Tag Archives: spain

The Death of Convivial Society

Society – convivial society – died in Britain on 1 July 2007. Since that day, Britain has been a sort of prison in which all pub landlords and bartenders have been co-opted to be unpaid prison wardens. I came across … Continue reading

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The Problem Of Fake News

For the past few days I’ve been considering two events that happened almost simultaneously, on 1 October 2017: the Las Vegas shooting and the Catalan referendum. I’m now wondering whether both of them were fake news events, and didn’t happen. … Continue reading

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Fog

According to the latest exit polls, the Scottish No vote won by 54% to 46%. But I’ve been thinking about the missing ‘atmosphere’ in pubs since the smoking ban. … When I was about 10 years old, my school was … Continue reading

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Averting Their Eyes

Very interesting responses to last night’s post. The poll got about 90 responses [so far], and I was surprised that nearly 50% reported spending much less money since smoking bans came into force where they lived. I’d expected most people … Continue reading

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The Tower of Babel

H/T EUreferendum, as austerity measures bite in Spain, Asturian miners and their wives have been demonstrating in Madrid. On the same day, Prime Minister Rajoy announced a 3-point increase in VAT, and called for further cuts in public expenditure. From the … Continue reading

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Spanish Smoking Ban NOT to be amended?

H/T Lecroix Kwdjer in the comments, and after reporting a few days ago that the Spanish smoking ban looked set to be relaxed, it now looks like it isn’t: El Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad no tiene previsto modificar … Continue reading

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Spanish Smoking Ban to be Amended?

H/T to Lecroix Kwdjer (aka Hal) in the comments for the following news from Spain. El Club de Fumadores por la Tolerancia espera que la nueva ministra de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, Ana Mato, acometa la flexibilización de la actual ley … Continue reading

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Epicurus

While thinking about the modern religion – or cult – of environmentalism,  which seems to be a throwback to an irrational era, I found myself reading Peter Jones’ Guide To The Classics. I say ‘found myself reading’ because, looking in … Continue reading

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A Separate Reality

The current draconian Spanish smoking ban came into force on 2 Jan 2011. Translated from El Correo. Doctors and restaurateurs have declared war. Navarra Basque Society for the Prevention of Smoking entered yesterday into the controversy of the ‘smoking ban’ … Continue reading

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Spanish Protests Continue

In Spain, the struggle continues. It’s International Tobacco Control v. the Spanish hospitality industry. 21 Feb 2011, The raw translation: Hundreds of hoteliers of Valencia and Madrid -300 police said at the beginning of the merger, have cut several lanes … Continue reading

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