Month: December 2006

Have you seen the post in the forum about great all time Spaniards from the past?

My favourite so far is this suggestion from forum member teapotmonk:

“I’m drawn towards Padre Jose Maria Llanos, who for those not familiar with the man, spearheaded, in the 1950’s, a group of catholic adolescents to ‘molestar’ smooching couples in parks and to remove amorous postcards from kiosks – as part of his reactionary crusade against immorality. He even played a role as Franco’s spiritual guide for a while. So why does he get my vote?

Well, in late 1956, after digesting a breakfast of churros and a copy of ABC, he underwent a sudden and immediate crisis of direction both politically and spiritually. Something that occurs to me too if I overdo the churros. Overnight he became a militant communist (an illegal organisation at the time), erased his falange and francoist past and left the reactionary crusade business to work as a missionary in one of the numerous shanty towns on the outskirts of Madrid.”

Who would you add to the list?

Just about every dealing I have had with Telefonica has ended in extreme annoyance, large bills, or infuriating delays. I know I claimed in the expat manifesto that it is no good complaining about life in your adoptive country, but Telefonica has pushed more than the occasional expat and just about every telecommunicating Spaniard to the limit of their patience at one time or another.

And today it became crystal clear that this may never change. Why bother with the angry little consumer who should have had his ADSL line installed last week when you are busy buying your way into China? Why worry about honouring that 2 week domestic line installation promise when you are the largest corporation in Spain and the fourth largest telecommunications company in the world (source: wikipedia)? It’s all about infrastructure. If you own the wires – and they do in most of Spain and much of South America – then you call the shots. As Borat would say, ‘Nice!’