The ship of state

It's even called Barco de España! I know, it looks as if it's crashing into a brick wall, but happily the worst has been avoided. We've been anxiously following the Spanish news the last few days, and this evening was crunch time, when Catalan president Carlos Puigdemont was due to address the Catalan parliament on the result of the referendum. It was a desperate fudge, pushing the declaration to some unspecified later time, after "dialogue" ("About what?" sarcastically asked a member of the national ruling party, the PP). If I were Catalan I wouldn't be in favour of independence from Spain, but I felt sorry for Puigdemont as the session ended and he stood grim-faced while his friends and colleagues gave him consoling hugs. I dare say his political career is over, as the committed nationalists now view him as a traitor. If I were Rajoy I'd just sit back and wait for Puigdemont's coalition to collapse. Rajoy is pretty good at sitting around waiting; he rarely makes public statements but leaves it up to his pugnacious deputy Soraya Sáenz de SantaMaría to do the dirty work because he's afraid of making a fool of himself. It's largely thanks to his inaction that Spain is in this position now.

The blip is a house in Almuñecar; I'd love to have a peek inside. As we passed, the owner was busy hoisting a Spanish flag on the bridge. Sigh. They have been sprouting everywhere recently; I think national flags should be banned except on public buildings.

We were out for a walk before the French film at the Casa de la Cultura. It was Demain Tout Commence, featuring Omar Sy (previously seen in The Untouchables).  I thought it was pretty bad, predictable and tear-jerkingly manipulative, but it wasn't bad enough to walk out of. It was mostly set in London, giving a charmingly French perspective on that rainy, confusing city; after a dramatic slide down the escalators in Charing Cross station to rescue the baby he has inadvertently abandoned, Omar gets a job as a stuntman.

Later, S made dinner preparations (I could get used to this lifestyle where I lounge around and S prepares delicious off-the-cuff meals) and we popped into town for a drink in a swanky tapas place (7 euros for two drinks plus "free" tapas -- outrageous!). We're now having cheaper tapas and wine chez nous. Oh, and newsflash -- I actually did some work this morning! It got those rusty neurones going.