They're royally at it again!

The British Royal Family seems hell bent on killing me.

Why, I ask myself, do the future nuptials of the second grandson of an ageing Germanic dwarf squatting tenaciously on the British throne merit even a mention on Spanish television, let alone a fairly extended puff.  On Radio 4 yesterday when I listened to the news, it was the lead item!

I am just waiting for some lickspittle apology for a journalist to suggest that the wedding (sorry, The Wedding) of these two young people (to whom as human beings I bear no ill will and wish all the luck in the world for their successful future) will bring a moment of happiness and delight, will lift the spirits of the nation when so much of what happens in the world today, and especially in Britain is so dull and dour!  Surely, they will state, only the most dyed in the wool sourpuss could fail to allow the spirits to be lifted by such a fairy tale narrative of true love!  Well, well, well, no sooner speculated about than it happened on Radio 4, the “little patch of brightness” justification for a totally unjustifiable institution.

The Coronation of Elizabeth II has been described as a bright splash of colour in the drab days of the early 1950s.  The Festival of Britain of 1951 (which had been strenuously opposed by the Conservatives throughout its development) had offered a picture of progress dangled seductively (though impossibly for most) in front of a population hungry for something more than they had been enduring in the days and years of austerity after the end of the Second World War in 1945.   

In the year of the Coronation in 1953 food rationing still had a year to run.  Rationing meant that when buying certain food items, coupons torn from an officially distributed book had to be presented to the shopkeeper so that only the government imposed limited allowance could be purchased by an individual.  Meat was the final item to come ‘off ration’ in 1954.

In a post-nuclear age in which an atomic and a hydrogen bomb had been dropped, in a time in which an entire continent (and indeed continents) was being redrawn and rethought, the British press and a young BBC television system colluded in the celebration of an anarchic, anti-democratic hereditary power grab completely at odds with the meritocracy that people thought they were voting for in the election at the end of the war.  
‘Bread and circuses’ to deflect the attention of the population from what is important, worked for the Romans and has worked for unscrupulous governments ever since when they needs to hide harsh reality from a population which should be rising and smiting the rulers who continue to take advantage of them.

I feel sorry for Charlie-Boy as he ages into a crusty old fuddy-duddy, seemingly and bizarrely older than his ancient mother.  When speaking of the succession people always think of the grandchildren’s generation and not that of the heir apparent.  Who, let’s be fair, wants to see an ageing nonentity decked out in fancy dressed clothes trying to eradicate the memory of his mother who always did things so much better than he?  He is going to look and sound absurd when he finally gets to mount the throne and he, like so many members of a ‘royal family’ which only exists because a supine government allows it to exist, actually believes that he some something unique and god-given to bring to political debate.

Via the ’spider’ letters to governmental departments we know that Charles has been trying to influence policy, trying to act as if a king-in-waiting actually mattered in the day to day running of the state.  Mostly, of course, these superannuated ‘royals’ are knobheads more attuned to going on holidays than having an understanding of affairs of state.  They have carnal affairs, are filmed frolicking about naked, keep their mouths open when they should be shut, make the most of their ability to have a comfortable life and then drone on and on about concepts like ‘duty’ to keep us grateful.

The fact that a royal family exists anywhere in Europe today, is a condemnation of the people of the counties that allow them to parade their ‘birth right’ advantages.  Our queen is queen because her playboy uncle had an unsuitable affair with a divorced woman and her father smoked himself to death.  Et voila! A ‘royal’ princess is encouraged to mount the Confessor’s seat and be crowned with an absurd bauble whose vulgarity is only mitigated by the sheer cost of the thing.

Here in Spain we have an arrogant and tall monarch who has taken to the television to lecture Catalonia about their naughtiness.  The historical irony of having a member of the House of Bourbon lecturing anyone is too sad to even be amusing! 

Our King is King of PP and PSOE – they after all did the stich up to ensure that he succeeded his father, there being no process in the Constitution to facilitate abdication. 

His father, the elephant killing, philandering, failure ‘abdicated’ rather than take the continuing poor publicity which was centring more and more on the institution of the monarchy itself.  In an astonishing broadcast (or rather one of his astonishing broadcasts) that he made, I think to demonstrate the fellow feeling with his subjects that were reeling from the financial collapse of western capitalism (just before he went on an all expenses paid luxury safari to kill elephants) he emphasised that we are basically all in this together and he uttered the deathless words that, “Justice is the same for everybody!”

Except of course it isn’t.  Not here in Spain.  We are not all equal before the law, that is to say The Law is there for everyone, but certain people can only be tried by higher courts e.g. Senators and Members of the Congress of Deputies.  Justice is not the same for everyone, that is a lie or at least a bending of the truth to such an extent that you are basically saying “the thing that is not”.  In Britain and Germany the number of people who are in a privileged position as far as the law is concerned is precisely zero.  In Spain there are hundreds, if not thousands.

The playing around with concepts of freedom and liberty are going to be particularly obvious as we move into the election campaign leading up to the crucial vote on December 21^st which is universally seen as a referendum on independence for Catalonia.

Our President and key members of government are in exile in Belgium; members of the government have been imprisoned by the National Government here in Spain and two members of independentist organizations have also been imprisoned.  A western European country with political prisoners!

The fountains in the centre of Barcelona have been illuminated with yellow light, a tribute to the yellow ribbon worn by those who are demanding the release of the political prisoners.  This illumination has been banned by the electoral commission – I wonder if they are going to ban colours which match the political parties of the opposition to independence?  I think not.

The judges were supposed to have delivered a ruling today about the continued detention of the political prisoners.  Finance has been organized, as well as a party to greet the freed prisoners.  The judge, without explanation, has delayed his pronouncement until Monday, we suspect because of the preparations laid to make the most of the release of the prisoners.  Petty spitefulness well worthy of their paymasters in PP.

So, if you can remember that far back in this screed, just why did I accuse the Spanish ‘royal family’ of trying to kill me?  Well, I have high blood pressure (controlled) and the royals and their lickspittle backers in PP, PSOE and Cs seem to be going out of their way to see just how much aggravation I can take until I break or burst!

To which the answer is: having lived through the Evil Reign of Thatcher and the lower than vermin Conservatives and come out the other side, having to deal with nasty make-weights like Rajoy, The King, Spanish Justice, Cs and PP are more like limbering up exercises than anything truly hurtful.

Bring it on!  And let’s see what happens on the 21^st of December!

Beggar him!

Close

Miss Havisham going up in flames in grainy blank and white in a BBC adaptation of Great Expectations was something I had to wait for as the novel unfolded week by week in its allotted TV spot in the schedules.  There were no short cuts, you had to wait.

     How different the present!  Having recently discovered that I had access to series and films via one of my subscriptions I have binge watched the first series of The Man in the High Castle – the story of what might have happened if German and Japan had been the victors in World War Two. 

In this version of reality, America has been divided between the Germans on the East Coast and the Japanese on the West, with a lawless Neutral Zone in between.

     The production values of the series are high and the detailing of each scene is replete with intelligent and satisfyingly visual suggestions as to how the reality might have worked out.

     The mixture of plots and sub plots using politics, espionage, deception and brutality to further the story line; the Resistance and its struggle against totalitarian governments; a love story; the clash of cultures – all of these elements can be found in any number of dramas, the ESP of this series is the injection of a disturbing element of Science Fiction.

     A key plot device in the action of the series is played by a series of films.  These films seem to show a different reality, one in which the Axis powers did not win the war and our version of the Allied Powers being triumphant is the subject of the films.  These films are being collected by the eponymous Man in the High Castle who may, or may not be an ageing Hitler.

     There are hints in the episodes that suggest that there might be parallel universes and that somehow or other elements from these parallel universes are leaking into the reality of the series: either that, or the whole 10 episodes of Series 1 was an elaborate dream in the Japanese Trade Minister’s mind!  As there is a Series 2 and 3(?) I don’t think that device can be used to justify another 20 episodes!

     As the series is set in the 1960s there are technological elements that jar, including the appearance of a German supersonic ‘rocket’ plane which has the delta wing formation of the late lamented Concorde.  The aircraft set looks very impressive on the ground, but I found it singularly unconvincing in flight, an odd glitch in otherwise excellent CGI.  There are also trains that use a magnetic drive – these things are anachronistic for the 1960s and might therefore strengthen the supposition that someone is able to travel between the parallel universes and take technology from a ‘future’ world or a parallel but more advance one and use knowledge to boost technology in the reality of the series.

     I have just discovered that I have access to the ten episodes of Series 2 – so that’s another day of my life given over to being hooked to the screen of my computer!

     The acting in the series is, for the most part, convincing and enjoyable to watch.  The basic premise of the plot it interesting and the production professional.  The script is sometimes indulgent and philosophical profundity can be signalled a little too obviously, but the action is engaging and such attention is given to the appearance of things that I am convinced and satisfied.

     Obviously, there are a number of questions that have been posed in this first series that might be addressed in the second.  I can’t wait to find out.  And I don’t have to, all the episodes are waiting for me just to click the mouse and enjoy!

In the same way that my typing for this blog is often displacement activity from doing my Spanish homework, so too is my choice of topic.  Much though I enjoyed watching the series above, there are more pressing things to talk about than an old TV series.  Like, for example, the present political situation in Castelldefels and Catalonia.

     The election in Catalonia is less than a month away and the political parties are gearing up for the fray.  One television station has taken to referring to the ‘Constitutional’ parties i.e. PP (Hard, corrupt right); C’s so-called ‘centre right’ but in reality, hard right as well, subsidised by business and sluttish in their approach to power; PSC (the Catalan version of PSOE, the so-called ‘socialist’ (sic.) party that has aligned itself with the right and is opposed to Catalan independence.)  Then all the other parties are lumped together under the Independent label as if it is opposed to the concept of constitutional, rather than the reading of constitutional that has been made by the other parties.

     According to the latest poll, the veracity of which I cannot vouch for, the figures show that the two ‘sides’ are fairly equally matched with neither side able to gain an overall majority.  The balance of power, according to this poll, will be held by the Catalan version of the left wing Podemos, which has declared itself opposed to independence, but in favour of a binding referendum about independence.

     The ruling (corrupt and corrupting) party of PP stands little chance of gaining more than 8 or 9 seats in Catalonia as they are cordially despised as crypto-fascist and anti-Catalan.  PP put their hopes in the sluttish C’s party which is headed by a photogenic power-hungry Catalan (allegedly) whose party was formed specifically to stop Catalan separation and was funded by big business and who once posed nude for an election poster to show that he had nothing to hide!  This apology for a party stands to gain the most in the elections.  I hope that this is not true, and Toni assures me that it won’t happen, though I am not as sanguine as he.  The traditional party of left wing opposition is PSC, the Catalan part of PSOE, unfortunately their position has been totally compromised by their national dalliance with PP to get a taste of power.  The fact that the word ‘Socialist’ forms part of their party’s title should be a standing condemnation of their actions: PSC is a party without a soul and without an ethic.  They have shared a platform with PP and C’s: they have marched with PP and C’s; they have voted with PP and C’s.  In some ways it would be fairer to call PSOE/PSC power sluts rather than the traditional political sex workers of C’s.  Whatever, they have forfeited their right to my vote.

     Which leaves my choice on the, presumably, ‘unconstitutional’ side of the political debate!  But my thoughts about the parties which comprise this element of Catalan politics can wait for next week.

    

Lunch was from our usual takeaway restaurant in Castelldefels and was well up to standard, though the owner of the restaurant urged me to look at the rotisserie where an entire suckling pig was being roasted.  It looked delicious and only cost 100 euros!  How do they do it for the money?  I think that the test of something cooked like this is that you should be able to cut the meat up with the side of a plate!  As this beast was supposed to feed eight it means that the individual portion would only cost 12 euros per person – which, thinking about it seems like good value, or at least worth it!

     The chicken that we actually had, while perfectly acceptable, was not really as spectacular as that which I left turning in the heat. 

      At least I can live with expectation!

Little and often!

I've worked out that, when I finally get my Spanish “pension” (it really is so small that it doesn't deserve to be allowed to exist without quotation marks) it will be the equivalent of getting a fiver every day for breakfast – perhaps a bit more, but I'm allowing for inflation and Brexit! Which is much better, as I always say, than having to pay a fiver a day before breakfast! And I get it just for being alive!

     I expect that this delight will wear off and I will get back to the more grimy realities of life rather than spending my time rhapsodising about something which is boringly predictable, and for which I have paid throughout my working life. But, I have to come back to the point that pensions are magical when they happen. Magical that is, as long as you have been fortunate enough to gain access to a scheme which gives you a living return. And of course where you are still living to enjoy it.

     However, enough of that (though I cannot guarantee that I will not wax lyrical when I actually feel the putative money in my hot little hands) and on to more serious things.

     The political situation in the UK is depressing to put it mildly. Not only are Conservative stalking the corridors of power under the delusion that they have coherent policies to govern the country, but also an unelected PM is gibbering about education as if she has been caught in a 1950s time loop! In desperation I look towards my adopted country to show signs of sanity.

      Fat chance of that.

     After two inconclusive General Elections, Spain is still umpteen months into trying to form a government. Meanwhile we have a government in functions to continue the outward appearance of competence. Unfortunately this is being attempted by PP, the Conservative Party of Spain which is, to any reasonable viewer, totally and irremediably corrupt. And brazen about it too. I urge you to put “PP” and “corruption” into Google and see what you come up with.

     The sheer number of cases of corruption involving PP is astonishing. Don't get me wrong, other political parties on the left and centre as well as the right are corrupt, but they are nothing compared with the epic corruption shown by the party of 'government'!

     And what of the left, the opposition? In the Way of the Left they are at each other's throats. The major opposition party, PSOE has not gained enough seats in either election to form an alternative government of the left. To be the government they would have to pact with another party or ask for abstentions from other parties when the election of a President occurs.

     In the first election PSOE could have pacted with Podemos (a new party of the left) and they would have had an overall majority. Instead, after the election, Podemos was filled with elation and suggested a pact in which they would become partners in government and stipulated which ministries they wanted all the while waving a positive book of legislation that they wanted to get through in double quick time! PSOE (especially the so/called Barons or leaders of the party) were horrified at what they saw as the presumption of a bunch of Johnny come lately leftie extremists.

Podemos was also in favour of giving Catalonia a referendum on independence and therefore this was an added, and for many in PSOE a clinching reason for retreating from any agreement with what in politics counts as alacrity.

     Instead PSOE pacted with C's, another new party of the right. This 'brilliant' strategy did not give the combined parties an overall majority and the C's were anathema to Podemos and so in the Presidential election in parliament both PP and Podemos voted against. Stalemate. New elections.

     Amazingly, in the new elections, PP (The Putrid Party) after a series of revelations which showed the systemic nature of corruption at all levels in the party, actually gained votes! People, ordinary people, always have the capacity to astonish. C's lost some votes and Podemos gained some but, and this is why we are still without a government, there is still difficulty in forming a government with an overall majority.

     PP (sic!) have the largest number of votes but no overall majority. The C's (the political sluts of Spain) having pacted with PSOE on the left, now switched to the right and voted with PP for the old President. Everybody else voted against and therefore we had no new government.

     The left, i.e. PSOE and Podemos now no longer can combine and form an overall majority, they would need the abstention of the C-s sluts or the active support of other small independence parties.     A big no no for PSOE.

     The situation, as it draws itself out, grows more complicated. Recent elections in Galicia and the Basque Country did not work out well for PSOE and so, over the last few days some senior members of the party have resigned from the executive committee trying to cause the resignation of the current party leader. Other members of PSOE have been murmuring about abstaining during the next presidential vote. Everything seems to suggest that Rajoy and PP will form the next government. The left seems incapable of seeing the big picture, that a continuing government of Rajoy and PP will be an out and out disaster for Spain and they need to bury differences and work something out which keeps Rajoy out too.

 

     I have no confidence that people will see sense. I think that party loyalty is something which is far too important to far too many people, and the fate of the country runs a very unconvincing second best to party|personal gain. It is a depressing realisation, but I think it is all too accurate.

But the sun is shining and I was able to do a little light sunbathing. So, at the moment, not everything is ill in the world!