When society says enough

Here in England, people are used to raise money for all sorts of charitable causes. When I first came, I felt surprised when I saw a man with purple hair or fire-fighters washing cars outside the fire station. In Spain is not that common. At the most, you give some monthly money to a NGO. That’s why I got really impressed when last Sunday I found this piece of news: “The 15-M raises20.000 € in one day, to send Rato to Courts.” Rodrigo Rato is the ex-president of Bankia, the Spanish bank that have more economic problems. 15-M is a sort of association that was born the 15^th of March of 2011, consisting of thousands of people from all walks united by a feeling of disappointment by the Spanish political and economic class, and its poor management of the country.

It’s very difficult figure out what is the real causer of the current Spanish situation, it’s a complex issue with many factors involved for a long time, but you don’t need to be a genius to realize that it’s not normal when one of the ex-manager of a bank that’s going to cost a fortune to the country is going home with a retirement of 14 millions euros per year. It’s just ridiculous.

And the problem is that in Spain that’s not an isolated case. Iain Dey, businesseditor in The Times, said the last Sunday (after the famous bailout deal between Spain and Europe):  “The Spanish crisis is actually a tale of what happens when power-hungry politicians get their hands on financial institution”. Of course these people are not the whole problem, but what I mean is that if it's know that the fault is largely theirs, they have to face it and pay for it, instead of keeping enriching themselves with impunity by the fraud committed in the past.

So, now, Spanish society is saying “it’s enough”. And eventually it’s not just a few people holding banners and yelling in front of a public building: today we can read in the Spanish newspapers that 13 shareholders of Bankia have officiallylaunched a lawsuit against its 2011 Board of Directors (including Rato), for accounting fraud, and with money raised by the 15-M association and hundreds of anonymous citizens.

In addition, they will have to face another legal complaint launched by UPyD (a relatively new political party - has been only in the latest two General Elections) and an investigation opened by the Public Prosecutor Office.

What I think (and so do a lot of people in Spain) is that our country is going to be paying this bailout for decades, but they (and saying "They" I mean the main responsibles) need to pay the most, just because it's fair.

Landing on the new english music

I’m of the view that Anglophone people should listen to music in other languages and I never get tired of defending Spanish music, because, you must trust me, there is life beyond Julio Iglesias. However, it’d be ridiculous to deny that English music can boast of quality, quantity and variety. So now that I’m living in UK, it’s being a perfect moment to discover new music bands that are growing in the island where legends of music (like The Beatles, The Rolling, Bowie, Oasis and a never-ending etcetera) were born before.

I’m not going to talk about the most famous nor the most important nor the best English bands. This is neither a music review nor a report about the English music scene. It’s more like a love story, between my mp3 player and the bands that have been messing up its songs list.

Firstly, I met the fruity and deep voice of Marcus Mumford, and the addictive choirs of his sons’ stringed instruments. Mumford & Sons is the actual folk rock band from western London that made me fall in love with the sound of banjo, cello and accordion, and that made me feel like in a wooded hut in the middle of a virgin forest. Not really, I just like exaggerating, but they still sound so good. Apart from the instruments, the lyrics are strong (and sometimes confusing) and some of them are related to literacy works, such as Much Ado about Nothing, The Oddisey and The Republic. Songs like “White Blank Page”, “Roll away your stone” or “Feel the tide” stayed in my mind for days and days and I’m still pretty hooked on them. The videos recorded in the book shop (that you can easily find in YouTube) helped. Long live the braces!

Then came The Vaccines: younger, faster and catchier. They are an irreverent rock band that hits your ears with its fresh sound and its straightforward lyrics. How could one not like them? “If you wanna”, “Post break-up sex” or “Lack of understanding” are some of their great songs. Personally, I love their look, between nerd and Rock and Roll, and the way Freddie Cowan (guitar) can’t stay still, moving his legs while performing. 

The third band I’m going to talk about is Noah & The Whale. A bit more grown up than the rest, they’ve already released their 3º album: Last night on Earth. But the band is not the same that started in 2006: some members have gone and some new ones have joined. Charlie Fink (vocals and guitar) and Tom Hobden (violin and keys) have been always there, while their fringe grew and grew. At the moment I haven’t listen a lot of songs from the first albums, but I can say that this last one has really great pieces, such as “Tonight is the kind of night”, “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N” or (my favourite one) “Waiting for my chance to came”. Some of these songs, with optimistic lyrics that make you keep the hope in the human being, are likely to become my summer anthem. In addition, the sexy sound of Hobden's violin makes me irrational and, seriously, have you seen how Fink dances with the mic? It’s worth having a look, because it couldn’t be cooler (and more comical).

In short, it’s not something to be proud, but I feel a bit like a teenager listening to these bands, begging my friends to come with me to one of their gigs. That’s not good when one is trying to look like an adult, is it? Anyway, and though I love English music, my message is still the same: I don’t mind if he’s who has sold more records, Julio Iglesias is NOT the best Spanish singer.

Family film night

I watched a film this evening  comfortably sitting in the living room with my host family. It was “I bought a zoo”, starring Matt Daemon and Scarlett Johansson. I like Matt Daemon, he’s one of those actors that make me believe that the film where they play is going to be a good one. And I like Scarlett Johansson, I think she's a great actress, I like her not-very-common beauty and I like her in Woody Allen’s films.  But, I bought a zoo? Really? It didn’t sound as if it would be a wonder of the seventh art, but like a kid’s film. In my view, they don’t fit in this kind of movies, but… do I have something more interesting to do? So, let’s watch the film then!

And it was a film for kids indeed. It was a lovely story, full of smooth furred animals and charming people that lived happily ever after. After it finished, they asked me:

- “It was a good film, wasn’t it? Did you like it?”

- “Not bad” I answered; because, to be honest, it really bothers me when everything is perfect in a film, just like when everything goes wrong. Life is not like that! Life is difficult sometimes and that’s not bad, that makes the good moments better moments. I understand that it could be that beautiful and cute in films made for a child audience, but I was expecting it a bit more interesting just because of Matt Daemon and Scarlett Johansson.

And I was thinking about that when I suddenly saw on the screen of the TV that the movie was actually based on a true story. Well, life sometimes can be perfect after all. Do i have a problem if the film still annoys me even more?

Bad News

My country made me cry. It’s been just a few lonely tears, but it’s still too much. I remember when it was easy to live there, and now, even living abroad, the news that come from Spain make me realize how different the things are.

I’m not an economist; I don’t understand what went wrong the last 10 (15? 20?) years; I can’t imagine… actually, I can’t even try to have a clue about how this mess could be sorted out. And neither does the most of Spanish people; and, believe me, that makes all of this even more frustrating.

I woke up this morning with terrible news: 24.4% of unemployment (that rise 50% if talking about young people), more than 5 and a half millions people without job, 1.7 million houses where nobody is working, and the worst part is found in Andalusia (the region where I came from): 2 out of 3 andalusian are unemployed. 

Unluckily, it’s not ‘numbers’ who live there in Spain: it’s people. Millions and millions of people that don’t know what else they can try out, millions of families where the parents aren’t working, millions of young people that don’t know what to do for their living... But they need to eat, and to pay the bills, and to take their children to school and, if you’re lucky, go out with your friends to have a coffee that helps you forget that your life’s becoming impossible. It’s not fair: you shouldn’t need to be lucky to afford to have a 1’20 € cup of coffee once in a while.

And it’s not fair because it’s not their fault. I think, for example, about my father: he’s a man in his sixties that’s been working hard since he was 18 (or less) and he’s still running a farm, he’s always paid his taxes as he was supposed to, he and my mother brought up the family and raised their children to be good and honest citizens for the country. But now, if he gets ill, he will have to pay for the ambulance in case he needs it, he will have to pay for the pills or the treatments, of course he can’t retire yet, but he doesn’t earn a lot of money for the vegetables he sells either, because the prices are going down and down, and, the worst for him: he can’t have his children living near him because there’s no future for them. So, what did he do so wrong? And he’s still lucky!

I’m currently living in England and it’s all right, I don’t mind living abroad a few years, I don’t mind if I have to move from here to there, if I have to work at Mcjobs though I’ve got a degree and I could do something better… But it’s not about me; it’s about all those people dressed up as numbers that don’t deserve this. And, to be honest, I don’t want to imagine what’s waiting around the corner. Although the new government is cutting the budget, increasing the taxes and introducing all sorts of reforms that are supposed to help the business and, therefore, create new jobs… it’s not working at the moment. The result: the Spanish have to struggle to live in this new difficult situation so that things start to improve; but they don’t improve, they’re getting worse.

Spain is such a fantastic place with so many people looking forward to work… So every time I have a look to the newspaper or I see a tweet with the trend topics #Spain or #PainInSpain or #Eurocrisis or something like that, a mix of shame, range and fear starts growing inside and makes me upset. And, again, I’m still lucky. 

“The biggest mistake would be to do nothing”, says Rajoy, Spanish prime minister. I just hope that they’re doing it right, that it really works and all those hard social policies shortly help Spain start being what it was: a wonderful country to live in. The country where I eventually want to live.

More info: BBC  report here