Chaos in Spain

[OFSO]

Effing prats. Now appears weekend lockdown starts at 6am on Friday not 6pm. Thousands of Euros fine for driving 5kms to next town to shop..... However main road looks as busy as ever, no police anywhere...

[OFSO]

Well, that's tonight's evening curfew-busting walk over. Nobody around. Worse, no stroke-able cats around. Just the moon and Mars floating serenly overhead...

[OFSO]

Talking about telling us oldies to stay indoors for a month.....

[OFSO]

Riots vandalism and looting yesterday in protest in Barcelona at the new restrictions.

[OFSO]

Government discussing a two-week "confinement to home" for the whole of Spain as ICU beds near 90% capacity.....

[OFSO]

Spanish fiscal investigators find former King Carlos has a well-stuffed trust fund in Jersey (CI) with "recent movements" of funds. Still residing in an hotel in the Kingdom I believe.

[OFSO]

Demos in Barcelona today by owners and staff of restrictions on bars and restaurants. Peaceful. Spaced and wearing masks, but well attended.

[barkingmad]

OFSO, sounds like les Frogs and les Espanols are rather more assertive and protective of their rights than the supine Brits, who won’t stir from their sofas as long as cheap road fuel, crap TV and cheap booze remain in plentiful supply?

Keep the updates coming, it is continued proof that the European UNION is anything but united.

P S, doesn’t stroking strange pussies, during your exercise walks, risk the odd potentially rabid bite or scratch?

[OFSO]

Scratch yes, but no rabies here. No cat either the past week. Too damn cold.

[OFSO]

The wonderful amazing "save everyone from the effects of Covid EU Fund" was blocked once again by Poland and Hungary, who refused to sign up to it as they were told a condition of joining the Fund was obeying EU law in all respects, to which they responded with words not dissimilar to "get stuffed, Brussels". Last weeks conference to approve the Fund once and for all was abandoned in disarray and will be reconvened in mid-December. Spain, desperate for cash, went away weeping. The Catalan government, composed of warring factions which makes Game of Thrones look like a Friendly Society, is on the point of not even lasting to the 2021 elections.

[OFSO]

Massive demos against Covid-19 restrictions, some violent, in many Spanish cities over the weekend.

Catalan R number is currently 0.54, but no plans to stop the curfew or the three-day weekend lockdown.

[OFSO]

Al Jazeera English: How Spain, allegedly, came close to being invaded by Russia.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020 ... by-russia/

[OFSO]

News clip this morning. As there's no heating in Spanish schools, children are wearing anoraks over pullovers in class. Cause isn't absence of heating (as one might suppose) but 'unprecedented' cold weather, which has never happened before, except every winter.
Source: El Punt Avui, Catalan newspaper.

[barkingmad]

News clip this morning. As there's no heating in Spanish schools, children are wearing anoraks over pullovers in class. Cause isn't absence of heating (as one might suppose) but 'unprecedented' cold weather, which has never happened before, except every winter.
Source: El Punt Avui, Catalan newspaper.

Is the lack of heating due to leaving the windows/doors open in order to increase the ventilation so’s the ‘lergy can be blown away, thereby reducing the chances of infection?

Similar to the UK advice to seat granny by the open window for the 25th December bloatfest tribal feast which will earn all of us 5 days detention for every 1 day of ‘enjoyment’!

[OFSO]

Spain always promoted the fiction that it never got cold. The traditional Spanish heater is a charcoal burner under the table. A heavy tablecloth ensures the heat is kept there and the lower half of the body is warm. Today you can buy a huge variety of electric, catalytic gas and oil heaters to keep the house warm. Or provide the illusion, at least, of warmth. School buildings are constructed as cheaply as possible. No heating, no a/c. And no running costs.

[barkingmad]

Spain always promoted the fiction that it never got cold. The traditional Spanish heater is a charcoal burner under the table. A heavy tablecloth ensures the heat is kept there and the lower half of the body is warm. Today you can buy a huge variety of electric, catalytic gas and oil heaters to keep the house warm. Or provide the illusion, at least, of warmth. School buildings are constructed as cheaply as possible. No heating, no a/c. And no running costs.

Omigawd, another of the standardised ‘benefits’ the UK will be denied on 01/01/2021?!

I trust everyone in Blighty has acquired a good bottle or 3 of ENGLISH fizz with which to toast in the New Year?

[ian16th]

Spain always promoted the fiction that it never got cold. The traditional Spanish heater is a charcoal burner under the table. A heavy tablecloth ensures the heat is kept there and the lower half of the body is warm. Today you can buy a huge variety of electric, catalytic gas and oil heaters to keep the house warm. Or provide the illusion, at least, of warmth. School buildings are constructed as cheaply as possible. No heating, no a/c. And no running costs.

As Mrs ExA has said, the RAF turned the heating on/off by calender date, not the actual temperature.

The other fixed to the calender event was the KD/Blue seasons at places such as Cyprus and Malta.

Istres/Orange fell into this trap. As soon as we moved into KD, you could bet that a Mistral would turn up. It was the only place where I wore an anorak with KD.

Really smart it was!

[OFSO]

Just received new info for arrivals from the UK in Spain. Recent Covid test (72 hours), documentation pertaining to Covid contacts etc. Possibility of test (presumably temperature). But wait: small print down the bottom, only applies to arrivals by sea or air. By land, no formalities at all. So all the infected French - we are thirty minutes from the French border by car - can cross unhindered. Well well. It's anyway almost like living in France here, community is 60-70% French.
Nobody bothers to register their cars in Spain rather than France, all employ French builders and gardners, and I doubt that anyone working is paying income tax.

[OFSO]

RENFE have just warned Catalunia to expect delays to trains as they haven't got enough drivers. It's just like living in the UK here...

[OFSO]

But not always. Spanish legal authorities investigating fascism in the Spanish Army. Raised arm closed fist salutes, toasts to Fascist leaders alive and dead, lists of opponents to be assassinated (I assume Catalan leaders, perverts and immigrants).