Staff Reporter
SPAIN as a nation, is famously inefficient – where getting anything done feels like a miracle, and when it does happen, it takes 10 times longer than it should.
There’s definitely a north-south cultural divide in Europe, and in this regard, it couldn’t be more obvious.
But I don’t think it’s because the locals don’t care or lack the will to make things happen. It’s more like an evolutionary coping mechanism – a built-in safety valve to manage expectations.
If something’s promised in a year, just assume five. That way, you’re never too disappointed.
Einstein and Stephen Hawking said time isn’t a fixed thing, and honestly, life in Spain might just be the best real-world proof of that theory.
What’s prompted this little rant, you ask?
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Well, down in my neck of the woods, it’s taken three years just to award a contract for a pedestrian path between La Cala and Fuengirola. At this rate, we might see it finished by 2030 – if we’re lucky.
Speaking of things finally getting done, I see common sense has at last prevailed: Brits will soon be allowed to use the automatic immigration gates at Spanish (and other EU) airports. I won’t dig up the whole Brexit mess, but it’s taken nearly a decade of posturing for a bit of practicality to shine through.
I’m sure EU citizens had a bit of a chuckle watching the long queues of Brits winding their way through Malaga airport, waiting for a passport stamp – all after we told them exactly where they could shove their club membership. Personally, I won’t miss being treated like a second-class citizen by puffed-up border officials.
Meanwhile, over in the Canaries, the locals are kicking off – again – about there being too many tourists. Which, frankly, seems a bit rich.
Most of what makes those islands such great places to live is thanks to the vast amount of tourist money flowing in every year.
And as for the original inhabitants of the Canaries? We’ll never know what they’d think, since the Spanish wiped them out 500 years ago when they showed up and took the islands for themselves.
Sure, Spain has its own issues with illegal immigration. But honestly, people booking hotels, eating out, employing locals – that seems a far cry from what’s happening back in the UK, where we’re apparently under siege from asylum seekers chasing a free ride.
Maybe Keir Starmer could install e-gates on the south coast that issue work visas, spending money, and a hotel address all in one go?
And finally – though I’m no massive football fan – I expected at least one Spanish side to make it into one of the two big European finals.
But no such luck. My first year living in what was once the epicentre of world football, and we’ve got a French team playing an Italian one for the Champions League, and two of the worst Premier League sides in Manchester United and Spurs scrapping it out for the Europa League.
