Rhinestone cowboys
Spain is currently a building site. How about this: one quarter of all the concrete produced in Europe is used in Spain, and last year more new buildings went up in Spain than in the UK, Germany and France PUT TOGETHER! How do I know? No I haven't been browsing through Civil Engineering Today or similar. It's because 'el caso Marbella' has just hit the headlines here - most of the town council from the mayoress down is behind bars, charged with the most staggeringly corrupt gold-rush type practices, aided and abetted by a mafia (possibly literally, as Russian and Eastern bloc 'black money' pours in) of lawyers, builders, and assorted hangers-on.
This is no surprise to anyone. 30,000 illegal buildings do attract some attention after a while, like 20 years. It's certainly no surprise to anyone who ever saw Jesus Gil y Gil, ex-mayor of Marbella and the pioneer of much of this slime-fest. The man was amazing, if he didn't exist you'd have to invent him. Dripping with gold chains, complete with hairy chest, big gut and peroxide wife, he was also chairman of Atlético Madrid football club (kind of Madrid's Everton) and a lot of the Marbella loot found its way to Atletico's coffers. Also, he was the most staggeringly politically incorrect Spanish man I ever heard, and that's saying something. Example: half-time during a match with a Dutch club, in Holland - Señor Gil what do you think of the match so far? Great, the only problem is all these blacks they keep bringing on, it looks like the Congo out there. (In the row that followed, Spain was divided into those who thought Gil's comments were perfectly reasonable, after all it did look like the Congo, and those who thought they were reasonable but perhaps badly timed.....)
There are little Marbellas everywhere. The small town where I live, halfway between Madrid and the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains, used to be a summer getaway for city dwellers. Now they're building a monstrous leisure/retail park next door, parking for 1,200 cars etc etc. An area which was categorized only 2 years ago as protected countryside has been hastily requalified by the local council as building land, to build a hotel and .......GOLF COURSE??
We have water restrictions! My garden will die this summer if it doesn't start raining!
So, Carlos, Mayor of Torrelodones, my eye is on you. The first whiff of a gold Mercedes and I hope you join the Alcadesa de Marbella.
This is no surprise to anyone. 30,000 illegal buildings do attract some attention after a while, like 20 years. It's certainly no surprise to anyone who ever saw Jesus Gil y Gil, ex-mayor of Marbella and the pioneer of much of this slime-fest. The man was amazing, if he didn't exist you'd have to invent him. Dripping with gold chains, complete with hairy chest, big gut and peroxide wife, he was also chairman of Atlético Madrid football club (kind of Madrid's Everton) and a lot of the Marbella loot found its way to Atletico's coffers. Also, he was the most staggeringly politically incorrect Spanish man I ever heard, and that's saying something. Example: half-time during a match with a Dutch club, in Holland - Señor Gil what do you think of the match so far? Great, the only problem is all these blacks they keep bringing on, it looks like the Congo out there. (In the row that followed, Spain was divided into those who thought Gil's comments were perfectly reasonable, after all it did look like the Congo, and those who thought they were reasonable but perhaps badly timed.....)
There are little Marbellas everywhere. The small town where I live, halfway between Madrid and the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains, used to be a summer getaway for city dwellers. Now they're building a monstrous leisure/retail park next door, parking for 1,200 cars etc etc. An area which was categorized only 2 years ago as protected countryside has been hastily requalified by the local council as building land, to build a hotel and .......GOLF COURSE??
We have water restrictions! My garden will die this summer if it doesn't start raining!
So, Carlos, Mayor of Torrelodones, my eye is on you. The first whiff of a gold Mercedes and I hope you join the Alcadesa de Marbella.
posted by Radio Maria at 10:08 PM
1 Comments:
It's been delightful to read you from the other side of the fence. Many years ago I was writing exactly the same stuff but in paper! And sent it by snailmail from England back home in Madrid.
I hope you keep it up. It's great.
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