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So my son has a brand new 1,300 page Spanish dictionary for school. He didn’t know what it was for, so I sat him down and explained how to use a dictionary. I asked him for a difficult word and he came up with “pandemic”. We looked it up.Turns out “pandemia” isn’t in his new dictionary We found “panda” and “pandemonio” and “pandemónium” (def. see pandemonio) and pandera and pandereta (def. see pandera, small) but Continue reading When a dictionary fails you
So the head of the local police in Cuevas was told some squatters (Okupas) had just taken over a property in the town. He went round, made a fuss and kicked the squatters out. So far, so good. He’s now in trouble for “unbecoming behaviour” and the okupas have filed a criminal complaint against him for infringing their rights. They also accused him of using his service revolver to blow their padlock off the front Continue reading Cuevas local police in trouble for clearing out dangerous squatters
As part of the budget balancing plan demanded by Brussels, Madrid has promised to impose a 4 cent per Km toll on every single motorway in the country by 2024. The fact that we already HAVE a toll on road usage – fuel tax – is irrelevant here, the important thing is to bring in a new tax that they can up as we go along. That means that to go from LG to Almería Continue reading Obligatory motorway tolls on the way
So, Madrid has spoken. Iglesias certainly stirred up “the mob”, the “noble forgotten working class of the outer cities” as he called them (patronising as always), but sadly they voted for anybody but him. More importantly, the steadfast Madrileños have spoken damn good common sense last night. They have rejected outspoken politicians who only try to divide us by stirring up anger and ancient wounds for their own benefits. His own supporters turning away from Continue reading Madrid has spoken much good sense
Ever wondered what happened to that tortoise you handed over to the competent authority? It got sent to a concentration camp in the mountains, died, and was thrown in a hole. Allegedly, according to an investigation by Ecologistas en Acción, who reckon more than 2,000 tortoises in the CREA (wild animal recuperation space) in Vélez Blanco have died through “negligance”. That’s 1 in 3, in case you’re keeping count of the genocide. In 9 years Continue reading The tortoise concentration camp
Rumours are starting about whether Susana Diaz, the leader of the PSOE in Andalusia, is going to be forced out this year. Several of the large beasts of the party in the region are opening talking about the need for “regeneration” and a “new generation”. The money seems to be on Juan Espadas (mayor of Seville) as new leader. Diaz was the regional President until she lost office in the last elections. She has since Continue reading Susana Díaz on the way out?
Another 10 electricity generating wind turbines, producing 36 megawatts, are to be installed around the village of Serón. Almería currently produces some 736 MW of renewable energy a year, about 10% of the regional total. There are 19 wind parks setup in the province, mainly on the high mountains. Serón is the municipality with the most amount of wind turbines. https://www.lavozdealmeria.com/noticia/3/provincia/206833/asi-sera-el-nuevo-parque-eolico-de-almeria-que-ya-cuenta-con-el-ok-de-la-junta
The Director General for Citizen Participation and Human Rights for the regional government of La Rioja, who is a senior Podemos politician, (allegedly) went to an illegal rave for NYE, drove home hammered after curfew started, smashed his expensive BMW into a tree and legged it into the bushes when the cops arrived to avoid taking a breath test. An alternative story is offered by the protaganist of this story online: “I had some bad Continue reading Politician comes a cropper
A distressing report emerges today from government statistics in Spain, showing that the lockdown has killed many more than the disease. From the start of the pandemic until the third week in September, there were 54.811 excess deaths (more people dying that the average over the last few years). 30.633 of these have been officially attributed to Covid. 24.148 (that’s 80% of the Covid deaths!) died from other causes. That’s excess deaths, above the average, Continue reading Covid lockdown has killed almost as many as Covid in Spain
Selling a house is about to become more expensive after the government slipped in a codicile to the new antifraud law. (The law hasn’t yet been passed but is likely to pass). The regional governments have for the last few years been trying to tax house sales on the greatest of three: declared house sale price, cadastral or other taxation value OR assumed market value (VRM). The Courts have constantly rejected this assumed cadastral valuation Continue reading Tax hike slipped in on property sales