Oz in Spain

Sound Off

By Drake Stamford

I’ve decided there are very few pleasures left in life and people watching is one of them. I’m on my own in Palma in a quite nice tapas bar overlooking the harbour.

Life is sweet. I’ve enjoyed a rather nice Albariño and I’m in, as my late father used to call it, a reflective mood. I’m watching a guy flick some kind of colourful projectile in the air and suggest to all of the people in the restaurant that they really do want one of these. (more…)

In the latest, almost inexplicable, example of how social networking can warp otherwise prudent people’s judgment, a Mallorca politician has been forced to withdraw her candidature for a Senate seat in the 20 November elections. (more…)

Two plus two equals…

The war on truth… from The Colbert Report.

Dame Edna uninvited to The Wedding

By NED BELLY

LEVEL-HEADED TV viewers will be denied the opportunity of watching The Wedding from a less obsequious perspective as the result of a ban by the royals’ humour-less media department. The ABC has been forced to cancel its satirical royal wedding special featuring The Chaser satirical comedy team, after Buckingham Palace announced new restrictions banning drama, satirical and entertainment programs from using footage of the ceremony. (more…)

Zapatero: “This is my last term as Prime Minister”

Zapatero... flanked by Alfredo Rubalcaba and Carme Chacón, the two leading (still-unannounced) contenders for leadership of the Socialist Party.

By PEDRO BOLICHERO

HE IS ADMIRED by diehard party supporters but despised by his frequently-vitriolic detractors. He has been guilty of naivety, especially his belated admission that Spain was in economic crisis; yet in recent months (cajoled by European Union colleagues) he has overseen the harsh decisions needed to restore the country to more solid financial health – mostly at the expense of discarding his cherished socialist beliefs (his paternal grandfather was executed by Franco’s forces during the Spanish Civil War for refusing, as a republican captain, to take part in the Fascist uprising in his home town of León). (more…)

Strike-threat airport workers defy commonsense

THEY DID IT to force the air traffic controllers back to their ivory towers after a wildcat strike infuriated travellers during the early-December holiday break last year – and most people are hoping the government is prepared to take similar tough action as other airport workers threaten disruption over Easter and summer. (more…)

A strike against the general truth

By  THE GUIRI

ACCORDING TO the police there were 40,000; the unions insist 500,000 protesters attended a demonstration that concluded in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol during the 29 September general strike in Spain. Who to believe? Bearing in mind that 500,000 would be more or less the entire population of Marbella in peak season… certainly not the unions. (more…)

Crocodile Dundee (back) in Los Angeles

By NED BELLY

MOST OF US have no option of avoiding income taxes. The authorities will either nab us at source (IRPF/PAYE) or, if autónomo (self-employed), we will be required to present a rigorously-monitored folder of documents every three months to report revenue, justify expenses and hand over collected IVA.

(more…)

Michelle Obama… just a “normal” tourist

AFTER SETTLING into her luxurious accommodation at the Villa Padierna hotel, Michelle Obama and her entourage headed to Marbella for a walk around the Old Town and later dinner at a local restaurant on the first evening of a controversial  four-day visit to the Costa del Sol.

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