An unfortunate description

IT’S surprising that no-one dragged up the former Education minister Jose Luis Wert’s determination to ‘españolizar’ Cataluña’s schools in 2011.  
That was as futile as trying to anglicise a Scot and sufficient in itself to merit a landslide victory for independence.
It’s unfortunate that Spanish is a blanket description for Catalans, Basques, Galicians, Valencianos, Andaluces and everybody else.  A word equivalent to British would have solved a multitude of problems decades ago.

Choice expression

PODEMOS politician Meritxell Genao gave the game away.
Campaigning in Lerida prior to last Sunday’s regional elections and addressing her audience in Catalan, she was interrupted by a woman praising her.   “Meritxell, you’re one of us!” she exclaimed but ill-advisedly said so in Spanish.  
“Gilipollas…” the politician muttered under her breath, unaware that the microphone would pick up the obscenity.  It was not the best of words for a woman – it means ‘silly pr-ck’ –  but Genao confirmed cynics’ suspicions.
Whatever she and other politicians say to the contrary, few have any affection let alone respect for the voters who keep them in work and put them in power.

Home from home

THE European Union will be responsible for allocating asylum seekers to member countries.
They cannot specify a country, officials explained, although family links and languages spoken will be taken into account.
Refugees in Spain get six months protection from the state after which they must fend for themselves so it is just as well for the government that asylum seekers have no say in where they go.   Otherwise Mariano Rajoy would never fill his two-year 17,000 quota in order to collect brownie points from Brussels.