Well, well...

After a long time of thinking, feeling down and having the impression of things only getting worse lately… I decided to stop holding my breath. I need to write and let whoever reads my words how the world is seen from this corner of the planet.

It is the 2^nd of May, the yellow plants we called in Galician ‘xestas’ have to be removed from the doors, windows and cars. It is a tradition here to put those around the night of the 30^th of April in order to prevent evil, witches or bad luck (what we call ‘os maios’) enter our houses or our possessions during the first of May. It is a shame we don’t have such big plants to put all over the country even though the evil is already in. We would have to look for a way to send it away… And yesterday, 1^st of May, also a holiday for being the International Day of Work, many people went on demonstrations to help that evil understand he is wrong and he is making bad decisions.

And who is that evil in the eye of so many people in Spain nowadays? 

They are, Mariano Rajoy and Esperanza Aguirre followed by their political entourage. They are doing all the opposite to what they said they would do in their electoral program. They are lying to their loyal ones and making us (the ones who never voted for them) angry, outraged, desperate, hopeless… with all the measures they are carrying out. Apart from the rise in the university fees and some changes they are making related to the education system (less grants for students, the end of degrees with few students..) and the healthcare system (free and for everybody until the moment), they are planning on a rise in indirect taxes. But hold on for a moment and think: that means bread, milk, fruit, clothes… everything! And for a person with a basic salary, it means a lot. Imagine then for the 5 million unemployed people in the country!!!

 Shouldn’t they try to touch other areas, or try to find out those big companies that avoid taxes and cause a debt of millions of € every year? Shouldn’t they try to find out about the corruption in many regions of the country (which, by the way are ruled by the same political parties)? Shouldn’t they pay more attention to what the Monarchy is doing and require whatever is needed? Shouldn’t they stop giving those 30.000€ to the Catholic Church monthly? Apparently, the State doesn’t declare itself religious but… it is maintaining the Catholics economically. There are more religions in Spain than that one and they don’t receive money from the State.

There are many other things that should be controlled but they don’t have the interest in doing them because it would be like playing with fire, with the big ones, with the ones that support them and vote for them. That is why they take other measures that stifle the workers and go unnoticed for the rich ones.

However, they don’t realize they are also playing with fire there. People are not happy and they are shouting and making their anger show. But for now, the president continues with his despotic attitude and his dictatorial way.

Hold on and breathe deeply!!

Do you enjoy roller coasters and high speed? Yes? Sure? So… you just have to read the news and you will feel the sensation of ‘free fall’ all the time. Forget about Universal Studios or Disneyland for a moment; at the time, Europe (and mostly Spain) is the place for the rides. Come on in, I’ll show you the best ones of today’s news. You have to be 44 inches or taller though.

Let’s start with France. They had the first round of the presidential elections yesterday and it seems that Sarkozy was beaten by the socialist François Hollande. Hollande obtained 28.63% of the votes followed by the current President, Nicolas Sarkozy with 27.08% of the votes. Is it a good result? From a first point, it is, it appears to bring some hope to the left-wing parties and it shows dissatisfaction with the EU’s situation. However, we have to reflect about this and see all the perspectives. We can’t obviate the fact that the ultraconservative Marine Le Pen gathered the 18.01% of the votes, a historic result and mainly among young people (a serious issue of concern). We will have to wait until the 6^th of May to know what happens in the second round.

François Hollande (Reuters)

Let’s go to Norway, because the craziness of the anti-Islamic Anders Behring Breivik keeps being heard in his trial. First, the confessed murderer of 77 people says he would do it again, and then he tells the most macabre details about that 22^nd of July; a date that will endure in everyone’s mind. He affirmed that when he realized someone was playing possum he would end them with a shot in the head. Breivik is a fanatic against multiculturalism, against Marxism and any other socialist power. According to France Presse, Anders Breivik apologized this Monday to the victims of his acts that had no political affiliation. However, he refused to extend those apologies to the families of the 69 young socialist militants who he killed in cold blood. The Norwegian extremist appears not to regret his acts and keeps carrying his chilling ideological hatred.

Breivik with his lawyer (Reuters)

And let’s come closer to where I am from. How is the Spanish State these days? Well, I mentioned some things related to the Monarchy in my presentation post but that is not all at all. We have to know that this country is always walking backwards, always at a different pace of the rest of the countries of the Union… When it seems that the right-wing political parties are worn and that the tendency will be a turn to the left, Spain goes and chooses a right-wing party, conservative and against social measures. It is true that times are hard, that the crisis is hitting everybody and even that the left-wing party had made its mistakes but things are getting worse and people are the ones being beaten and squeezed: an extremely high unemployment rate, a labor reform that helps the employer and the capital but always harms the worker, hard cuts in health and education systems and even inexplicable changes in the public radio and TV stations. It is a shame and it is happening and I am sure we will be hearing a lot more of this and worse. New rides keep coming!!!

Dear visitor, we came to the end of the ride. Please keep your arms inside the vehicle until you finish reading the bottom line. We hope you enjoyed your visit and will love to see you again soon.

By the way…

Happy Day of the Book!!!!

Here I go!

My place to brood is thought to be my little spot here in this world wide web. A space to meditate and reflect about everything: politics, the news, personal concerns...

I am a Journalist from Galicia, a beautiful region in the North West of Spain. Also with a master in communication on my back, but unemployed anyway like many others in this country.

My place to brood will be my exhaust valve and it will help me cope with everything that is going on.

There are lots of news happening everyday and I will need to think over many of them. My head has been so occupied lately with the Spanish Monarchy that I decided to start a new blog (imagine that!). And I guess many of you have heard about the King of Spain hunting ELEPHANTS in Botswana and then having a hip broken and being evacuated to his ‘homeland’ to have surgery. At the time he left the hospital he said to the cameras “I am sorry, I made a mistake and it won’t happen again”. However… does anybody know what he is sorry about? Hunting elephants (which is VERY WRONG) or leaving the country with all the problems that are going on????

Anyway, this first post intended to be a presentation and, you see? I can’t help it. All those thoughts come and go so fast in my head…

We will talk about this and more very soon!

Verónica