Cattle news

From The Daily Mail:

* Sharon Eley, 51, was surround by 20 cows who headbutted her in a brutal attack in the Lancashire countryside.
* She was walking through the countryside with her dog and a friend when they encountered violent animals
* Her injuries included 15 broken ribs, a punctured lung, shattered ankle and broken clavicle and severe bruises
* A keen and experienced walker, Sharon spent a month in hospital and underwent two surgeries to repair ankle
* She is now urging others to be wary when they cross fields with cows in them so they may avoid the same fate

Don't cross fields with cows in them, full stop. And what's often fatal is having a dog with you, especially if there are calves present, which there were in this case.

Her companion warned her about this: "It was only when they entered the second field that they spotted the 20 cows, including calves, huddled together around 20ft away. 'My friend said to me 'oh God I'm not sure about this Sharon' and I said 'it's ok, we'll just wide berth them,' Ms Eley said. 'Don't worry, don't run, it's all good, just stand behind me, don't worry about it'."

And this year's Spanish bull runs were a huge success, from the bulls' point of view. From the BBC:

Three men have died in 24 hours from wounds suffered during bull-running festivals in eastern Spain. They had all taken part in the Valencia region's traditional bous al carrer (bull-running), when bulls charge through towns, often with people running ahead of them.

Animal rights groups have long complained of the dangers for the public as well as the animals. They say 20 people have died in the region in the past eight years.

Shocked I tell you, shocked!

From The Daily Mail:

Bull-runner, 26, gets gored in the leg twice before being flipped into the air and dragged along the street in front of shocked onlookers

How do they work that out? It's like saying people were 'shocked' to see a man knocked unconscious at a boxing match, or a crash in a stock car race.

Fun Online Polls: Brexit, Catalonia and the French wealth tax reforms

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Which of the following applies to you...

Pro-Brexit; pro-Catalan independence - 78%
Anti-Brexit; pro-Catalan independence - 7%
Pro-Brexit, anti-Catalan independence - 11%
Anti-Brexit; anti-Catalan independence - 3%

Good, I'm with the intellectually coherent majority on this. Thanks to all 99 who took part.
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Re my post of yesterday, this week's Fun Online Poll is about maths and logic:

"3% of £80 is more than 0.5% of £100. So what would raise more revenue - Land Value Tax or a general Wealth Tax?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Cattle news round-up

From The Daily Mail (a fortnight ago, I never got round to posting it):

Things got bloody in the bullring on Sunday as two matadors were brutally gored by the bulls they were attempting to take down... After being hooked under the ribs on the right side, Serna even had to be carried out of the ring and rushed to the hospital. Photos show him grimacing in pain and using his blood-covered hand to stop any further bleeding while being evacuated from the bullring.

From The Daily Mail (today):

A man, 33, was fatally gored in the neck as he ran from a bull seconds after he had waived a jumper at the incensed animal during an event in Spain on Saturday.

He was participating in the Fiesta del Toro Revolao when he was pinned to the ground and gored in a field next to screaming onlookers near Valfermoso de Tajuna, in the central province of Guadalajara. In a video from the event, the now [sic] deceased man is seen flapping a jumper at the bull, then sprinting away as it chases him.

Fun Online Polls: Crash for cash; Brexit and Catalonia

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Certain parts of Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester and Oldham topped the league for Crash for Cash. Do these areas have anything else in common?

No - 3%
Yes, but I'd rather not say it out loud - 63%
Yes, it's… [please specify] - 33%

Of those who had the nerve to say something, six said what I was thinking. But it's probably a complete coincidence. What's worrying is that two-thirds of respondents - me included - don't dare say what they think.

Thanks to all sixty who took part, as ever!
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People's views on Catalania's possible independence raise some interesting questions, if you compare and contrast with their views on Brexit.

I'm a small government liberal-cum-troublemaker, so I was all in favour of the Scottish independence referendum and had no strong view either way (it being none of my business); I voted leave in the EU referendum; and I see no reason why Catalonia shouldn't become independent, they've made their views perfectly clear for long enough. That is, I think, an intellectually coherent approach.

The stereotypical lefties are dead against Brexit but are in favour of Catalan independence; the conservative-nationalists were against Scottish independence, were in favour of Brexit and are against Catalan independence. I can see some sort of pattern in either case.

I'm just not sure about the fourth category - people who are against Brexit and against Catalan independence. Putting EU shills* and Spanish nationalists to one side, where do they fit in? Are they left-conservative? Scared of any change ever? The 'liberal metropolitan elite' or those aspiring to be?

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll, just to see how many are in this mystery fourth category.

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

* UPDATE: I think the EU's official statement (h/t @ProfSteveKeen) makes their position clear enough:

Under the Spanish Constitution, yesterday's vote in Catalonia was not legal.

For the European Commission, as President Juncker has reiterated repeatedly, this is an internal matter for Spain that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain.

We also reiterate the legal position held by this Commission as well as by its predecessors. If a referendum were to be organised in line with the Spanish Constitution it would mean that the territory leaving would find itself outside of the European Union.

Beyond the purely legal aspects of this matter, the Commission believes that these are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation.
We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics. We trust the leadership of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to manage this difficult process in full respect of the Spanish Constitution and of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined therein.

Are they mental? How can a vote not be "legal"? It might not be in any way binding, being more of an opinion poll/peaceful protest, but neither of those are actually illegal, are they?

This year's Pamplona bull run: result

From the Independent (via @holbornlolz):

A 46-year-old Spanish man was undergoing surgery for serious injuries to his head and leg after he was gored and then tossed by a bull.

Hospital officials said that two men from the United States had been gored as well during the run but their injuries — in the abdomen for a 35 year-old man and in the scrotum for a 29 year-old — were not considered serious.

More runners were treated on the spot for bruises, a Red Cross spokesman said, as two of the animals separated from the other four in the pack on their way to Pamplona's bullring.

Or from the bulls' perspective: Result!

Cattle News, and a Short List

From The Daily Mail:

The wife of a top bullfighter looked on in horror as her husband was gored to death during a festival in eastern Span.

Victor Barrio, 29, from Segovia was fighting in Teruel, Aragon in eastern Spain when the bull speared him through the chest...

Also from The Daily Mail:

This is the horrific moment a raging bull gores a rider at a rodeo - before going on a furious rampage.

In the footage, a cowboy can be seen riding a large bucking bull at a rodeo in Mexico as an excited crowd cheers him on. But their excitement soon turns to horror as the man loses control of the beast, which charges into a rodeo clown, sending him spinning into the air...

I'm no animal rights activist or anything, but it serves them bloody well right, and well done those bulls for showing a bit of initiative and not going like lambs to the slaughter!

Emailed in by Ralph Musgrave, from The Times of India:

Speaking to TOI, Brijesh Pandey station officer of Itmad-ud-daula said, "The accused has been booked under 377 (unnatural offence) and is absconding after the supposed incident."

Dharmendra Verma, district coordinator of VHP said, "The accused is an unmarried youth and is often seen drunk in the locality. On Friday night, he was spotted having unnatural sex with the cow."

Bleurgh.

On the subject of cattle and cattle products, here's a Short List:

Mid-market 'steak house' chains with vaguely Scottish-themed names starting with "A".

Fun Online Polls: The 'price' of Single Market access & Refuelling the Admiral Kuznetsov

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Which 'price' is worth paying to retain tariff and quota free access to the EU Single Market?

Freedom for EU workers to come to the UK to work - 15%
A market access fee of about £5 billion a year - 8%
Both - 2%
Either/or but not both - 1%
Neither. I prefer Hard Brexit - 72%
Other, please specify - 2%

Good, that's that settled then. I hope the government is on message. Exactly 100 people took part (thanks all) so no 'differences due to rounding' this week either :-)
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A strange quandary again today. From the BBC:

Spain has said it will review the permit for refuelling it gave to Russian warships expected to support a bombing campaign against rebel-held eastern Aleppo, in Syria.

The decision to allow the use of the port of Ceuta was criticised. Nato expressed concern that the ships could be used to bomb civilians...

That's more than a tad hypocritical of 'Nato' (when did it stop being called 'NATO'?) if you ask me, and it  serves the Russians right for not having seen this coming and built a nuclear powered aircraft carrier (lack of easy access to the oceans was always the Russian Navy's Achilles' Heel), but hey.

The whole concept of allowing foreign warships to use your ports has always puzzled me, there is a very strange legal status to all these things and it's always surrounded with diplomatic flummery, but AFAIAA, Spain is not in any way at war with Russia and it's entirely up to Spain whether they want to allow it or not.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll: "Would it particularly bother you if Spain allowed a Russian warship to refuel in a Spanish-controlled port?"

Vote HERE or use the widget in the side bar.

The dangers of running with bulls.

From The Daily Mail:

A man from Valencia has died after being gored by a heifer in a bull-run near the southern Spanish town of Alicante.

The deadly incident occurred about 1 a.m. Saturday during late-night festivities in the small village of Pedreguera. The Red Cross says the heifer gored the 29-year-old man through the chest and stomach. He was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, were attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. The man was pronounced dead about an hour later.

What a heifer was doing at a bull run is unclear, but people do get killed. Ouch.

It gets worse though… From the BBC:

But alongside the threat of a goring, there’s a more sinister danger. San Fermin has become increasingly notorious for the level of sexual assaults against women.

The Telegraph reported one woman telling a local newspaper “If you’re a woman, you know you are going to be groped for sure,” while images went viral of men groping women's breasts during the opening ceremony. Local women’s groups report hundreds of complaints and last year, a high profile rape case kicked off mass protest.

"Violent puppet show sparks apology, but jailing puppets was wrong, says Madrid mayor"

From CBC News:

Madrid city hall apologized Monday to parents for exposing their children to a violent puppet show, but says jailing the puppets for allegedly praising terrorism was disproportionate.

Puppets "The Witch" and "Don Cristobal" were impounded without possibility of bail on Friday for using a sign saying, "Long Live Alka ETA," in a word-play reference to Spain's armed Basque group ETA and al-Qaida.

The satirical theatre piece entitled "The Witch and Don Cristobal", also featured the hanging of a judge's effigy, the stabbing of a nun with a crucifix and police beatings, prompting parents attending with children to complain. The show was commissioned by the city as part of Carnival celebrations.

Kermit and Sooty are spearheading a campaign for the pair's release.

"Bulls kill seven at Spain summer festivals"

From the BBC:

Bulls have gored seven people to death during festivals across Spain since the beginning of July - four of them over the past weekend. The deaths occurred during bull-running in the streets, not in bullrings. It is an unusually high number of fatalities for such a short period...

Last year more than 7,200 bulls and steers (castrated bull calves) were killed by bullfighters across Spain, the news website El Diario reports.

Hahahahahahaha

When Spanish politicians start yapping on about Gibraltar, the correct response is to remind them about Melilla, Ceuta and the Perejil Islands.

Here's the funny bit:

Daybreak in the Spanish north African enclave of Melilla revealed a headache for Spanish police, as around 100 illegal migrants had climbed onto the territory’s security barrier.

They evaded Moroccan security to climb the fence in the dark, but as the sun came up they were caught on the wire in full view of the Spanish police. With the deterioration in security in places like Mali and Southern Sudan more refugees are making their way to Spain’s African territories, as once there they can gain right of entry to the EU.

Although illegal under the Geneva Convention, the Spanish are working with the Moroccans to make sure most are sent back.

Fair play though, at least the Spanish don't just give them a through ticket to Calais.

UPDATE: I've just noticed this is the 10,000th post on this blog.

Bulls 3, Matadors 0

From/via the BBC:

Pot, kettle, boot, other foot etc.

Via Alan at HPC, who asks: "Would the DM adopt the same tone for illegal Bulgarians living in Cheltenham?"

From The Daily Mail:

'We're trapped in a ghost town': The 100,000 British expats whose Spanish homes could be bulldozed any day

* Thousands told their homes were built illegally after they bought them
* 'Barmy' planning rules and topsy-turvy laws leave residents in limbo
* Concrete jungles left behind as construction stops mid-development...

Yes, what the Spanish authorities are doing is completely mad, but it is no worse than what the self-same DM readers are trying to impose on the next generation in the UK.

Do these people not realise that from the Spaniards' point of view they are "immigrants putting pressure on local services, concreting over swathes of the Spanish countryside, etc"?

So they've lost money? Tough. That is absolutely no different to forcing first time buyers in the UK vastly overpay for the privilege of having somewhere to live.

A bit like Gibraltar then...

I knew that Spain occupied a couple of small islands off the Moroccan coast, which the Moroccans say should be given (back?) to them.

I didn't realise that Spain actually occupies small enclaves on the Moroccan coast, as explained in this BBC article:
So that's all sorted then.

The next time the Spanish government wants to distract attention from larger issues and demands the return of Gibraltar, we can tell them to hand back Melilla, Perejil, Ceuta and all the other bits and pieces shown on this map and then we'll think about it.

Tokyo loses race to host Games

From the BBC

Tokyo has been chosen to waste billions on the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games ahead of Istanbul and Madrid.

The Japanese capital lost a final round of voting by International Olympic Committee (IOC) members in Buenos Aires to lose to Istanbul by 60 votes to 36.

The announcement was met with anger from taxpayers in Japan, as Tokyo prepares to host the event for the first time since 1964.

When IOC president Jacques Rogge - who will retire after 12 years in the role on Tuesday - announced the winning city, Madrid taxpayers jumped to their feet in celebration and waved the Spanish flag.

A number of them were overcome with emotion and wept, following two years of anxiety.

"I would like to thank everyone in the Olympic movement for giving the games to Tokyo" a delighted Istanbul taxi driver said.

A Spanish software developer added: "It is a great that Tokyo has been chosen. I'd like to thank them for picking up the tab for my entertainment. We really dodged a bullet there."

"Shocking moment angry bull runs at cars on busy Spanish motorway"

From The Daily Mail:

During celebrations in the Spanish town of Iriépal in Guadalajara, a bull escaped from its cage and bolted down the motorway.

Frightened drivers climbed out of their cars when the bull rammed several vehicles as it ran away down the road. The bull was on its way to help the town north of Madrid celebrate the feast of San Roque on August 16.

"Helping to celebrate"? That's an interesting euphemism for "being slaughtered and eaten".

Unless of course the bull was going to help them choose the party music or hang up the decorations or something.

Gibraltar, Spain, sabre rattling* etc.

When Spanish politicians start yapping on about Gibraltar to their voters minds off the dire state of their economy, corruption scandals, poor safety record of their railways etc, it always reminds me of the mirror image dispute between Spain and Morocco.

They're all as bad as each other.

* How can you rattle a sabre? It's a single, solid object, it's not like a set of keys or a handful of change or something.

Dr No development (2)

From The Telegraph:

Shir Shean and hish wife bought a beachfront home, Casha Malibu, near Puerto Banush, after their wedding in 1975 and shpent much of their time on the Coshta del Shol where they indulged their love of golf in between hish film projectsh.

They are shaid to have entertained shome of the top film and shportsh shtarsh of the time at the whitewashed villa including Shir Michael Caine and George Besht before shelling the home in 1999 for a reported £5.5 million.

A developer later ushed the shite to build a four-shtorey block containing 72 holiday apartmentsh shold for an eshtimated £45 million deshpite planning regulationsh shtipulating that only five flatsh could be built there. The alleged crimesh being inveshtigated include money laundering, tax evashion and town planning breachesh.

It's not quite clear why they are trying to pin the subsequent over-development on Sean Connery, but from the context he appears to have benefitted from what happened after he sold it. Maybe the authorities decided to go after whoever has the deepest pockets, and in such circumstances picking on foreigners - particularly famous ones - is a traditional tactic.

Economic Myths: Work hard and you will get on in life.

Debunked over at www.buysellrentspain.com