I had a coffee this morning with our local Health Inspector Martin, in Apollo bar in Los Gallardos. I noticed he (wisely?) stayed away from the tapas. While the conversation ranged over several different subjects, he did volunteer the information that the biggest difference in local restaurants he has noticed so far is that with “el crisis” they seem to be cutting down on cleaning products. Hmm.
After he had left, while chatting to another friend of mine who has a position in Turre town hall, he recalled a story he had heard recently about the Jornadas Gastronimicas de Turre, where the locals from Turre exhibited their traditional recipes for pork at Hotel Tito Pacos (I was there – see here). Seems Martin (health inspector) cancelled the show as it was “not up to health code”. Well, quite. We were in dead pigs up to our waists, for a start.
However, Rodrigo (mayor of Turre) made a phone call to the Diputación. Diputación made a phone call to Sanidad. Long story short, Martin was called in for a meeting with his boss – we know not what went on in the meeting- and when he came out (white and trembling) he removed the cancellation and allowed the show to continue.
Local politics, eh?