Points of view.

Spain managed it. At the end of a match which was unimpressive, to say the least, and which ran into half an hour of extra time, the Spanish team finally managed to score a goal and win the World Cup. Phew, what a relief! I didn’t think I could take much more of seeing Dutchmen knocking Spaniards over and hearing the plaintive tones of the Spanish TV commentators, obviously suffering each time a Spanish shot went wide of the goal. I’ve not even mentioned the anguished cries of, “¡Hay peligro! ¡Hay peligro!” whenever the Dutch players got the ball anywhere near the goal posts. But at last they made it and all of Spain could celebrate – as did the Spanish community in Manchester, according to a friend who saw the game on a big screen in Castlefield!

As it was quite late when the game finished and possibly because the weather was rather dull compared to the evening of Spain’s triumph over Germany, action at the poolside here was somewhat subdued. I did see two girls (the same cynics? who knows?) leap in with a cry of “¡Por España!” but that was about it, apart from vast amounts of fireworks all over the place.

At the breadshop this morning the panadero (husband of the panadera and only seen if your visit to the shop coincides with his delivery from their bakery up at Calvario) was harrumphing about the win. “¡Ganó España!” he grumbled, “pero ¿qué ganó España? ¡¡Nada!!” As far as he was concerned, Spain had gained/won absolutely nothing. He went on to tell me how much money had been spent/wasted, money that the tax-payers would have to find. The only “winners” he could see were the Chinese and African sellers of flags and banners. Reading between the lines, it was clear he thought they certainly did not pay taxes. Well, that might be so, but at least everyone had fun.

Hmm, that idea set him off again. The trouble with Spain, according to the panadero, is that everyone just wants to have fun, party and fiesta all the time and no-one really wants to work. And those who do want to work can’t get to sleep at night because they are kept awake by the noisy botellón going on behind their building. You can’t phone in sick because all-night partiers kept you awake. Of course, he went on, that problem doesn’t exist in England. Low unemployment means everyone is hardworking and sensible, there is no botellón and everyone is tucked up in bed by 10 o’clock.

Oh, yes??? There may not be botellón as such but the drunken crowds on the city streets are close to the same thing. It’s just that fewer people actually live in the city centres to be kept awake by them. It’s just a different kind of binge-drinking.

I am often rather amused by some, not all by any means, Spaniards’ rather idealised view of England. It’s not quite cute, rosy-cheeked girls selling apples from baskets but it’s almost in the same league. ALL pubs (or should I say pavs or paffs? Take your pick!) are quaint, oldie-worldie places, usually with a roaring fire. Everyone is super-polite. The policemen are probably still “bobbies” and all wear those funny helmets!

The universities are the best, however. British universities have a campus and all students live on campus or very close by. Teaching groups are small. Tutors have groups of four or five students each. As the students have no need to work to pay for their studies they can indulge in long philosophical discussions. Oh, Brideshead Revisited, you have a lot to answer for!! One of the people describing this idyllic scene to me had been on a study visit to … wait for it … Cambridge! Enough said!!

I suppose we all, to a greater or lesser extent, have a false image of what a country is like. How many English people imagine all of Spain to be blessed with wall-to-wall sunshine all day, every day, all year round? It goes along with that special nostalgia most of us share for a golden age, often not too long ago, which was SO much better than today.

My panadero obviously has this nostalgia. He told me that most people have no idea what a Euro is worth. In what sense? It finally became clear he meant the Euro’s worth in pesetas. Ah, that old thing! Everyone knows that you could buy a lot more with pesetas than you can with Euros. Hmmmmmm!

I pointed out that if Spain still had pesetas they might find that those pesetas also bought less now than they used to do back in the day. It’s certainly true that you could buy a lot more with a 2000 £1 than with a 2010 £1. Goodness, if you go back another 10 or 20 years you would be amazed at what a £1 coin could buy for you.

I don’t think I convinced him though!