Today's Observer writes about the problems of living in Spain for those Brits who are 'underfunded'. 'Dark Days for Brits who Sought a Life in the Sun'
There's a quote of mine:
'The idea is that it's Shangri-la,' says Lenox Napier, the editor of a local newspaper based in Mojácar. 'We've worked hard all our lives and our reward is to live in a tranquil, safe, agreeable place. We don't want much in return - just sun and a few lizards. Until recently, Spain offered that.'

The mayor of Sorbas has ordered a hose-pipe ban for that municipality. Anyone using water to irrigate can face having his house disconnected. The socialist opposition in Sorbas suggests that the mayor has ordered the ban for political rather than practical reasons.

Now, what has Europe's largest-free-read-by-a-quarter-of-a-million newspaper got for us this week for its eyecatching front page? British news with 'Huge swing to Conservative?'. Or perhaps something nearer home. How about 'Zapatero Denies Crisis', or perhaps even 'Spain Wins Euro Cup'.
No, it's 'Small fender-bender on Vera road'. Next week's front page banner headline (I can see into the future...) is 'Man Gets Nosebleed in Cantoria'.
Still no sign of the Carpet-baggers. I couldn't help notice, however, that the number of visitors to The Entertainer Online (1/4 million) went up late last week after my comments about the Fraudsters' new career in pornography as I was obliged to illustrate my report with quotes taken from their brown-paper magazine. You know, the kind of words which young and ill-educated creatures from deprived homes tend to look up in 'Google'.
The pride of place for idiocy in this week's Weenie does not, this time, go directly to the editor or even to Leaky Lee, their only stringer. It comes from the letter page. There's a communication from some Scotsman living in Orihuela that calls for 'his countrymen resident in Spain' to vote for Scotland's independence from 'the United Kingdom'.
Bet this McCretin didn't even vote in Orihuela's local elections...!
I have to say, watching people having their morning coffee, no one takes longer than sixty seconds to flip through the Weiner. Still, give it its due - most people (having their coffee) - don't bother to pick up the Sol Times at all!


Later: A kind reader writes to say: 'Hi, picked up three papers yesterday, one with 56 pages, one with 48 pages and one with 24 pages. Guess which took me longest to read? Proof biggest is not always best'.

When things go wrong with your property... should you confront, accept (or, of course, ignore) the Spanish authorities, banks, town halls, lawyers and urbanisers? According to the Albox Blog, and in reference to the Albox Abusos Urbanisticos del Almanzora ¡No! association (AUAN), 'Bob Preston and the AUAN Take Their Poison to Zurgena', the answer appears to be 'bow the head and take the medecine'.
But will that work, my friends? Huh?

You know how much we enjoy the pleasures of bureaucracy here (lub dat paperwork). Which is why we have two million funcionarios (of whom, according to Rosa our accountant at the radio, only about 10% do anything). Which, in turn, is why everything takes so long and is so agonising. There’s an ironic refrán which goes – cosas del palacio van despacio.
An amusing study produced by the Council for Public Works at the ayuntamiento de Almería has appeared saying that a municipal building in Almería will need no less than forty different bureaucratic interventions before work can begin.

Sergio says:
Go Spain! I can't believe they won it! But they were the best team. Is Fernando Torres now a saint? It was a great goal, but Spain deserved it, they were by far the better team. Well done! I am excited, and I am not Spanish! I cannot believe I said they would win it before the tournament started, it's a pity I am not a betting man!

The following morning... in Mojácar, there's hardly a soul about.

Labour Lose Their Way

Labour were never going to win the Henley by-election, the constituency vacated by Boris Johnson when he became Mayor of London, but the size of the defeat was seismic and, I think, significant. The Tories took the seat as expected increasing their share of the vote by nearly 3.5% with the Liberal Democrats second, 10,000 votes behind but also increasing their vote by just under 2%. Labour, however, who finished third at the 2005 election came 5th behind the Greens and the BNP and only just ahead of UKIP. They did, however, manage to sneak over the line in front of several other parties including the Loony and Harry Bear's Fur Play Party, but I suppose that was a sort of hollow victory. And, like the Loony and Harry Bear they lost their deposit.

On the night around 6000 voters deserted them as they slumped to an election disaster and have fallen still further behind the Conservatives in the polls. Cameron's troops have opened up a 21 point lead in the latest surveys with Labour still second with 25% and the Liberal Democrats hovering at 18%.

To add to his woes the hapless leader of the Scottish Labour Party Wendy Alexander has announced her decision to quit and spark another leadership contest north of the border. Ms Alexander's short reign in charge has been dogged by controversy and this week a decision was made to suspend her from the Scottish parliament for one day. Many in Scotland had become convinced that Alexander had become a liability and was ineffectual against Alex Salmond's ruling nationalists.

Alexander's departure, coming as it did right on top of the Henley debacle, has once again raised question marks around Gordon Brown's shambolic stewardship of the national Labour Party. Now Lord Levy Labour's former top fundraiser has called for the head of Brown urging the party to 'dump' him.

The humiliation of Henley, where Labour lost their deposit has now focused attention on where the party is going (nowhere) and how they are going to do at the next election.

Some within the party now see that removing Brown a couple of years in advance of an election might be expedient. It would give a new leader time to settle in and steer the ship away from the iceberg Brown is heading for. It is difficult, however, to see Brown standing down, and if he did then who would take over?

"Hello Tony? It's Gordon. No Gordon. You know! Gordon! I used to be your Chancellor, anyway I was just looking for some advice... Tony? Hellooo Tony? Damn he's hung up!"

[ Read the rest ... ]

There's this clever advert in the paper featuring a picture of a Toyota (apparently the official car of the Spanish football team, although I doubt many of them would have chosen this particular model). The little Japanese car has a Spanish flag sticking out of its back window.
The caption reads - 'On Sunday, we shall prove that we are better than the Germans'.

And, tomorrow night, perhaps they will.

The whole concept of 'unfair competition' or 'competenia desleal' is, of course, quintessentially Spanish. It probably goes back to Moorish times. You know: I pay 100 and sell 115 and you pay nothing and sell 40.
The Spanish freebie newspaper, mentioned below, has, so they tell me, a thousand euros a month slipped to it by the Ser Radio in Madrid which covers the printing bill rather nicely. Over on our side of the street, we work quite hard for our radio which, of course, doesn't have the same resources and doesn't get two puestos de trabajo paid by the Junta de Andalucía either. Or even one.