Consequences of la crisis?

Recently one of the big milk producers announced their intention to use less Spanish milk and import more from France. This, of course, has serious implications for Gallego dairy farmers. There has been talk of some of them getting together to form a cooperative and try to buy the soon to be unused machinery of one of the big bottlers. In the meantime, it would seem that the milk wars have begun with members of the dairy farmers unions preventing milk tankers getting through and emptying the contents into the fields. Direct action! Understandable but maybe not a solution!

Meanwhile inflation seems to be affecting the beggars as well; even they expect to receive a payrise. Recently, as I made my way from the library towards Puerta del Sol, I was accosted by one of our regulars, the wild girl who often comes and looks meaningfully at the cakes you have been given to accompany your coffee and then asks if she can have them. Usually she asks if you have a coin or two to give her. On this occasion she came straight out and asked if I would give her 15 euros for her night's accommodation. When I refused but gave her the usual couple of coins, she looked meaningfully at my purse and asked me again, "No tiene alli 15 euros para mi?" Now that seems like quite a high percentage pay-rise request to me!

And then I thought for a while that divine intervention was on the way when I saw the headline, Aparicion mariana en Samil. I imagined someone having seen a vision of the Virgen and flocks of people heading to the site. This was not the case, however. It appears that Alejandro Ferreiro, a retired 66 year old, walks on Samil beach every morning and one day saw something strange in the water. On investigating, he found a small statue of La Virgen de Fatima, maybe lost off some ship, rather the worse for wear, missing a few doves but having gained some barnacles. Mr Ferreiro considers the statuette to be still attractive - you can still see the colour of her robes - and he now needs to decide what to do with her. He thinks he might donate her to his local bar.