The elections in Catalonia, 2012

Little of great significance has changed after the recent elections.

As Catalan political analyst Germà Capdevila told The Independent, "These elections haven't solved anything."

But what has happened is that the left separatist party the CUP [Candidatura d'Unitat Popular] now has 3 seats, so for the first time ever there is a genuinely anti-capitalist party in the Catalan Parliament.

 This is a fact that has been completely ignored by mainstream media here and outside the region.

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Europe three times as “gloomy” as the USA?

Maybe. Maybe not.

According to author Tim Phillip’s Joy Index, in Europe, the English-language press hasn’t been too optimistic recently.

Read more of his explanation here.

Franco's censored books live on

[Spain-shaped hole. 
Photo: Javier.]

He died almost 40 years ago but somehow he’s never quite gone.

This month Dr Jordi Cornellà-Detrell, a Welsh academic, has discovered that “scores of popular novels censored during the dictator’s reign are still being published – in their Franco-era form.”

Those books that continue to bear cuts imposed by censors under General Franco’s dictatorship include James Bond novels, Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and JM Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice.”

Read more here.

Rubbish, water and the General Strike

  [Photo: Richard van der AA/Demotix/Corbis]

Prompted by regular reader Tom (again) I have been thinking about a few related things. 

His link to a north American article about “dumpster diving” in Spain (ie, people searching through those large rubbish bins for food/items to use or re-sell) reminded me of the day I first saw this happen in this country with my own eyes. 

It was near our local shops quite early in the morning; still semi-dark and I noticed a quite well-dressed man with his head and arms stuck inside a big green rubbish hopper. He had already collected a few things and when he saw me walk past he was clearly ashamed.

This happened about 4 years ago, just as the huge and still-continuing economic “crisis” had just begun. It has now become a regular sight during the daylight hours too, and is just one undeniable symptom of the desperation and hardship that is now equally common.

Now that sense of resentment and frustration is to be channeled into another National General Strike which is to be held tomorrow, the 14^th of November.  

There is a lot to strike about at the moment. Personally, the quiet privatization of greater Barcelona’s water supply by the Catalan government is one that stirs me into anger. We are supposed to believe the government’s hollow assurance that it “will continue to be a public service.”

Spain needs more protection against home eviction, says European court

"The advocate general of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Thursday criticized Spain‘s mortgage legislation, following the eviction of hundreds of thousands of people over unpaid mortgages.

Spanish legal norms regulating such evictions are incompatible with European norms, Juliane Kokott said in response to a query from a Spanish court.

The Spanish system does not sufficiently protect the consumer against possible abusive clauses in mortgage contracts, because it allows evictions to take place before the defaulter can claim damages, Kokott said.

Kokott was commenting on a 2011 lawsuit which is being handled by a Barcelona court. The plaintiff, Mohamed Aziz, sued CatalunyaCaixa bank for evicting him over an unpaid mortgage.

The advocate general urged the Spanish judiciary to reassess the [laws]regulating evictions.

About 350,000 people have lost their homes over unpaid mortgages in crisis-hit Spain, where more than a quarter of the workforce is unemployed.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy‘s conservative People‘s Party (PP) and the opposition Socialists on Wednesday announced an agreement to take urgent measures to help the most vulnerable mortgage defaulters. Further details were not immediately given."

Source here.