Comments on: Why Spain Is Great #3: Fun Not Banned Yet (Mostly)

By: Zach

Zach — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:25:13 +0000

The best thing the socialist government has done is drastically reduce traffic deaths ( much more heroic than fighting ETA as far as I’m concerned) And how do you do this? through rules.

Same with smoking in bars and restaurants, same with noise, same with peeing in the street. I find none of these things charming and I’m a little tired of the “spain is different” attitude that says it’s an expression of latin vitality to be disrespectful.

The amazing thing is, so many Spanish are sick of these things but don’t do anything about. that’s another big problem here: complacency.

Zach

By: mallorcaman

mallorcaman — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:24:44 +0000

Cheese rolling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOyQBSMeIhM

By: ang

ang — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:10:06 +0000

it’s important to remember a couple of things when looking at the uk’s relationship with h&s. firstly – we brought this problem on ourselves. look at the ‘injury lawyer’ business sector – too many people are looking to make money and blame someone for ‘accidents’. secondly, the daily mail/express is where these things are usually covered, and these papers look to apportion blame in their coverage of news. they are hypocritics and scare-mongerers and articles in these (and other) publications should be cross-checked and independently verified.

too much of the uk media tries to paint it as a horrible place to live, when this is simply not the case. indeed much of the so-called problems are easily avoided by a pragmatic approach and some positivity.

if h&s legislation tries to look for and offset potential risk in every aspect of life, then so be it; but it is our own reaction to the legislation that makes our lives interesting and fulfilling or otherwise.

By: Janey

Janey — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:13:01 +0000

Actually, this is changing. My nephew’s school does not allow any photographs at the yearly christmas show. And my sister in law doesn’t let her kids go outside w/o her. They live in a Barcelona suburb.

To support your point however, she does allow my 10 year old nephew to play with firecrackers — often.

By: Maureen Dolan

Maureen Dolan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:56:50 +0000

Yes, my brother just told me he got a fine (doubled up for cheek) for throwing down a cigarette end in Glasgow. Yes, we´re being watched, and in my wildest dreams, I´m sure the eugenicists (zat a wurd?) are morphing into the geneticists who will champion the greed and pride of the few powerful to the detriment of the rest of us “fun-loving” few, living in chaos. (They´ll mess about with our genes, the ones that make us fighters). They´ll take a while to get to primitive Spain, but they´ll get here in the end. What´s the old saying, “eat , drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die”? It should apply to us Brits and does apply to the Spaniards. But we´re living in postmodernism, folks, where all categories, all genres, all traditions collapse, even the simplest notion of democracy. Perhaps it´s cynicism (oh no, not cynicism, that copping out of one´s civic duty) when nowhere sounds better than anywhere else? I´m an old Marxist-cum-feminist who has cared about the excluded, especially women, and where deportes de riesgo are concerned, I´d like to hear about abortion. To my mind, I don´t see the fun of my kid being harried into a backward, macho, Roman gladiatorial notion of what an animal is and seguing indiscriminatorially into pregnancy as the glory of the empire. Fuck beasts, fuck women, qué más da. As we know, money is at the base of all morality but I see it as the civic duty of the town in which I´m living to provide danger- free fun for all of us. Call me a snob, but I see that as culture. Bring us culture in adequate surroundings at an adequate price. And we´ll cost the state very little. We´ll have fewer, but happier, children, and we´ll warn them of the dangers of conkers, dangers much less worrying than burning down papier maché creations or the deplorable state of road safety in this country. As far as I´m concerned, Spain is a backward country, and the day somebody puts my daughter´s eye out is the day I´ll not be responsible for my actions.

By: Geoff Harrison

Geoff Harrison — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:44:21 +0000

Thanks @Legazpi, I didn’t know I was an advocate of the ‘Harm Principle’, but now that I’ve looked it up, yes, I guess I am! It just comes down to respect, whatever culture you’re from.

By: Javi

Javi — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:43:39 +0000

Same thing when comparing to the US.

However, look at the number of spanish kids dead by stupid accidents like falling from a roof, fireworks blowing fingers and the list goes on and on.

By: SarahHeartburn

SarahHeartburn — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:55:49 +0000

But I really wish the folks who are taking up bike riding as a form of public transportation would wear helmets, ok? Head injuries are not fun. I see maybe one out of 15 people here in the center of Madrid with a helmet on.

By: doors and windows

doors and windows — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:21:38 +0000

My son watches Postman Pat and there is a scene where one of the kids tries to climb a tree but Postman Pat or one of the other adult characters stops them saying “That’s far too dangerous”. Dear me, we really are going too far.

By: Valenciana09

Valenciana09 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:32:37 +0000

To say that català and valencià are different languages is as absurd as saying that the Castilian spoken in Spain and the one in Chile are different languages. There are different expressions, accents, vocabulary, idioms and even some verb conjugations, but when it comes down to it… el català occidental i el oriental are the same basic language.