Spanish views from a small town

In small villages, a favorite topic of conversation is the crops. "How are your potatoes doing?" "Did the crows leave your corn alone?" "My tomatoes have been infected by beetles. Are yours okay?" We no longer live off what we plant; in most families, at least one person has a job. Yet, we continue planting because we prefer knowing where our produce comes from. We still buy fruits and vegetables at the grocer's, but larger crops that tend to last all year, like potatoes and corn, most still prefer to sow themselves.  Those that have chickens, or still have a pig, are the ones that sow the corn, to use as food for their livestock. But almost every house has a vegetable and a potato patch. The potatoes, the beans, and the onions are the crops that last well into the winter and the spring. The others, such as peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, peas, and watermerlons, are generally eaten off the plants, or frozen.  However, if p...

Spaniards are at heart anarchists. They don't trust government or government officials, even those they've voted into office. I suppose it's because of history.  Those who have fashioned the laws throughout the years have always had their own interests at heart, not the common people's. History has made people leery of new proposals set out by the government. If they're handed something they take it suspiciously, waiting for it to blow up in their faces. They're right, sometimes. For example, to buy a new car there are incentives from the government. I think the latest was fifteen hundred euros if you also turn in a car twelve years or older. But at the end of the year, you have to declare those fifteen hundred euros as income and pay taxes on it. The bomb had an egg in it. Since so many incentives from the government come with hidden bombs, the carrot has never quite taken in Spain. The stick is better understood. And in the understanding, side paths are take...