Archive for category Articles
Still don’t know how to vote in the EU elections?
Courtesy of South of Watford I’ve been made aware of this website:
For some reason, its recommended I vote for Coalición Canaria, but when switching to UK results I’m a blue blooded Conservative. Good job I’m not German – nowhere near anybody.
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The pandemic – why it ain´t what you thought it was
(Printed in issue 4 of www.thereader.es)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that we are on the brink of a swine flu pandemic that will sweep the world. However, in conversations with local residents we realised, to our horror, that most people do not know what a pandemic is!
Cases across Europe have “soared”, from possibly 80 to almost certainly 106; confirmed deaths in Mexico have, in a perplexing twist to the case that nobody can explain (possibly having something to do with Tequila) dropped from “believed to be around 500” to “could be 29”. This latest news caused the WHO to raise their World Pandemic Alert from phase 4 to phase 5 (out of a possible 6) and setup a dedicated website entitled THE SWINE FLU PANDEMIC – PREPARE TO DIE ALONE.
Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), acting on medical advice, advised British citizens overseas to stay at least 5 feet away from anyone at all times, which rather put a dampener on my friends stag do in Prague, and under no circumstances shake hands with any dirty foreigner fella unless he was covering his mouth when coughing.
An FCO spokesperson confirmed that it was vital to drum into people the correct usage of the word “pandemic”, preferably via large headlines in the press. This TheReader.es reporter, armed with masks, gloves, tissues and a small bottle of whiskey (no rubbing alcohol being found in the medicine cabinet) went out into the wilds of Almería to find out what people thought “pandemic” meant.
Phil O’Lancer, 23 from Essex, rather cockily told this reporter that it meant “millions of deaths, bodies piled up in the street, large red X’s daubed on people’s doors and lime filled plague pits”. Imagine his embarrassment, and the laughter of his more world weary friends, when informed that the WHO actually defined it as “over 6 people confined to bed with Lucozade and a slight temperature”.
His girlfriend Jane said that she was somewhat disappointed not to have seen soldiers in the streets patrolling with tanks and dressed in full white, biohazard suits. “Like, ya know, in that film when the monkey escaped? Because the monkey had a disease? Or sommat? Ya know?”
Yes Jane, we know. However, it appears that Guardia Civil officers at the nations airports have been reissued with machine guns and Franco era “take ‘em out back if they cough / look at you funny” orders, which is at least a relief to those of us unable to find surgical masks at short notice.
A spokesperson from the WHO clarified the subject for us. “A Pandemic is classified as any infectious disease that infects over 100 people in at least three countries. We use the word Pandemic as a technical term, made up of the greek words “Pan” (everyone) and “demic” (scare the whatsit out of)”.
When it was pointed out that under this classification it could be claimed that there is currently a Pandemic of thinking that Gordon Brown was doing a good job managing the economy, he shut up. Although he did, later and somewhat weakly, point out that making a fuss over that wouldn’t “sell newspapers”.
Blasted traffic fines
I am sick and tired of local and regional government authorities taking advantage of us motorists to improve their balance books.
Major cities across Spain (how long before Mojácar or Albox twig onto the same scam? Vera has!) have told their local police to start cracking down on any innocent motorist who finds a space and leaves his / her car. €95 fine plus the tow truck and it’s not worth the hassle to appeal.
True story: The GF (who is Spanish), lived in Granada city centre for many years and still has a flat right in the centre. When up there a couple of months ago for the day, she parked in the same street she always has, only to find upon her return that her car was gone. Despite the fact that there were no changes to street signs, no yellow lines, nothing.
Upon inquiring politely at the nearest police station, she was made to wait over two hours before being attended to, and this only after she threw herself on the sympathy of a young Policia Local who realised that she needed her car to return home to Almería that night. He checked the computer and confirmed that no, her car hadn’t been stolen as she feared, it had been taken by the tow truck. As she pointed out, what if she had followed police advice and canceled her credit cards that were in the car?
The sympathetic police officer double checked and confirmed that, yes, the street -and indeed the whole area- was now “no parking” but that it seemed nobody had got around to changing the street signs. That doesn’t matter, it appears, if the road is deemed “no parking” you can’t park and unless there is a sign explicitly stating you can park there the matter is deemed closed.
€95 parking fine to the town hall, reduced by 10% for paying on the first notice. A further €65 to the tow truck company to get her car out. The sympathetic Policia Local confirmed that the “highups” in Granada town hall had demanded a crack down on traffic offenses to raise a bit of cash and advised the GF to pay up because unless she wanted to take it to court – several years and the possibility of having to pay all costs if she lost – an appeal would just lose her her early payment discount.
And yes, Almería town hall is by all accounts doing the same thing. And now Murcia. Although Murcia has not just come up with the idea to fine anyone who impedes traffic (normally vagabonds who offer to wash your windscreen or sell you tissues at traffic lights) but will also fine anyone who is pressurized into using these services for “impeding the traffic flow”.
Now, parking fines correspond to the local town hall. They control parking areas and order their local police officers to enforce the rules. So a mayor who isn’t overly bothered about getting complaints from the neighbours can impose a few unfair parking rules and place a copper behind a bush to start issuing the fines.
But now, it appears that the Guardia are getting in on the act by giving the townhall “kickbacks” from all fines raised in their areas.
So whereas before if they had a crackdown in a certain area the neighbors would kick up a fuss with the mayor and he would ask them to move along, by handing back a certain amount of each fine to the local town hall they have ensured an easy revenue stream and no complaints from the local ayuntamiento.
If the local townhalls want to improve traffic flow and parking (and heavens above we all know most towns needs a bit more planning!) carry out a proper study that takes into account local business needs for parking. Clearly signpost and mark out areas. Don’t just decide to turn a road into “non parking” and take advantage of an inefficient appeal service to stop people complaining.
Olula del Rio businessman kills 2 gypsy “mafiosos” over protection racket
A businessman in Olula del Rio has been arrested for the murder of two young gypsies. According to sources, the two gypsies (who belonged to the “Los Pertolos” clan of Albox), at 9am this morning, entered his marble quarrying business (Marmoles Ballester) to demand some protection money to prevent something unpleasant happening to his business. Unofficial sources suggest that they were armed with either guns or bats.
The businessman vanished into his back room to get the cash, and returned with a shotgun, with which he proceeded to pump several rounds into each gypsy. Upon being calmed down by his staff, he proceeded to the local police station and handed himself in.
The “Los Pertolos” gang is rumoured to be a small time Albox gang involved in drugs and prostition in Albox. This appears to be the first (and last?) time they have entered the protection racket. The two dead men appear to be uncle and nephew (Juan Petronilo R. T., 52 years, & Juan Petronilo R. F., 19 years of age).
One assumes that this will not be the last chapter of this story - los gitanos aren’t big on sitting back and allowing Justice to run its course. According to Canal Sur TV, the Guardia Civil are stepping up local patrols in order to prevent revenge attacks. Employee Jose Martinez told the local news “I was up on the roof and heard some shots, and thought that’s funny, it’s not hunting season… so I came down and saw the boss standing over them”.
Chaves liquidates the historic debt with Andalucia – only €95 a head?
The Andalucia Historic Debt (Deuda Histórica de Andalucía) is a somewhat fuzzy concept of how much Spain has had out of Andalucía, versus what Andalucía has had out Spain. Some people calculate it from the late 1800’s. The central government tried to define the concept in 1978, and again in 1981 with the Fondo Compensación Interterritorial (Interterritorial Compensation Fund), but naturally enough Catalunya was miffed that they weren’t getting “enough”.
Ignoring the fact that so far I’ve been unable to find any cohesive argument for the H.D. (its mainly a nationalist ploy to make the plebs feel as if “they” have ripped “us” off) ZP recent paid off the Catalans with 800million €s, or about €108 a head in order to shut everybody up.
The payment for Andalucía at first looked promising. 1,204 million euros. But is the new total amount to be paid, and Aznar paid 120 million in 1996 (before stopping because Andalucía got into an almighty row about the final amount) and ZP has already paid 300 million last year. This leaves a final 780 million euros, or €95 a head, to be paid before the 20th of March 2010, if ZP hasn’t bankrupted us all by then (nobody knows where the money is coming from).
The P.P. is making political capital of the fact that Aznar (P.P. ex prime minister) originally offered 500 million more than ZP (PSOE current p.m.), and claim that this is a face saving political measure by Chaves (dubbed “King Maker” after having been spotted Up North after the recent elections, talking to all sides) to prop up ZPs administration as it goes through a sticky patch. Although the PSOE in Seville are gleeful about the windfall and claim that the P.P. would never have paid Andalucía a cent.
And the loony nationalist bloc are already complaining about how much Madrid had out of Spain when the South American treasure troves were passing through the region in the 15th and 16th centuries, plus the expropiation of land from peasents in the 17th and 18th, mining concessions in the 19th…. I’m just glad we never had any oil, or there would be trouble.
Meanwhile, political pundits are being gloomy about the fact that a further 6 autonomous regions are looking into putting in their own claims and that “its the end of Spain”. However, Andalucía was the first to mention the topic when it insisted in the 1981 Statues of Autonomy the inclusion of the mention of the “Historic Debt”, so it probably deserved something just for coming up with the idea.
I wonder if Almería can claim a Historic Debt with Seville..?
The other 6 regions, by the way, are:
Aragón: wants 600M.
Baleares: in 2008 estimated the debt to be 344M.
Galicia: in 2003 wanted 600M, then sat down with a pen and a napkin in a bar, redid its sums and came out with a new figure in 2004 of 1600M. (No doubt claimed the first 1 was a typing error).
Murcia: Is threatening to go to the courts if it doesn’t get 1600M.
La Rioja: 537M estimate.
Extremadura: Doesn’t know yet, but damned well wants something.
Granada + new phone!
In case anybody noticed (I know you didn’t) it’s been a bit quiet around here this week because I’ve spent a fabulous week up in Granada.
I love Granada. The GF’s family has a large flat in the centre, just off the Gran Via. Sadly, we couldn’t stay there as it’s currently infested with students and I’m past that stage of life where I think nothing of having to bleach the shower before stepping in there. My suggestion of sending in the exterminators having failed to clear the voting stage, I made alternate arrangements at my new favourite haunt, the AC Palacio de Santa Clara, also on the Gran Via.
I’ve never really been a fan of five star hotels. I usually find 4 stars to be just as comfortable and the service is usually better in a good 4 star than a bad 5 star. The AC was no different, although the rooms are sumptuous. It’s built around a series of Moorish courtyards, so all rooms have a patio view. It had good service in as much as when you frantically waved at a waiter for another drink they didn’t sigh too heavily as they stopped chatting to their friend before coming over. Great bunch of lads tho’. The GF suggested that me calling it the “Palacio de Santa Claus” probably didn’t help matters. That, and filling the room with a bunch of Jamones I picked up at a two for the price of one deal. De-licious.
I mainly selected the AC because it’s got the only wall in town without any graffiti on it. This is achieved thanks to some CCTV, a large stick, and two even larger gypsies, I was told. Seriously, the graffiti problem in Granada is out of control. Even the police station is graffitied. Idea: Any student caught writing his half baked philosophy idea on a wall looses twenty credits. That would solve the problem.
Granada is great fun. The GF spent her university years there, so she knows the place inside out. This time, she introduced me to a local delicacy – it’s a Jamón, but it’s not cured. Instead, they roast it, as if it were a chicken on a spit. There is no way to tell you how good it is. Jamón Asado, it’s called.
Granada is full of tapa bars. Everywhere you go, you get a tapa with your beer or wine. And it’s cheap. Damned cheap. Packed, too. Every night of the week we ate out in the Bodegas, every night of the week we had to squeeze through the masses to get to the bar. Crisis? What crisis? I dread to think what it’s like in a time of prosperity.
While pottering around, I brought the Samsung Omnia PDA. Sorry Chris Marshall, it knocks your Iphone into a cocked hat. 
5mp camara. GPS. Wireless. 100% touch screen. See all specs here. http://es.samsungmobile.com/mobile/Omnia.
And I’m sure that once I figure out how to make a phone call on it, it’ll be a damn fine phone as well.
If you’re in Granada, don’t go to the Movistar shop on the Gran Via, as it’s populated by large snooty girls who refuse to stop gossiping to serve you. Go to the one round the corner, on Plaza Alhondigas, where Ana will, with a smile, shoo the smelly hippies away and serve you. 9 different calls she had to make to track down the Omnia.
Hippies? There’s a lot of hippies in Granada. Beggers, too. Pickpockets too I’m told, although this time of year they aren’t too bad and being a simple country lad I’m too distrustful to allow anyone close to me. I was going to buy an ivory topped cane to shoo them away, but it seems ivory isn’t in season at the moment. Much to the GF’s relief. Pity, I liked the vision of me in a top hat and three piece suit.
Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain (3)
I wrote a while back about a “Federation” I spotted, called the Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain, which was supposedly setup to regulate “British” estate agents in Spain. This initially seemed, to me, to be a good idea, but upon investigation I spotted a few things which put my hackles up. Here’s the previous articles:
http://www.davidjackson.info/2008/federation-of-british-estates-agents-in-spain.htm
http://www.davidjackson.info/2008/federation-of-british-estate-agents-in-spain-2.htm
You can see the website of the company involved at www.fbeas.com.
These posts were picked up by some other blogs and resulted in an interesting thread over at Spanish Real Estate Forum, which ended up being one of the most popular ones on the board, over 13 pages long. While this proved popular, this week it mysteriously vanished off the forum, without explanation. I suggest you check out Google Cache (here) to see it.
The basic issue is, and I stress that I am not implying in any way that any of the companies or people involved are participating in anything illegal, is that the Federation is actually a multi listing service which allows real estate agencies to share properties for a fee. However, this is hidden behind a facade of being a not-for-profit organisation that is attempting to regulate the industry, when in reality it is a limited company called BRIRES S.L.
Now, first of by using the word “Federation” in the title (Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain) they are implying that they are a Federacion, or Federation. A Federation, or Association, under Spanish law is a properly constituted not for profit legal entity, which is regulated under certain laws and guarantees - the Ley Organica 1/2002 (22 de marzo), which controls not for profit organisations under Article 22 of the Constitution, and, for Federaciones or Asociaciones constituted in Andalucia, the Ley 2/2006, (23 de Junio), de Asociaciones de Andalucia (even if they are national in nature) For Associations constituted in other autonomous regions different Leys apply, although they are all much the same in nature.
What this means is that under Spanish law, an Association or Federation is a legal entity in the same way that a limited company is a legal entity, although it’s a lot easier to setup up (you just need three sponsors, the articles of constitution and the aims). But, it is registered, along with the board of directors, sponsors and articles of association in a central registry and must obey certain laws in order to give the public reassurance.
The main difference between an Asociacion and a Federacion is that the formed is composed of physical entities, whereas the latter is composed of legal entities. So if you have a group of neighbours with a common aim you setup an Asociacion, if you have a group of Asociaciones or companies you setup a Federacion. So you may have several sports teams in different villages, each one being an Asociacion, but if they all group together they can form a Federacion. With all the rights and responsabilities that come with this. I will henceforth use the term Federacion without being too picky about the legal niceties between the two, as we are talking about a Federation here.
Now, you setup a Federacion to defend your rights and promote your cause. It is non profit making, any income is supported by the group and used to further the aims of the group. It does not pay taxes (except in certain cases) but is not supposed to run profit making activities (with the exception of fund raising), and cannot distribute profits back to members or directors. It has no “owners” (only founders) and has a clear voting structure that allows for the removal of directors, etc. Under English law it would be a charity.
A limited company (an S.L., sociedad limitada, or a S.A., sociedad Anonima), on the other hand, is the opposite – it is a profit making vehicle that is designed to make money and distribute that wealth among its shareholders. Owned by certain named people and with a central person (the Administrador) in charge.
These are titles. You can no more, under Spanish law, call yourself a Federation if you are not then call yourself a SA you are an SL – by doing so you are claiming to be a different type of organisation. It’s like a limited company pretending to be a PLC, or a charity. I’m told that the FBEAS argument is that they are using the English word “Federation” in their trading name, so it’s legal. Frankly, I doubt it, as a court case some time back in Malaga ruled that a company trading under an English name that included the word “Corporation” had intent to deceive.
So straight away we have a conflict of interest in the case of the Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain. It claims to be non profit making organisation, but is run as a profit making organisation. So it has to charge I.V.A. on all income, and pay tax on all earnings. It claims to be a regulatory body, but as a limited company it has no legal power to accept subscriptions nor enforce regulations. I would consider that what it is doing is basically leasing its logo to companies in exchange for a payment of 175€ a year. After all, if the company running this “Federation” declares a loss for three straight years it’s closed down by the Registrar of Companies – it is obliged to generate a profit year on year, a profit that is then handed back to it’s shareholders.
We then come to the MLS, the Multi Listing Service part of the business. This is a service that provides, in exchange for a fee, properties from other estate agents that you can market under your own brand. It’s a popular idea, as it allows smaller estate agents access to a larger property portfolio. Nothing wrong with it, and Brires SL charges a fee for belonging. But, it’s a conflict of interest. “Members” of the Federation are paying to list their properties on the MLS and market other peoples properties. How can we be sure that the Federation will expell a member for breaking its articles of association if that member is contributing a large number of properties to the system and selling other peoples properties? The simple act of expelling a member could give the whole network a crippling blow from which it would not recover – a network that is receiving money.
“The FBEAS actively encourages the highest standards in real estate practice. Its unceasing aim is that the practice of real estate in Spain be recognised by the Members and the general public as a profession and that its Members be respected and trusted by all.” (From the FBEAS website – http://www.fbeas.com/)
“As a Member you will be permitted to use the letters FFBEAS, MFBEAS or AFBEAS after your name depending on the level of your membership and carry and display the Federation membership card.” (http://www.fbeas.com/Join_the_federation.asp). Guess what? Maybe I’ll go copyright the word “FFBEAS”. Then serve you with a cease and desist notice. You’re an SL company that has no reason to use my trademark. Or maybe I’ll just start using the word FFBEAS in my real estate agency. (I don’t have one, by the way). No way you can stop me. You could if you were a proper Federation, as it would be registered in the Register of Associations.
Another thing that I’m doubtful about is the title. “British Estate Agents in Spain”. How do you qualify this? Who is a “British Estate Agent”? Do you need to be based out of the UK? Do you have to have a UK passport?
Complaints. Joe Bloggs the estate agent gave me terrible advice and as a result I’m €5000 out of pocket. I want to complain to the “Federation” whose fancy logo enticed me in his office in the first place (Hey! He has the letters FFBEAS on his business card! He must be legal!). How do I do this? There is no clear way to do this on their website, simply vague references to “formal complaints (received in writing)”. Unlike the vast wodges of text dedicated to training or becoming a member. I’ve been suckered into Joe Bloggs Estate Agents, but the very organisation that made me trust him now don’t want anything to do with me.
7. Complaints and disputes
i).The complaints and disputes board will be appointed as necessary by the Directors of the Federation. They will oversee and adjudicate any formal complaints (received in writing), whether these complaints are made by members of the public against conduct of a Federation Member or indeed by one Federation Member against another.
ii). After due consideration, the board are empowered to:
a). Dismiss the complaint and take no action.
b). Issue a written warning.
c). Impose a financial penalty.
d). Impose a reduction in membership.
e). Issue a suspension notice.
f). Issue an expulsion notice.
(from http://www.fbeas.com/Code_of_Practice.asp)
But who… are the “Directors”? Are they the same as the Board? Doesn’t say anywhere on the website.
Here’s my points, summarised:
- This organisation is misrepresenting itself. It’s pretending to be a not for profit organisation when it’s consituted as a for profit organisation. It is pretending to be regulated under one legal jurisdiction when it’s actually in another. Clients who see that logo on the door may actually be swayed into making financial decisions without realising that they don’t have the legal cover they think they had.
- Monies received are being wasted. Members “subscriptions” actually go in the owners pocket and in taxes, when “members” may believe that it’s all being used for promotion of the market.
- It is missing out on public money and the many advantadges of being a proper association with many members.
- There is a lack of transparency. There are no explanations of how directors are appointed, who these people are, who can stand for membership of the board, etc. Oh, sorry, I forgot: it belongs to Bill, so Bill does whatever he wants with it.)
- There is no interest in communicating with the end clients. How do I register a complaint? How do I know what’s happening?
- There is a clear conflict of interest, by running an MLS for profit at the same time as a regulatory body.
- There is no third party control or auditing of this company.
- They are potentially enticing innocent “members” into deceiving their clients by misrepresenting their legal status.
- As a commercial name of a limited company (“Federation of British Estate Agents in Spain”, FBEAS, being the commercial name of Brires SL) I consider it to be against articles 5.G and 5.J of the Ley 17/2001, de 7 de diciembre, de Marcas.
I started off thinking that this was a good idea that was amazingly badly mishandled; maybe, I thought, old Bill Peterkin had a vision and just didn’t have a clue how to go about it. But at the end of a good long think about it, I’d say it’s just another attempt to take advantadge of lax Spanish laws for personal gain.
A defense for religious fundamentalists
Let us carry out a logical walkthrough of religious fundamentalists.
First of all, allow us to eliminate from our equation such issues as politics, family grievances, etc. I am talking about proper “redneck” “you’re going to hell coz you ain’t going to ma church!” religion.
True religion. The one where you have a book of laws and you obey those laws because otherwise You Are In Trouble With God. Which, let’s be frank, is “proper” religion: you can’t pick and mix the bits you like, can you?
First of all, let us assume that Mr A. is “religious”. The definition of this would be that Mr A. assumes the existance of, and announces his loyalty, to a deity. (Who this deity is is irrelevant for this excercise).
Once Mr A. has announced that he believes in his deity, then, in general terms, he assumes the mantle of the proclamations of said deity (and I defy you to find a deity who hasn’t issued such proclamations, whether it be through actual human prophets alive or texts from previous people who claim to have been in communication with that deity – all deities come with their own belief system).
Now, a common thread throughout all religions is an afterlife. That this current life is a sort of prelude to our eternal life with Him (ever notice how after 1 A.D. most deities are “Him”?) and that the afterlife is seperated in two, a “high” path and a “Low” path (usually High for good people, and Low for bad; i.e. Heaven and Hell).
Now, we have established that in the mind of Mr A.:
-There is a God.
-Human life is Eternal – we have a waiting period of some 70 (threescore and ten?) years here all together, but afterwards we pass to another phase of living.
-God has established a system by which people who adhere to His rulings live Evermore in Heaven, and people who do not go to Hell.
-Mr A., obviously, does not want to go to Hell, as it is for Eternity and while there may be get out clauses allowing him to transfer in the future to Heaven, best to start off as we mean to go on.
-Mr A. loves his fellow human beings and wants the best for them (for all eternity).
Now, if we truly believe that we all live for eternity, but unless we live to the codice passed down to us by our Deity we pass through a period of torment (or pain or suffering), surely it is our DUTY to help our fellow human beings (whom we love) towards the “high” path of love and compassion? Otherwise we ourselves run the risk of being judged unworthy and being sent via the “low” path of torment?
So we need to go out and “convert” our fellow human beings to our way of thinking, to show them the truth and the light.
See where I’m going with this?
What if we insert another line into the Codice which has been programmed into Mr. A’s mind?
Let’s see… something like “The practice of godworship must be destroyed”.
Or “The godworshiping nations must be destroyed”.*
Funny how many religions have a sentence like this inserted into their codices.
So we know have the logical deduction that:
God created us. God gave us Laws, and if we all Obey these Laws we shall be happy for Eternity because we shall all go to Heaven for Evermore. Those neighbours of ours that do not Obey Gods Laws are putting themselves at rish of going to Hell. I love my fellow human and as such must Convert them to follow my God. If they then refuse to follow my God they have condemned themselves, therefore I must concentrate my resources on protecting my fellow Believers against those who will be condemned by the Ultimate Authority.
At the end of this, and to make a long story short, I have to admit that I admire the deluded religious fanatics that have the courage to strap on a bomb and blow themselves up. Because they have the courage of their convictions. Yes, they’re mad sods who have been brainwashed by their political masters into becoming shortlived tools to benefit said masters, but that is the point of religion. And that is why when I see an Anglican on TV asking for another lump of sugar in his tea I laugh. Religion isn’t about tea. It’s about blood, and sex, and life, and Eternity for Everymore. It’s about “I live a life of pleasure for evermore” but “you are forever damned to unmentionable Hells of Torment you unBeliever”.
*The last two quotations are Deuteronomy 12:2-4 and Deuteronomy25:1-8. Deuteronomy, for those of you who don’t know, is the main “codice” part of the Old Testament, where the basic rules of life and Law are laid down as dictated by Yahweh. We now know it mainly as “the 10 commandments” (probably because the other 603 have nothing to do with our 21st century life).
P.S. If you have any comments regarding the above, allow me to remind you that “In the seventh year a foreigner may be pressed for payment of a debt (Deuteronomy 15:3)”. Not something that ought to be published along the Costas, me thinks.
First pesetas, now they’re accepting civil war pesetas
You may have heard that a number of businesses have started accepting pesetas in their shops, the idea being to attract those customers who have a bunch of the old coinage still stashed away but not enough to make the trip to Madrid to change it for Euros.
The idea seemed to start with a bar in Zaragoza, and was quickly taken up by a number of shops across the land, cumulating with the Almeria City Centre Shopping Centre agreeing between all of its members to accept the old pesetas in their shops just before Christmas – they would then pool the money and take it to Madrid in a lump sum.
Things have now taken an unexpected turn – they’re accepting the old Pre-Franco notes!
Here’s a 500pts note from the Second Republic (circa 1927):
However, during the civil war, as boundaries shifted and the government collapsed, the “official” currency of Spain became worthless. So, local town halls or Revolutionary groups would create local treasuries (usually by confiscating all the gold and silver in town and putting it in a basement) and issue their own notes or bonds.
I’ve always had an interest in these notes, as during the civil war local town halls started to print their own notes, with their local crests on them, back by the town treasuries. Locally, I know that Almeria, Berja, Mojacar and Bedar all printed them, and I have a few lying around. Here’s an example of one from Almeria, supposedly backed by the State:
And here’s a bond from the other side, probably backed by the local treasury and with a promise to pay in pesetas once the situation stablised (note that this is by a “Colectividad”, not a town hall, so it’s Franco backed):
Of course, these bonds are worthless nowadays, as they aren’t backed by anything and all the ones issued by the loosing side were dumped anyway. But, in theory, the pesetas are still exchangeable for Euros if you get enough of them to warrant a trip to the Banco de España in Madrid. So the Almeria city centre shopping association has started a scheme whereby you take your notes in, get a chit for them, and they send all of them up to Madrid for the Banco de España to verify. If your notes are worth anything, they give you a voucher to spend in their shops, if not you get your notes back.
A wonderful idea, and in case you’re sniffing about it, so far they’ve collected over 200,000pts worth of notes (in theory, worth around €1200).
Blasted linguistic purists – verbing doesn’t weird language!
While being the first to applaud correct spelling (leaving Americanisms to those who live in the deep south), correct implementation of lexigraphy and a basic knowledge of grammer, I can’t help feeling somewhat ticked off by these semi-literate knowalls who have, and are, jumping on the “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” bandwagon.
These unhappy people, who appear to be quite happy to write inches of columns and shelves of books in their quest to make money out of their own obsessions, jump on every newfangled modification of the English language as if it were a spear targeting the very heart of our linguistic purity.
Top among the irritants that set these people whining is swopping “doing words” for “thing words” – the sin of verbing nouns. So what? Who cares?
We often verb acronyms. “I’ll NFA that”. (No Further Action). “It’s FUBARed”. (Fecked Up Beyond All Recognition). Verbal shorthand that meets with universal approval between “them what know”, even if it may leave those of a different generation “out of the loop”. Yet, in the eyes of some, a hanging offense. Who immediately start blogging their complaints online, if you’ll pardon the pun . (blogging (v.?)—that is, writing and sharing on my blog (n.)—my Web (adj., n.) log (n.).)
Does verbing nouns really impact upon correct usage of English? Should we care? Should we run out and demand to setup a L’Académie Ainglais? With powers to fine or imprison those who transgress Her Majesty’s English Rules?
I will admit many of these corporate buzzphrases are annoying. I admit I don’t know what “getting incentivized” really means. Nor “We want to holiday our house this year”. But the problem there isn’t that the verb has been nouned, it’s that the twits who wrote or spoke the phrase are idiots, and other idiots think it’s smart to repeat the phrases. It’s communication, not the structure of the sentence that’s the problem here.
After all, nobody complains when they can access their computer. Or host their mail on a server. Nouns that through common usage have become verbs, and now seem part of our day to day life.
How ignorant do you have to be? By stopping such developments, you’re stopping the evolution of English. English is so strong, so powerful, because it can be used in such ways, and everybody understands what you mean. We don’t have “proper” rules, such as laid down in stone as they do in French, or Spanish, or Russian, and English is better for it. That’s why English is the second language everybody learns, or the third language everybody speaks. Stick to ensuring the proper flow of communication, is my advice to these pedants, and ignore transitional phrases. After it, it never hurt Shakespeare – he was the first English writer to realise the flexibility of nouns and look where it got him.
But I will never, never, ever, accept the repetition of “like” every six words in a sentence. Like, it’s so annoying, that like, it like, just gets on my nerves. Like, dunno, like right?
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