The Spanish Constitution is 30 years old

It's a typical Constitution Day - Immaculate Conception "puente" (long weekend) here in Spain -- lovely weather, Christmas decorations everywhere, people milling about, restaurants packed with diners, politicians talking nonsense, etc.

.

On this 30th anniversary of Spain's Constitution, opposition leader Mariano Rajoy has accused Prime Minister Jose Rodrigo Zapatero of destabilizing Spain. In case anyone might think he was mincing words, he threw in terms like irresponsible, frivolous and disturbing.

.

Rajoy has assured everyone, however, that he did not want to cast a shadow over the country's celebrations. I suppose he simply wanted to get as much press coverage as possible -- which he seems to have done, as he's right up there on most front pages, along with reports on the Royal family's plans for today and Zapatero's revelation that in his opinion the Spanish Constitution, "has been, is and will be useful."

.

I'm not sure if Z's remark was an example of faint praise or faint oratorical skill.

.

We can only hope that no politicians will feel a need to comment on the Immaculate Conception.

Chao amig@s,

Carloz

100,000 protest against English classes in Valencia!

The largest street protest in Valencia since 2003's march against the War in Iraq occurred yesterday in response to the regional government's plan have the school system's new Civics classes taught only in English. A crowd that organizers estimated at 100,000 converged on regional government headquarters. Many carried signs with slogans in English, such as, "No, we can't," and "[Education Minister Alejandro] Font de Mora go home!"

However, Valencians are not up in arms about English, but rather about what many see as an effort by the regional Valencian government, which is controlled by the conservative Popular Party, to undermine the Civics curriculum. The national government, which is led by the Socialist Party, developed the Civics course for students who want to opt out of the Roman Catholic Religion course that is taught in schools across Spain.




Valencia is the only autonomous region that has mandated that the new course be taught in a foreign language, which is what led to the call for protests by the organization Plataforma por la Enseñanza Pública. (Platform for Public Education.) For the past three months parents, teachers and students have been taking to the streets throughout the region. Until yesterday's march the largest had been a gathering of 30,000 people on November 10th. In addition to this local reaction, many school officials and education experts across the country have criticised the Valencian government's action.

It is interesting that at the same time that this is happening there have been increasing demands for religious icons to be removed from schools and other public places. Two national police officers (guardias civiles) recently sued to have images of the Virgin of Pilar removed from their headquarters, while a city of Seville police officer has requested that two religious images be removed from the local police station.

Meanwhile, this month for the first time ever in Spain, a court ruled that crucifixes in a public space must be removed, when a judge in the town of Valladolid ordered a school to remove its religious symbols. The judge found that the presence of religious symbols in the school seemed to convey the idea that the state is closer to Roman Catholicism than to other religions. The school board had rejected the request from a parent in 2005 to remove the icons.

These things are happening 30 years after the end of the Franco dictatorship, which had previously made Roman Catholicism the state religion. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 guarantees a secular state.

Happy Birthday Bicing!

Bicing, Barcelona's public bicycle sharing system, marked its one year anniversary with a party on the seaside this weekend. About 2,000 persons gathered to hear speeches, watch marching bands, and eat a giant birthday cake.

.

From the perspective of this user Bicing is a success and I think most Barcelonans would concur. Using this form of public transportation has saved me time and money, as well as provided me with an opportunity to get some extra exercise -- all without contributing to air pollution, noise and traffic congestion.

.

Here are some statistics provided by Bicing that reflect the program's popularity: today Bicing has more than 130,000 users from 16 years of age to 83. The majority are between the ages of 26 and 35. The 4, 300 bicycles are used an average of 30,000 times a day. Each bike is used an average of 8 times a day. The average trip lasts 17 minutes and covers 3 kilometers. There are currently 286 stations that cover every district within the city limits. About 120 workers travel around the city in special Bicing vans to make repairs, switch out damaged bicycles and provide station maintenance. Every day about 300 new people join the system by paying the 24 euro annual membership fee.

.

Future plans include expanding to 400 stations and 6,000 bicycles by this summer. Neighboring cities, such as Badalona and L'Hopsitalet, are considering joining the network so that Bicing can cover the whole Barcelona metropolitan area. There is talk about increasing the program's operating hours. (Currently the service is available from 5am to midnight on Sunday through Thursdays and 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays.) Plans to create a weekly pass for tourists have been put on hold, but stay tuned, because as soon as it is inaugurated, I will post a notice.

.

However, the system is not perfect and not all users are happy. One anonymous commentator on the ADN.es website wrote:

"It's a shame that you do not mention the very bad management of this service: thefts of bells and damage to gears, insufficient availability of bicycles at stations, failures in the computer system that prevent you from taking a bicycle even though some are available, fines and unjust sanctions due to mistakes by those in positions of responsibility..."

(Click here for the original Spanish version of the article the writer was commenting on. Scroll down the page to view his comments.)

.

This writer is referring to the following situations:

• some of the bikes are vandalized, forcing users to ride without bells or with non-functioning gears;


• at times there are no bikes available at a station and it is necessary to wait until someone returns one -- indeed sometimes there are lines of people waiting for a bike;


• the computerized station racks sometimes breakdown and either will not allow people to take bikes or will not allow bikes to be returned;


• and some members claim that they have been fined 250 euros for losing bikes that in fact they had returned.

The latter could be because of a problem with the computerized rack, but it could also be because the user did not check to make sure that the bicycle was locked into the rack properly. I have actually seen kids at the Bicing bike racks trying all the parked bikes to see if there are any bikes that they could take be cause they were not locked properly.

.

Of course, the burden of proof is on the member. For that reason, I usually not only check to see that the rack has properly locked the bicycle by trying to remove the bicycle from the stand, but I also immediately try to check out another bike because if the system has recorded the bike as returned, the computer system should give me a message that I need to wait 10 minutes before borrowing another bicycle.

.

Other things I hear people complaining about are the limited number of bike lanes in Barcelona, the lack of respect pedestrians and other vehicles have for bike lanes, and the fact that police seem to fine bicyclers for violations much more than they do pedestrians and vehicle drivers. (I've never heard of a pedestrian getting fined for walking in a bike lane, although it is against the law.)

.

So, yes, there are problems but all in all, I have to say I am not only satisfied, I am grateful. Bicing is a great way to get around!

.

¡Felice cumpleaños, Bicing!

.

Carloz

.

P.S. Bicing has an old English version of it's website that is not updated anymore. Click here to view it.

It's another bank holiday in Spain! This one's Constitution Day...

...or el Día de la Constitución Española. That's right, only a few weeks before the Christmas, New Year and Reyes holiday season, Spain has yet another holiday.

.

This is one of the few holidays in Spain with completely secular roots. It commemorates the anniversary of the national referendum held on 6 December 1978, in which 88% of Spanish voters approved the constitution which had been passed by parliament on 31 October of that same year. Although the constitution actually came into effect on 29 December 1978, the date of the referendum was established as a national holiday in 1983. Perhaps this was because it was one of the crowning moments in the period from 1975 to 1978, referred to as The Transition, during which Spain was converted from a fascist dictatorship to a parliamentary monarchy.
.
This year's anniversary is the 29th. I don't know if there are any special plans for 2008's nice round 30th anniversary, but for the even-numbered 25th a special web site was designed that includes an official English translation of the constitution. Click here to read it.
.
For a holiday that marks such a notable event in the country's history, it's not a something the Spanish people seem to celebrate very much. Sure, there are formal events participated in by politicians, royalty and celebrities. But on the street, there is not much that I can see to mark the occassion other than special little flags flying from city buses. (Except, here in Barcelona the little flags are Catalan and not Spanish. Go figure.) For most people, it's just a day off work.
.
Well, perhaps I should say, a "few days" off work, because Constitution Day is followed by another national holiday on 8 December. That one is Immaculate Conception (La Inmaculada Concepción), which, of course, refers to the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. This particular representation of Mary was designated the "patron virgin" of Spain in 1760, so it's a holiday with a longer history than Constitution Day. However, from what I can tell, it doesn't seem to have much meaning to most Spaniards either. As a matter of fact, when I ask locals if they know what the holiday is, most say something equivalent to, "I think it's some religious holiday."
.
In other words, "Who cares?! I'm just glad it's a long weekend!"

.

Amen to that.
.
Hasta luego amig@s,
.
Carloz