Spanish views from a small town

People are confused about the re-opening. A friend of my husband's chatted with him last night, talking about going fishing to a favorite spot where the fish would very likely be biting. But, where he wanted to go fishing was in a township that will still be off limits for us because it falls within the health area of Cee-A Coruña. He didn't understand, so I sent him a map I had seen, with all the townships in the colors of the level they will be on, on Friday. He still didn't understand, so I sent him an  article I had seen in La Voz de Galicia, explaining the different areas. Bummer. No fishing. To help people understand where they can and can't go as of Friday, maps are circulating with the townships in different colors according to level. One can only travel within townships of the same color, and those in red are still closed off. The problem is that most people can't read a map, or can't find their township on a map. They know exactly where they live, but...

Spain is the country of fobbing off responsibilities. It's the country of venga Usted mañana . It doesn't matter if someone loses pay or ends up paying a penalty because papers are transferred around or the person in need of them is told to visit five different other offices that have nothing to do with them. As long as responsibility is passed off to someone else it's of no importance. And all the papers that must be collected are impressive. In many cases, the information can easily be gleaned from the company's, or the department's, or the government's databases. Yet the claimant must still collect and present the papers. I have been dealing with two headaches this week, my husband's knee, and the declaration of inheritance taxes owed from my father's death. In the second part, I know I owe no taxes because my inheritance is far from the lower limit of being eligible to pay taxes. In our region, most inheritances are free of taxes. Even so, there ...

Ah! Money! To have the clean, crisp feel of a banknote in your hand! Even if it's a small bill, it's still physically in your hand. You can turn it over, scrunch it up, smooth it out, fold it over, fold it into a boat, whatever. It can even go through a wash and rinse cycle and come out clean and new and ready to be hung to dry with the rest of the laundry. There is no doubt that you have it and can exchange it for whatever its denomination can buy. (If it's a five euro bill, that's not going to be much.) Ah! A card! A cold stiff plastic card to be kept safe. You can't fold it; if you do, you destroy it. You can only hold it out in your hand to stick into a machine. Or you can put it into a slot in your wallet, but far from any magnet or it's useless. You can't put it in your pocket because you might bend it, and it's quite uncomfortable to feel its unyielding shape in that small space, anyway. You can buy anything with it, depending on what the bank s...

This morning the sun rose with a reddish-pink tinge, even redder than yesterday's. There was a dark haze in the air and the distant hills were difficult to see. The smell of wood smoke hung in the air, slightly bitter, smelling of dead greenery. The fires that were raging a few kilometers away have left behind their reminders of all that was destroyed.  Exactly ten years ago, we had devastating forest fires all along the coast. For two weeks we couldn't see blue sky, and could feel the smoke in our throats. Thousands of people feared for their homes and livelihoods, and a few died. This August, someone thought it would be nice to repeat those trying times.  So, who sets the se fires that threaten to sw allow everything into their red, broiling maws and s pit out black ash? A variety of people for a va riety of reasons. There have been ca ses where a fire fighter with a temporary contract has set one or two just to be hired and get paid. I think these are the least. There a...

Spain and Spanish politics have always had a working relationship with the Catholic Church. From the times when it was the only and obligatory faith, to more modern times, when the Church helped the State keep the people under control, they have almost always gone hand in hand. Despite the fact that Spain was declared a lay state with no state religion in the Constitution of 1978, some public personages have a hard time remembering that. Take the Minister of the Interior, Jorge Fernández Díaz. The man is in charge of the different branches of police and national security. He is also a devout Catholic. I have no problem with that. I don't care if the ministers and other government bigwigs believe in God or not. I do care that they not mix their religion with their job. And when the Minister of the Interior declares that he solemnly believes that he has a Guardian Angel named Marcelo, that looks over him and even helps him find a parking space, it doesn't look too good for that...

The other night my daughter remembered to tell me that I could now apply for her scholarship. She had forgotten to tell me that the period opened on the seventh of August. It's a good thing the deadline is the thirtieth of October. I had thought it would begin this month. At any rate, I got down to the job on the computer.  The application has to be done on internet, so if you're poor enough not to have internet and really need the scholarship, you're in a bad spot. Another thing, be prepared to pay for your child's room and board until probably February. Because between the application at the beginning of the school year and final decision, you've got about five months that aren't covered. And if your child has to buy textbooks, you also have to shell out, unless you have any money left from the year before. Generally, there isn't. My daughter is lucky that in the Philosophy Department they don't use textbooks. But she still has to pay for the photoc...