SLIPPING OFF THE PAGE

It is a lamentable fact but Andalucía is at the tail of the reading league in Spain. Furthermore the number of readers in the region has dropped sharply from 55 per cent in 2000 to just 50 per cent in 2009.

To find the nation’s booklovers you have to travel to Madrid. There 64.4 per cent of people say they are habitual readers, well above the national average of 55 per cent. Indeed La Rioja (58.4), Aragón (58.3), Cantabria (57.8), Navarra (57.7), the Canary Islands (56.9), the Basque region (56.8), Cataluña (55.6) and the Balearics (55.3) all beat the Spanish norm.

There have been three major initiatives in Andalucía since 2000 to boost the numbers and habit of reading but these seemed to have failed. The experts say the reasons are “historical” pointing to the socio-economic depression and culture to explain away the low Spanish reading rates, a problem that is especially acute in the south of the country.

So who is the typical Spanish reader? Well that reader is female, young, university educated and an urban dweller. She prefers to read novels and in Spanish. However the largest group of readers are children aged between 10 and 13 where a 91.2 per cent rating is recorded.

The most read book in Spain in 2009 was “El niño con el pyjama de rayas” by John Boyle. However Steig Larsson leads the classification of the most read and bought author.

The high reading rate amongst the very young at school level is seen as a possible hope for the future. Also the development of new technology with the ‘e-book’, which the experts believe will capture the imagination of young people who will increasingly live in a digital society. They hope it will encourage them to read.

Is that our last hope?

QAPARHA!

As St Valentine’s Day fast approaches Today Translations in London spoke to some 320 linguists to see what was the most highly rated way to "talk the romantic talk".

“Amour” was voted the most romantic word in the world.

It won easily over “Amore” its Italian equivalent – but Italian was deemed the most romantic language.

The Italian word “Belissima” came in third in the romantic word chart followed by “Tesoro” in fourth – a word that is also Spanish and means treasure.

French was deemed the second most romantic language followed by English then Spanish.
So what are the most romantic phrases? The experts chose "watakushi-wa anata-wo ai shimasu" – which apparently is Japanese, followed by "rydw i'n dy garu di" – yes, it’s Welsh and in third place is “qaparha” – klingon - the language used in movie Star Trek.

Needless to say I don’t know what any of them mean!

But just remember next time you are confronted by Chewbacca on a dark night, romantic or otherwise, the word is – “qaparha” – or at least I hope it is!

SOLO JIHADIST IN AL ANDALUS

The anti-terrorist experts have issued an alert on the new and lethal development in Al Qaeda – the use of western looking men and women, who live habitually in Europe or the USA and who act alone without any link to Islamic cells who are “practically undetectable”.

This is the stark warning from a conference in international terrorism organized by the UN in which members of the Guardia Civil Grupo de Análisis de Terrorismo Trasnacional participated. It has resulted in the issuing of an alert to the activities of what are called “free radicals”.

The Guardia Civil terrorism specialists along with their counterparts in the rest of the western world were alarmed by the frustrated attempt to bring down the flight over Detroit and the massacre at Fort Hood in which a lone terrorist shot dead 13 soldiers. This has led them to hunt for this new category of Al Qaeda operative – the solo Jihadist.

These terrorists are self financing and are equal to the small Islamic cells that have been dismantled in recent years in Spain. They have been dedicated to small time crime such as thefts or drug trafficking in order to raise the funds for their activities.

They do not receive training in the camps in Afghanistan or Pakistan but instead use the internet where they can link up with Jihad websites and receiving training in terrorist methods.

Second generation immigrants in to Spain who have been hit hard by the financial crisis and unemployment can be easily indoctrinated into radical Islamic ways. The difficult economic times can also hamper their integration in to their new homes in Spain or other western countries.

The spotlight on these new terrorists has been centred on Spain – the Al Andalus of the Islamists - who have used this name as their trade mark to spread Al Qaeda propaganda especially in the Islamic States across the Strait of Gibraltar in North Africa.

TWENTY FIVE YEARS ON...

Last Friday marked 25 years since the re-opening of the border between Gibraltar and Spain. The Spanish media headlined the anniversary with the words “sin advances”. True the over 300 year problem of the Rock’s sovereignty has not been solved to Spain’s liking but there are also those in Gibraltar who see the tri-partite forum as no advance at all.

The border was closed on June 8 1969 in a protest by General Franco who was angered that the people of the Rock had voted overwhelmingly (12,138 to 44) in a referendum to maintain the link with the British Crown.

The closing of the gates caused hardship for many people in the Campo de Gibraltar who had worked or done business on the Rock. It also saw Gibraltar meetings its labour needs across the Strait in Morocco instead of from nearby La Línea.

The frontier remained closed after the death of Franco and the introduction of democracy in Spain. Indeed it was not until December 12 1982 that the PSOE premier, Felipe González, decided to open the barriers so that pedestrians could pass.

We have to move on to February 5 1985 when the border was finally re-opened to pedestrians, vehicles and freight traffic. This was two months after the Spanish and British Governments had signed the Brussels Declaration which set out the basis for renewed discussions on sovereignty.

However no such talks took place till 2002 when the British administration of Tony Blair tried to bump Gibraltar in to a joint sovereignty accord with Spain then led by José María Aznar. A second referendum was held on the Rock in which the people rejected a break with Britain with the same force as they had in 1969 – with 98.97 per cent saying no.

On that occasion the Partido Popular government in Madrid did not follow Franco’s example although those crossing in and out of Gibraltar were subjected to major delays from the early 1990s onwards.

It was in 2004 that the Spanish Government of current PSOE premier José Luis Zapatero Rodríguez opted for a different approach towards Britain and Gibraltar. This lead to the forum of dialogue and the Córdoba Agreement that has seen the governments of Spain, Britain and Gibraltar talking at the same table – a concept bitterly opposed by the Partido Popular who believe that the Rock should not have its own voice.

Various agreements have been reached, the joint use of the airport is in the offing, cross border access is now much easier – but there is still much to be done. Of course there are those in Gibraltar who believe that the Córdoba process has given too much to Spain – whilst the Partido Popular believes the Spanish Government is too soft in defending Spain’s interests.

At present Spain’s centre left PSOE government has opted for dialogue and co-operation with Gibraltar’s centre right GSD administration. It could be that in the near future both governments will change with centre right Partido Popular ruling in Madrid and centre left GSLP on the Rock. In that case opposites will probably not attract. Britain could soon have a Conservative government with policy on Gibraltar unlikely to change but a tougher line with Spain could follow. What is certain is that the next 25 years are likely to be as fraught as the last.
Historical note: England took Gibraltar in 1704 and in 1713 Spain ceded the Rock to Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht. However the land granted under the Treaty is very different from the land the Rock holds today. In 1815, with Spanish permission, Britain set up a hospital camp on no man’s land because of an outbreak of Yellow Fever. When the scare was over Britain did not withdraw then occupied more land in 1854. In 1908 the ‘verja’ border fence was put up – by Britain – in response to the negative reaction of the government of Alfonso XIII to free trade. Apart from a historic claim to Gibraltar itself Spain also disputes Britain and the Rock’s right to the reclaimed territory.

DEAD LANGUAGES

According to Reuters, so it must be true, one of the world’s oldest dialects, which traces its origins back over tens of thousands of years ago, has become extinct. The last person to speak Bo, 85-year-old Boa Sr died on a remote Indian island last week.

Survival International says there are now only 52 members surviving members of the tribe, which is thought to have lived on the Andaman Islands for as many as 65,000 years, making them descendants of one of the oldest cultures in the world.

I read this news as I listened to the Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, address a press conference on the latest accord over police and justice in Gaelic.

I say he spoke in Gaelic, actually he spoke a sentence or two before switching to English as few others in the room and the wider world outside would have understood what he was talking about. Indeed he looked a bit unsure of the Gaelic himself.

When I lived in Ireland I remember Cork University having a seat in Welsh. The blind leading the blind.

The Irish and Welsh language are spoken by a handful of the residents living in each country. However, it would be a fool that suggested these two ancients nations didn’t have a living and vibrant culture based on its historic roots.

To have knowledge of these languages certainly enriches the lives of Irish and Welsh people – but then they have to deal with the real world.

Being English I pride myself that the world speaks my language – of course it doesn’t, it speaks American English. As my second tongue is Spanish it could well be that before long it is not Castilian but American Spanish that rules.

My son was born in Ireland, passed his early years in Scotland and speaks Estuary English –and oh yes, Andaluz.

Some would say he is totally unintelligible in two languages. I wonder if he could learn Bo.

WAT NO OBAMA?

It is “probable” that the US President Barack Obama will not attend the USA – EU conference to be held in Madrid between May 24 - 25.

This will come as a genuine disappoint to Spaniards as they were very much looking forward to seeing Obama in the flesh visiting their country. Whilst the US President might be under siege at home – internationally - he is still very popular and it could be that the more he is seen to be at odds with the “Fox Conservatives” in the Republican Party the higher his standing will rise.

The news will also come as a major blow to the Spanish premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as the presence of Obama would have been the icing on his EU presidency cake.

The US seems to be aware of the major disappointment in Madrid and that country’s ambassador to Spain moved quickly to state the importance of the alliance between the two nations.

For Zapatero the EU presidency that runs from January to June is turning into a disaster. He has been ridiculed over his lightweight standing amongst the major European leaders. At home he was called a “cateto” – “country bumpkin” because a meeting at Davos World Economic Forum had to be halted whilst a translator told him what was being said –as he was the only person present who didn’t speak English. Mind you Spain’s opposition leader, Mariano Rajoy, doesn’t speak English either!

Make no mistake Zapatero badly needs to be walking in Obama’s shadow to sure up his popularity at home as he battles the economic crisis. Indeed both leaders may have had a lot to chat about behind the scenes as they use “socialist” policies to tackle the collapse in employment and business confidence.

Unless Obama has a profound change of mind he won’t be in Madrid or indeed Europe this spring. However, as of late, changing his mind has become an Obama trait there is hope yet. Zapatero will hope so!

BEWARE THE OPEN MIKE

Politicians are so often caught out by open microphones letting the world known their private thoughts that by now you would have thought their number one rule would be ‘check the mike’. Apparently that is not so as Esperanza Aguirre, the Partido Popular president of the Madrid regional government can testify.

On Friday she was sitting alongside her number two Ignacio González at a meeting of mayors in Becerril de la Sierra. She commented to him about the situation at the Caja Madrid savings bank – where politicians play a leading role at board level. It is not entirely clear who Aguirre was talking about but she called a former counsellor with the bank a “hijo puta” – “son of a whore”.

Such a term may sound shocking to Anglo-Saxon ears but of course it is common parlance in Spanish albeit insulting. Aguirre would not be drawn as to who she was speaking about and safe in the knowledge that we didn’t know she told the daily newspaper “El Mundo” she was sure “he” was “a saint and his mother as well.”

However she did move quickly to reassure the media that had recorded her words that it was not Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, the mayor of Madrid. Although both are key members of the Partido Popular, in the region’s politics, they are fierce rivals with the Caja Madrid having been a recent battleground.

Premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Mariano Rajoy the leader of the opposition, former premier José María Aznar and the former president of Congress Federico Trillo have all fallen victim to the open microphone in recent years.

However none more so than socialist José Bono. In November 2008 when president of Congress he called some fellow members of parliament “hijos de puta”. His most famous gaff came in January 2004 when he was president of Castilla-La Mancha. A microphone caught him in a private conversation when he called the then British ‘New Labour’ premier, Tony Blair, “un gilipollas” or “dick head”, although I have heard more profane translations.

I suspect many members of Britain’s ‘Old Labour’ would have been nodding enthusiastically in agreement with Bono’s words.