Cathedral’s restoration a wonder to the naked eye

ONE thinks of cathedrals as being the appropriate place to go to if one has indulged in the sins of the flesh.

There one can pray for forgiveness. If a praying supplicant visits Zaragona Province’s Tarazona cathedral and raises his eyes to the minister’s ornate dome a shock awaits.

There to his undoubted horror he will discover naked images of history’s great torsos and couples in flagrant nakedness.

During the mid-16th century Bishop Juan de Munebrega did peer up at the dome. Setting his eyes on the offending racy figures he swept out of the place of worship demanding the figures be covered.

He never set foot in the cathedral again. For those who wish to be offended they can – after 30 years of restoration – see the images of Bacchus, Apollo, Venus, Hercules; and couples like Helen with Paris, Ulysses and Penelope unclothed.

To assuage their curiosity or fire their lust they may take their time in arranging a visit, unless they have sinned; restoration has been completed.

The cathedral isn’t going anywhere. www.catedraldetarazona.es  

Electoral system corrupt and unjust

SPAIN has welcomed and congratulated Morocco for their incident free elections. The Spanish government added the usual platitudes by reminding the winning party, the Islamist PJD, of their responsibility to develop the new constitution and to advance human rights.

Spain’s legislature’s attention can soon perhaps be turned to the UK. There they have two prime ministers, neither of whom has been elected by anything that could be remotely described as a majority.

Their first past the post electoral system is demonstrably corrupt and unjust as it deprives most of the electorate their human right to parliamentary representation.

In the UK the political party now in power has a prime ministerial cabinet that is as unrepresentative of the populace as is possible to get.

Photo credit: The Prime Minister’s Office 

Spanish toss and turn, but not all

I AM surprised that when retiring to bed 40 per cent of Spanish people toss and turn due to their concerns over the economy.

I can understand a few politicians and their associates enjoying a good night’s sleep but surely they don’t make up the other 60 percent even in Spain? A solution is at hand for the Spanish Herbal Medical Research Centre reveal that 60 percent of Spaniards do drop off long before going up the little wooden hill.

They fall asleep in front of their television sets. Sure beats expensive sleeping pill prescriptions.

The programmes most likely to cause viewers to succumb to sleepiness are celebrity shows and movies. I know the feeling

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