Recession – Leeds's Singing Organ-Grinder

Nick Clegg’s Spanish

Includes several therapeutic tongue-twisters.

How many working Andalusians does it take to keep a fellow-countryman on the dole?

More than some people think.

The Pearly Gates to this year's Seville Fair. St Peter has nipped off for a sherry. <a href='http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portadadeferia2010.JPG'>CC from Wikimedia Commons</a>.

Binding referendum on the future of Catalonia, hosted by Kalebeul

In response to confusion in the markets re Spain’s constitutional arrangements and the size and distribution of its public debt, kaleBirthday has, remarkably, gained the consent of the Catalan, Spanish and EU administrations to conduct a binding poll on the future of the troubled region. Vote now or forever hold your peace.

Link sink for 26/05/2009

Was S Felipe Neri the original big swinging dick?

Homeless Jonah about to be devoured by a great 100€-plated fish

But will an ecclesiastical trawler turn it into cat food first?

Mural at the foot of the Carmelite church on Monte Carmelo, Barcelona.

A Caja Castilla la Mancha anecdote

Broadly illustrative of how we got where we are, with a joke at the end.

Sun setting over tourist bars in Barcelona

Where are the heaving (crowds of) drunks of yesteryear?

Crisisssss – 4 fuets for 5€

Stallholders in Vilafranca del Penedès are slashing prices, but don’t let greed get the better of you.

The dirtiest hotels in Spain

According to this list. As a popular destination, Barcelona has two in the top ten, Hostal Windsor and Hostal Abrevadero. A friend tells me that the proportion being fired in the sector substantially exceeds official figures for the drop in tourists. My money’s on the cockroaches to survive.