguirre has just pushed its way to the front of the queue. In true Aguirre style it didn't even think of apologising. Our pauper president has treated Madrid residents to more examples of her wisdom in the last few days, as well as giving us a keen insight into what she thinks politics is all about.

First we got a sound piece of advice for her rival to be the next leader of the Partido Popular, Madrid mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardón. I still can't combine the words "PP", "leader" and "Aguirre"in the same sentence without shaking my head in amazement, but anyway let's continue. Espe informed Alberto that he is more handsome when he is "calladito", that is when he keeps his mouth shut. Now coming from certain Sicilians, for example, this would be enough to make most people get plastic surgery and change their country of residence. Coming from Esperanza it's not that much less frightening, it's more or less Aguirre-speak for "we know where you live Gallardón, so watch out!".

You can't see exactly where the knife enters in this picture

Putting to one side the internecine squabbling for position in the PP, Espe also had a suggestion for Prime Minister Zapatero. Continuing with her recent theme of Madrid being starved of investment (there's plenty more motorways that we could bury), she suggested to Jose Luis that if he gave her more money to waste she would be prepared to join him in some photo opportunities, presumably bogus inauguration ceremonies. The offer has had the predictable effect of ensuring that Madrid will be offered no extra money at all. It also raised, at least to my mind, the question of whether acceptance of the offer would make any difference at all to Espe's daily routine. When was the last time she didn't spend her day passing from one photo opportunity to another?

Then there's the dos de mayo story; no, that one can wait.

Themes That Can Change An Election....The Constitutional Court

It seems hard to imagine what the Constitutional Court could possibly have to do with the result of the next general election. After all, this is supposed to be one of these institutions that is above the day to day political fray, and whose members are chosen from the lists of the great and good to take on the onerous task of looking after the constitution. That's the theory, but now let's deal with the reality; this tribunal is currently the scene of one of the most bitterly fought political battles of the last few years in Spain.

This battle has been underway for several months, although you could be forgiven for not noticing. The opposition Partido Popular (PP) has filed challenges on constitutional grounds against almost every major piece of legislation in this parliament. However, the most important challenge they have made has been to the reform of the Catalan autonomy statute, the Estatut. They have even challenged as unconstitutional clauses which they have supported in similar statutes in other regions. It is this issue which has provoked the battle inside the highest court. The court has not yet even begun their formal deliberations on the issue, all of the fighting is taking place over which of the members will be allowed to participate in the hearings. The reason for this infighting is the equally divided political balance of the court between right wing members... and the rest. Note that I didn’t say “left wing” because frankly I doubt that any of the members of the court are really more than moderately left of centre. The right wing faction is nevertheless truly right wing, and it is acting as a cohesive political bloc with the intention being to deliver a verdict on the Estatut before the general election.

Now if you intend to carry out hearings on an issue in an impartial manner with the “best interests” of the nation in mind what you don’t usually do is set out in a very determined way to remove all of those members of the tribunal who might opt for one particular side of the debate. That is what the right wing faction on the Constitutional Court are trying to do, they have already succeeding in excluding from the debate one member who had done nothing more than prepare a report for a previous Catalan administration to the one which promoted the Estatut. With one down they have now turned their fire on the president of the tribunal in an attempt to replace her with someone more sympathetic to the cause. All of this in an attempt to create an artificial right wing majority which can bring down one of the most important measures introduced by the current government. That is why this battle is important, if the Estatut is declared unconstitutional the result will be political turmoil and those behind the move know it.

The outcome is still unclear, but at least it removes any idealistic notions about the non-political nature of these institutions. The first test for membership of the Constitutional Court is not your experience or your knowledge of that document; instead it is your political loyalty to those who propose you. It seems to matter little to these political appointees whether they destroy the credibility of the court in the process of getting what they want. The Estatut was approved by the Spanish parliament, and subsequently in a referendum, despite that it can still be destroyed by 5 determined political appointees who feel constitutionally obliged to impose their opinions on the rest of the country. It’s called democracy.

Veiled Criticism

The case of an 8 year old Muslim girl who was refused admission to her school in Girona for wearing a hijab has provoked plenty of debate in the last week. A lot of comparisons are made with the situation in France which famously passed a law on the issue. In the end the Catalan regional government has ordered the school to readmit the girl, affirming that the right to education overrides their internal regulations.

Cases like this tend to make for very strange bedfellows as sections of the non-religious left line up with right wing bigots who are more than happy to see religious symbols banned as long as it is not their religion. I think the decision that the right for this girl to continue receiving schooling takes priority over the issue of how she dresses is undoubtedly a correct one, whatever the good intentions are that lie behind the regulation in this case. The education system should help to give pupils the ability to make their own decisions about things which affect their lives, but it’s not there to be used as a means of imposing a solution. I say this as someone who believes very strongly in keeping religion out of the education system.

I don’t think anyone seriously believes that the moves in countries such as France would ever have happened in the case of Christian or Jewish kids alone; the law was introduced because of Muslim girls wearing the veil or the hijab. It’s mistaken to think that you can lift oppression by edict in this way, families can also be oppressive for all sorts of other reasons that have nothing to do with religion and we can’t reasonably expect the educational system to offer the solution for all these different problems. It’s particularly ironic to see such debate about the issue here when the Catholic Church is still receiving enormous subsidies from the State to run schools. If we want to take religion out of education then maybe that is where we need to start?

Flag Day

The newspaper El Mundo, a journal which ancient legends tell us once merited some respect, has been busy for weeks combing villages in Cataluña and the Basque Country looking for town halls where the Spanish flag is not being flown. Not surprisingly, they have found some, and have received the energetic support of the Partido Popular (PP) in their campaign to force these renegades into line. Not content with this, the PP leadership has now launched yet another campaign to try and wrap themselves in the national flag – an operation which hopefully includes at least some risk of suffocation.

October 12th is a national holiday in Spain, and indeed in several South American countries. It gets called different things in different countries, although “Your country now belongs to us” Day appears to have fallen out of fashion as time passes since the end of the empire. Anyway, I digress; the PP wants people out on the streets on October 12th when those of us unfortunate enough to live close to the centre of the capital will be repeatedly subjected to low flying military aircraft. Some sections of the PP probably regard this event as a dry run for getting Zapatero out of office should the more conventional route of winning the elections not produce the desired result. Given the tendency of many of these people to take any opportunity to hiss and boo at the hated Zapatero, the PP clearly hopes they can turn the military parade into an anti-government demonstration with lots of elderly irate rightists waving enormous flags as they shout abuse. What should I do, go there with my camera, or get of town? Tough decisions.

Occasionally in my idle moments, of which I don't have enough these days, I try to think of something useful to do with a flag. Use it for cleaning the windows is one option, but newspaper works so much better (El Mundo is not completely useless). It might work as a doormat for muddy feet with all the rain falling in Madrid this week, but then it crumples too easily and I have a good doormat anyway. Something will occur to me.

Themes That Can Change An Election....The National Question

A bit later than I intended, and with a topic that I didn’t expect to emerge so soon, it’s time to kick off my mini-series on issues that might affect the result in Spain’s forthcoming general election. The proposal by the president of the Basque regional government, Juan José Ibarretxe, to set a process in course that might lead to a referendum allowing the Basques to “decide their own future” has predictably turned political attention away from the all too brief flirtation we have seen recently with economics and social issues. In reality it is just a rehashed version of an earlier project that Ibarretxe proposed when Aznar was still in power. Nevertheless, the reaction has been predictably strong and much of the criticism focuses on the fact that regional governments in Spain have no power to convoke binding referendums, and the legal position on any other kind of consultation is far from clear. Ibarretxe’s proposal goes straight to the heart of this, with the statement that he will put his plan to a vote if he doesn’t get what he wants in negotiations with the national government.

Other factors aside, the proposal by Ibarretxe and its timing is also a reflection of internal battles within his own party, the PNV. Ibarretxe is not the leader of the PNV, he is the regional president; known as the Lehendakari. As a result of recent infighting between the faction who want to present a more openly nationalist face, and those who favoured a more gradualist approach, PNV president Josu Jon Imaz has been forced to stand down. This decision was presented at the time as being more or less a draw between the competing factions, the main rival to Imaz was also forced to declare that he would not stand for the presidency. However, it looks as if Ibarretxe also got the go ahead for his plan as part of the deal to solve the internal crisis, I put his wing of the party ahead on points.

Ibarretxe....Earth to Enterprise, one of your extras is missing

Meanwhile, a lot of the noise coming from government supporters points to how the PP will seek to make electoral advantage of the move by Ibarretxe. There is no doubt they will try to do this, although I find it hard to see how they can keep the issue alive for 6 months, especially with the government openly opposing the plan. How much more can they do on the “España se rompe” theme that they haven’t already done? Perhaps we will see the return of the civic rebellion; we haven’t had an angry right wing demonstration in Madrid for months! At one point you couldn’t cross from one side of the city to the other without encountering masses of people who made the sign of the cross if you so much as unfolded a copy of El País. Some people seem to think that the PNV is acting against its interests by doing something that might favour the PP, but the fact is that the PNV does better electorally when there is confrontation with Madrid than when there is not. Their best election results have come when the PSOE and PP attempted to unite against them. Nationalism cannot flourish where there is no “other” to line up against, the more peaceful the political scene the less likely they are to mobilise the nationalist vote.

Prime Minister Zapatero has already scheduled a meeting with Ibarretxe to discuss the issue; it’s hard to see anything coming out of it as both men will be playing with an eye to their audience. It may do more to worsen relationships between the government and the PNV as the spin doctors go to work on the outcome. It’s ironic that those who make the most noise about the plan include so many of those who shouted about Navarra’s “right” to decide its own future as a counterpoint to the entirely imaginary plot by the government to hand the region over to the Basque Country. Me, I’m all in favour of the Basques having the right to self-determination, not because I think they should exercise that right; just because I don’t believe you can hold countries together by laws or force alone. The probability of the Basques voting for independence is not very high, at least not without serious fixing of those entitled to vote. Prohibiting them from doing so probably has the effect of increasing support for the idea as well as providing a spurious justification for continuing terrorist activity.

King Defends King Shock

A stunned nation is still reeling from the news revealed yesterday that King Juan Carlos of Spain thinks that having a monarchy is a good idea! I had no idea at all he felt so strongly on the issue. I'm sure that he has soberly considered all of the alternatives, weighed up the arguments for all points of view, and reached a conclusion based on the need to support an ever larger family and sheer force of income...sorry, I think I meant to write "logic".

Meanwhile, the spiralling and senseless judicial farce provoked by the unnecessary decision to prosecute people for burning photographs of the monarch continues. Today it has been announced that prosecutors are now seeking prison sentences of up to 18 months for those accused of this heinous crime. Now whether people think it is a good idea for people to burn photographs of the monarch is virtually irrelevant - to me the issue is whether we should pay salaries to judges who waste their time trying to punish those who do so. We need to hear a bit less about "the law is the law and must be applied". This is a common bit of nonsense, which if it were to be taken truly seriously would mean that virtually all police time would be entirely occupied on traffic offences, tax evasion and litter duty. The reality is that many crimes are not pursued at all, some are given higher priority than others, and that the discretion that exists to do this also allows a right wing judge (and most judges seem to be right wing) to pursue his private political prejudices against those whose views he dislikes. This was the point I made the other day in a different way, when I remarked on the impunity that allows people to build thousands of apartments that are entirely illegal, and then to calmly sip mojitos by the Mediterranean whilst the legal system chases photograph burners. You can call it what you want, but it ain't the rule of law.

So there we have it, the King is the symbol of stability and democracy and therefore we must fill the prisons with all of those who disagree. This is not just about nationalists protesting against the Spanish state, we now have a case in Madrid where prosecutors are also seeking a year’s imprisonment for someone who attempted to replace a flag on an official building with the emblem of the Second Republic. Nothing else, just that. I'm thinking of moving before the pogrom of republicans gets into full swing, and fortunately I think I've found the perfect place. In the village of Humilladero in Malaga the local council has pronounced itself in favour of a constitutional process leading to the Third Republic. It's symptomatic of the fear that reigns in the PSOE these days that their councillors in the village have been threatened with disciplinary action for supporting the move. Anyway, I provide the map just so that those of us who are not impressed by the arguments of Juan Carlos know that we have a refuge when we need it. The way things are going that might not be too long. Looking at the map it evidently has a lake nearby, the sea is not far away either and close inspection of the satellite image reveals lots of olive trees – I think I might be able to put up with exile in the Democratic Republic of Humilladero!

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Covadonga, Cares, Urriellu....Three Routes In The Picos De Europa

It took me a little while, but here is the map I promised of my recent trip to the Picos de Europa. The map features 3 routes, the Lakes of Covadonga to Ordiales, the Ruta del Cares, and the route from Sotres to Urriellu. If you click on the flag symbols or on the routes themselves you get more information together with links to Wikipedia or other sites. The route texts also contain a link to a Google Earth file for each route, the next best thing to doing the route itself. The original GPS files are available on request for anyone who wants them. To see the associated information clearly you really need to click on the link to the larger map.

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Young Businesswoman of the Year

It’s not unusual for South of Watford to have a little awards ceremony, and it’s time for the spotlight to hit one of those young entrepreneurs who is doing so much to make Spain one of the world’s major economies. So my award for Young Businesswoman of the Year goes to Ana Aznar. At the tender age of 26, Ana has shown sufficient drive and initiative to become the administrator of Comercial Mitford Spain. Just before she was named to this prestigious position the capital of this young company rose quite suddenly from €3000 to over €500,000. An interesting detail of this increase in capital is the fact that the money was paid into the company account in cash. Things have been so frantic for Ana and the company that they still haven’t got round to submitting the company accounts for last year, having missed the deadline for doing so.

Sources close to Ana and her husband Alejandro Agag have suggested that this sudden windfall for the company comes from the couple having “savings” that they want to invest. So apart from showing keen business skills Ana also has a knack for household economics; try as I might I never seem to reach that cool half million in savings. It just shows that I lack that killer business instinct. The London based couple most probably transferred their savings in cash to avoid those troublesome commissions that get charged for international bank transfers. In any case, if there are any taxation issues involved Ana can always seek advice from her father, himself a former tax inspector and now also an international businessman.

When The Party's Almost Over

Last weekend I went to the annual fiesta of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), held in the Casa de Campo in Madrid. I’m not a member of the party or even a sympathiser, but I’ve always quite enjoyed this event with its marquee tents for each region spread out through the area permitted for it. In previous years there were frequently huge crowds; admittedly many of whom turned up just to see the bands playing at night rather than for the more political side of things. This year was the first time I had been for maybe 3-4 years as the weekend it is held has often seemed to coincide with trips out of Madrid. I was taken aback by the difference between this year and the last time I went. The area occupied by the fiesta is significantly smaller, which maybe wouldn’t matter were it not for the fact that the attendance was clearly much lower than on my previous visits; and I went on the Saturday which I would expect to have been the busiest day.

Not surprisingly, I started to wonder whether time was up for the PCE after years of declining membership. However, the speakers at the main meeting of the event on Saturday evening appeared to be oblivious to the half empty space in front of the stage from where they delivered their speeches. If anything the discourse was triumphalist as they sought to convince their audience that the tide was turning and their moment would soon come. The basis for their optimism mostly had a South American root, as they declared that the movements led by Hugo Chavez or Evo Morales meant that the left was truly on the offensive. The fact that the role played by Communist parties in these developments is minimal did not seem to make any difference to the speakers. The gap between the reality and the rhetoric was striking, and I couldn’t help wondering whether you really lift the morale of the troops by telling them they are at the top of the mountain when they are so clearly still stuck on the lower slopes. Antonio Gramsci understood this when he talked about optimism of the will, but pessimism of the spirit.

Crushing capitalism....helped by the Corte Inglés

This heady optimism was coupled with plentiful references to the 90th anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia, and the 40th anniversary of the death of Che Guevara. Both were interesting references, in the days before Guevara became the main competitor to Frida Kahlo as Latin American consumer icon, it was the non-Stalinist left who held aloft images of Che as they marched. The Communist parties never showed much interest in guerrilla chic, but now that Che has been rescued by an ageing Cuban regime as a symbol of revolutionary zeal the PCE has placed him on the podium alongside Fidel. As for the Russian Revolution, celebrating its anniversary seems to me to get harder when you look at the persistence today of so many of things which it was supposed to bring to an end. To complete the nostalgic recipe there were equally frequent references to the role of the PCE in the opposition to Franco’s regime, without of course mentioning any of the darker aspects of their activities both during and after the Civil War.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe there is a clear space to the left of the PSOE and there is a need for an organisation to fill that space and take up the issues which the PSOE prefers not to touch; such as the job insecurity of so many young people or the incapacity of many of them to even think about buying a home. I just doubt whether the PCE is that organisation. It provides the backbone of Izquierda Unida (IU), but is at the same time one of the biggest problems for that coalition. The PCE has never been able to entirely shake off the old long established political practices, and the idea that they take decisions internally which they then impose on IU is precisely what has prevented this organisation from becoming a genuine coalition of the left, rather than a PCE front. Personally I think it’s time for the PCE to disappear, not completely of course, the party can dissolve itself into Izquierda Unida who could then host the annual September fiesta. Eventually I think it will happen by force of circumstances, but in the meantime I suspect the party will carry on regardless, convinced that victory is just around the corner.

Only The Little People Pay Taxes

Is it really almost 2 weeks since I last wrote a critical piece on Esperanza Aguirre? I’ll have to do something about that. We got a tax cut here in Madrid yesterday, or at least we got the announcement of a tax cut. I didn’t notice any sense of general excitement in the city today following this news, but I put this down to my lack of social influence. Because those who will benefit from the announced suppression of the Impuesto sobre el Patrimonio are not a particularly substantial section of the population – only 169,000 taxpayers in Madrid had to pay anything on this tax last year. It is really a kind of wealth tax, only those who have the assets pay the tax. You don’t need to be a genius to guess that amongst the beneficiaries of the measure will be Mrs E. Aguirre of Several Large Mansions, Madrid, Spain. Let’s hope she won’t be asking for help with her heating bills this winter!

It would be comforting to think that the idea emerged from the hard right faction of the Partido Popular (PP) to which Aguirre belongs, but the truth is somewhat sadder. The idea of removing this tax was first floated recently by Tomás Gómez, the newly elected General Secretary of the PSOE in Madrid. I was impressed with the smooth transition that the PSOE had made in their leadership in the city, but I was completely unaware that we had been landed with someone so prone to Blairism. A delighted PP promptly and predictably seized on the proposal by Gómez as just the excuse they needed to lighten their tax bill.

Now Espe is a big fan of Margaret Thatcher, in an age when adulation of the Mad One is not exactly fashionable. Those of us who underwent the character building experience of living under Thatcher's rule know how things work with the reduction of taxes. You take one tax, paid by a few wealthy people, and abolish it. To compensate for the loss of this income you then raise another tax, paid equally by all people regardless of their income. It's called wealth redistribution; and we're not talking Robin Hood. So thanks a lot Tomás, you've really done Madrid a great favour.

Perhaps Gómez made his proposal because he believes Madrid to be what Lead Belly would have called a bourgeois town. Occasionally this is what it seems to be, but there is another side to the story. An interesting report almost coincided with Espe's tax gift. Despite all the talk of the vast wealth being generated in Madrid, and how it has become the economic powerhouse driving the country forward, it turns out that this is not reflected in the salaries being paid to a substantial part of the population. According to the report, prepared by the trade union Comisiones Obreras, almost 50% of the salaried workers in the region don't even qualify to be included in the famed "mileuristas" - those who earn €1000 a month. Espe doesn't think this group deserves a tax reduction, and nor - sadly - does Tomás.

(More) Reasons To Be A Republican

The newspaper El País managed to put its commercial interests to one side this morning and led with an alarming article on the spread of construction related corruption on the Costa del Sol. The report quotes one prosecutor as saying that the situation in Cádiz province is "out of control", with corrupt authorities working hand in hand with money launderers to build over the few remaining sections of untouched coastline. Nobody can tell us how many other Marbella type scandals are occurring.

If only we could rely on the judicial system to do something about this massive corruption. Perhaps one of the "star" judges of the Audiencia Nacional could get to grips with it?. Unfortunately, they all seem occupied with much more urgent matters. Take the case of judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska, for example. Today this judge has found himself with nothing better to do than try and track down every single person connected with the burning of a photocopied image of a hereditary monarch.

What further arguments do we need in favour of a republic? Take away the king and the judges have one less excuse for wasting police time on seizing magazines and hunting down demonstrators. Which is not to say they will start dealing with the web of corruption on the Mediterranean, but it does give them more time should they ever feel the urge to do something about it.

Cinema....Spain Leaves It Late

It's been a long time since I did a post on cinema, and not because I haven't tried. The one I started on the Bollywood spectacular I saw during my trip to India never saw the light of day. Later I began another post about La Vida de los Otros (The Lives of Others), still my favourite film of the year so far. But that post got pushed out of the way by other things too. A Mexican film called El Violin also made it onto my list of topics, but I don't think I even started that one; although I enjoyed the film and intended to recommend it.

More recently I have seen the Chinese film Naturaleza Muerta (Still Life) which I could certainly relate to given that I spent more time than was probably wise in China during the 1990's. The film is set in one of the ghost towns abandoned as a result of the construction of the dam on the Yangtze River that has left the Three Gorges looking somewhat less gorge-like than they were before. I did this trip during my time in China, and before the dam was finished, and the look of everything in the film brought it all back to me. For me the film is the best I've seem from China for a few years, not that the list of Chinese films I've seen in that time is so big!

Still Life....by the Yangtze

Another recent film I’ve seen that didn't really explore the full potential of its story is Soñar No Cuesta Nada, from Colombia. The (true) story concerns an army battalion sent to fight guerrillas in the jungle and which stumbles upon a huge hoard of cash, most probably the proceeds of drug trafficking. The troops decide to keep the money, but are completely unable to conceal their new found wealth. You can maybe see it as a parable on the corrupting effect of drug money on a society where most people earn little more than they need to survive.

Last night I went to see Un Corazón Invencible (A Mighty Heart), the film about the awful death of Daniel Pearl, the journalist from the Wall Street Journal who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan shortly after the US invasion of Afghanistan. One of the reasons I went to see it is because it is directed by Michael Winterbottom, who I felt would manage to avoid the temptation to give the story a Hollywood treatment. Winterbottom tells it straight, there is no propaganda message accompanying the film. It is based on the story as told by Pearl’s wife and the events are seen from her perspective. Because of this the film has little to say about the deeper issues on Islamist influence in Pakistan or the history of that country’s interference in Afghan conflicts. It does serve as further confirmation that those who pay the price of terror are rarely those who have any responsibility for the situation the terrorists use to justify their actions.

For Spanish cinema it's been a tremendously disappointing year, I cannot name a single Spanish film that I have seen in the last 9 months that I would unreservedly recommend. I had high hopes for Bajo las Estrellas, but it didn't turn out to be as engaging as I expected from what I had read. This sad situation is supposed to change in the autumn, with 2 or 3 new Spanish films that will create a certain amount of expectation. One of these is Mataharis, the new film from Iciar Bollain, whose last release was the excellent Te Doy Mis Ojos. Another film that I await with some expectation is a Civil War story, Las 13 Rosas, which is one of the candidates for Spains nominations in the Oscars. Let’s hope the autumn brings better news for Spain in the cinemas.

The Media War Kicks Off

With the battle over the television rights to live football matches still going strong, it's easy to imagine that it might just be a tussle between rival groups for this lucrative market. However, I suspect that it is much more than that, and we are seeing only the first skirmish in a larger war. The main companies confronting each other in the dispute over rights are Grupo PRISA which owns El País and Digital +, and Mediapro which is the owner of La Sexta television channel. Mediapro has media ambitions that go beyond television and is the group behind the launch of a new daily newspaper, Público, that I posted on some months ago. This is where things get interesting, because Público is going to aim for a left of centre readership that currently only has El País available in the national newspaper market. I have seen suggestions that the new paper could be out on the streets as early as next week.

When Jesus de Polanco, the former owner of Grupo PRISA, died not long ago, El País filled its pages with tributes about how Polanco had always respected the independence of the paper. Now obviously this sort of judgement depends very much on how you choose to define the word "independent", the paper formed a key part of the influence that Polanco wielded. Since his son took over the reins there have been a couple of revealing instances of how the independence of a newspaper is compromised by the interests of its owners. First of all came an editorial completely dedicated to complaining about PRISA not getting the access to the Latin American media market that companies from there were getting in Spain. Later came another editorial supposedly about the beginning of the football season, but which was converted into the opening shots of the war against Mediapro and its alleged piracy of football matches.



However, the most revealing incidence was in a lengthy interview with Prime Minister Zapatero published at the beginning of September. The interviewer decided to press Zapatero on the issue of the football "war" and suggested to him that there was a conflict of interest because of his friendship with some of the owners of Mediapro. Coming from another paper this might have been a valid point to make, but given that PRISA have never considered their close relationship to political leaders as provoking any kind of conflict it was curious to say the least. As well as being a sign of nervousness that the PSOE may no longer be depending almost entirely on PRISA for its media support. Zapatero politely brushed the question aside when he could have made the point more bluntly.

Autumn is typically a time when newspapers in Spain attempt to boost readership after the summer break with all sorts of promotions, I occasionally wonder whether I should take a shopping trolley with me when I go out for my Sunday paper. When Público finally emerges I predict that there will be a surge of gifts and offers from rival papers in an attempt to strangle the new contender at birth. El País in particular will be desperate to defend its position as the biggest selling daily paper in Spain. The war has only just begun.

Updated Friday 21st: It's been announced today that Público's first edition will be out next Wednesday 26th September

Stormy Weather

Until about 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon I thought I had some kind of magical luck with Asturian weather conditions. After being there at Easter when it was one of the few places in the country with good weather, and after a hot sunny Saturday this time, my luck had to give at some point. Try and imagine what it is like to spend 30 minutes fully dressed under a high powered shower (with additional thunder and lightning overhead) and you'll have some idea of just how seriously the Asturian weather took its revenge on us as we made our way down towards the lakes of Covadonga and the safety of the car. I poured water out of my boots after changing and they were still wet when I got home this evening. Yesterday as we made our way along the amazing route that follows the Rio Cares, the storms were a bit kinder on us - just as well, I didn't want to be sliding around in mud with a straight 100 metre drop down to the river just to the side of us. Anyway, I'm going to work on a Google map showing 3 spectacular routes in the Picos de Europa; in the meantime here is a taste of the scenery.

The view from the hotel room in Arenas de Cabrales

El Naranjo de Bulnes and Urriellu

View from the lakes of Covadonga

La Ruta del Cares....just remember not to look down!

Storm clouds gather over the Rio Cares