"Shake Hands, Be Nice." "No, I Don't Wanna!"

Spain has been called a country of individualists. It's true. Each Spaniard makes his own Spain. Each Spaniard knows what is good for the country and what is bad. And everybody else's opinion is wrong. A good example were the last general elections in December. No party got a clear majority; pacts are necessary to govern. And that's the biggest stumbling block. Because no one wants to pact with anyone else. Every party has a red line that every other party crosses. So, discreetly, politely, everyone calls the other kettle black after meeting to discuss differences that remain abysmal.

In this time of talking and visiting and forming alliances, the two major parties, the Socialists and the PP, also meet. It's custom. That meeting took place yesterday and illustrates the contempt the ruling conservative party feels toward the Socialists and any idea that might be different from theirs. It was the only meeting that had the cold shoulder so cold it turned to ice. They walked into the room with nary a smile on their faces. When they were at their seats, with photographers taking pictures of every instant, every gesture, every evil look, the Socialist leader started to hold out his hand, as a civilized gesture of a handshake. The conservative leader lifted his hands - and buttoned his jacket. The liberal leader let his hand drop with a twist of his mouth. About five hundred thousand pictures of that instant were taken and passed around internet in the ensuing five minutes. 

Temper tantrum at not being able to govern? Total disdain of a different point of view? A symbolic way of flipping the middle finger? I say it's like a little kid being told to play nice and the kid kicking that person in the shins. How pathetic and utterly childish. And how totally Spanish.