Sad Days For Justice

I started up this blog when I came to live in Spain early last year. Before that I had blogged for some time as a magistrate, something I intended to keep on when I arrived. Sadly, I found that I was quickly becoming detached from the day-to-day changes that were taking place, and so it seemed sensible to fold that blog; it still sits there, no doubt, it's just that I don't post to it. So reading the UK press recently left me in a quandary; whether to awaken that dormant blog, or whether to write today's posting here on my current blog. I decided that this blog is about me here in Spain, and that that will sometimes involve me having thoughts about the country I left. That is my excuse!

In my magistrate days, I had the good fortune to meet and work with a fine Circuit Judge, sitting in the local Crown Court. He was what is called our "liaison judge", and in that capacity was happy to write a regular column for the bench journal which I edited. Twice a year, he would produce an article which took an area of concern to magistrates and would deal with it with a clarity, authority and detail which made it a joy to publish, and to read. In addition, I was able to have him as a guest speaker at the local Magistrates' Association branch a couple of times, where he led us through a series of sentencing exercises in that grey area which is cases that might stay with the magistrates, or could be sent to judge and jury at the crown court. Our ability to make those often difficult decisions on 'venue' benefited enormously from his input. Final I was privileged to sit with him in the crown court on a number of occasions, hearing appeals from the magistrates courts in the area; from those occasions I learned much about how to conduct cases in my own court.

You would be forgiven for anticipating that I am about to report his death; that this is an obituary. You would be wrong. HHJ Bruce Macmillan has not died. He has resigned his position as a circuit judge with immediate effect. Why? Because recently he was stopped by police, breathalysed, arrested and subsequently charged with driving with excess alcohol. His case is not due in court until September 30th, but he has bowed out ahead of that, and the judicial system has lost an extremely talented judge. He recognised that you cannot break the law and also enforce it. It is highly unlikely that he would have had to deal with similar cases himself; they are heard in the magistrates court. That is not the point. It is the principle that matters, and living up to that principle has cost him his career, his reputation and a not inconsiderable salary.

And then, a day or two later, I read that the Attorney General, the most senior lawyer in the government, has admitted employing an illegal immigrant, has accepted a £5,000 penalty for failing to abide by the very requirements that she herself helped to draft, but does not feel that she should resign, because - according to a press report I heard today - she sees the transgression as being no more serious than failing to pay the London congestion charge; which, of course, would also be an offence! Whether Baroness Scotland is a good, bad or indifferent Attorney General, I do not know. I just wish she had the same sense of public duty and responsibility as Bruce Macmillan!

Las Dos En Punto

We have just returned from four days in Santiago de Compostela, where we were absolutely enchanted by the historic heart of the city centred around the cathedral, shrine to Santiago, or St James, the apostle and brother of St John; he who wrote the fourth gospel. For several hundred years, beginning in the 11th century, this shrine was the third most important place of pilgrimage in Christendom, after Jerusalem and Rome. More recently, the main pilgrim route has been revived and promoted with huge numbers walking, cycling or riding all or at least 100km of the 800km 'Camino' from France.
But my attention was also caught by these two splendid ladies who are to be found in the Parque de la Alameda, which lies between the old city and the southern campus of the university for which Santiago is also famous. Back in the 1920s, three teenage sisters used to go for a walk each afternoon, along the Rua do Franco, past the Porta de Faxeira and through the Alameda, paying pointed compliments to the male students they passed, and giggling to each other at the compliments directed back at them. The years passed, but still Las Marias, as they became known, continued to take their daily walk at two o'clock sharp (Dos en punto). In their seventies, the three of them were still out every day. One sister died, but in their eighties and nineties the two remaining sisters kept up their tradition, by now also known as "Las Dos en Punto".
When eventually they died, the city of Santiago honoured them by placing this polychrome bronze statue in the Paseo de la Alameda, where they continue to attract the attention of passing students (and others).

The Season's Over....

Last Sunday the 3 Cultures Festival came to an end. Monday morning, the transformation was amazing. The stallholders mostly slept either in their vans or under the stalls, so when everyone went home, they set straight into packing up and headed out of the village in the small hours or the madrugada, as we call it here.
At the same time, being the end of August, all the holidaying Spanish and French set off for home and the start of work with September. Plus the Brits all left with their kids to get them ready for a new school year, and I guess the other nationalities did the same. So it's mainly just the resident population again. Bar owners, restaurateurs and shop keepers can all draw breath, although only because business now drops dramatically.
Only the weather remains in high-summer mood, though even that wobbled yesterday evening, and overnight we had the first rain since May (apart from a ten minute shower during the feria in June). Today is cloudy and cooler, but more humid.

Three Cultures Festival

So now we have come to the final day of this year's festival. Once again, the day has dawned hot and sunny, and tonight we have tickets for the final concert - Pasión Vega, one of Spain's top female vocalists and also one of my favourites. The other paying concerts I've listened to for free from my roof terrace about 200 metres from the stage, as the crow flies.
This year's festival has been bigger and better than ever. In addition to the 'paid-for' concerts, each evening there has been a one hour, free concert, each one in a different part of the village. The Festival is centred on the area you can see in the view of the village which adorns the masthead of this blog, but this year there have been more events taking place in other .
Official estimates are that last year's festival was attended by 60,000 people over the 4 days (This, in a village of around 2,500 people!). My own, unofficial, unscientific impression is that this year we have already passed that figure with a full day still to go. In its fourth year, Las Tres Culturas continues to grow. Can't wait to see what next year's brings - You, perhaps; its well worth the effort!

A Long Overdue Visit

In March 1989, we sailed into Santander and drove across Spain for the first time. For no particular reason we decided to take the route to the west of Madrid, rather than the more direct eastern route. So it was that quite by chance we found ourselves in Salamanca around five in the evening, feeling that we had driven about far enough (The roads were much more basic in those days!). The back seats of the car were down and the car was filled with a mountain of very visible baggage, so I wanted a hotel with its own carpark, and settled on the Parador, just outside the city. This was the view that faced us from our hotel room window!
The following morning, we set off again south, having just popped into the edge of the city to get some money from a bank, and headed for Frigiliana. Only then did I get around to reading the guide book entry for Salamanca, and discover that we had rushed striaght past one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. For years, we promised ourselves that we would go back, but never did.
So this year we decided that our route south from Santander should take us to Salamanca, and booked ourselves two nights in a hotel right in the heart of the old city. What an eye-opener. The twin cathedrals (photo) are as impressive inside as they are from the outside. The Romanesque 'old' cathedral dates from the 13th century, whilst the 'new', Gothic cathedral was started in 1512. The Plaza Mayor is considered by many to be the most attractive in Spain; I can well imagine that it is. It is an amazing example of Churrigueresque Baroque, built in the 18th century, and frequently hosting bullfights until 1863.
Having also one of the oldest and most important universities in Spain, means that there is no shortage of places to eat and drink at sensible prices. We had a wonderful couple of days, and Salamanca comes close to displacing Barcelona as my favourite Spanish city.