Otro día, another day

And your Gibraltar sleuthhound is here with breaking news. Or rather breaking glass.

Wandering out this morning Partner encountered a dog walker we know (OK, so we know most dog walkers around our streets).

‘Look at the jeweller’s window on your way down,’ he said.

‘I asked the police if they had caught them yet, but they hadn’t. That means they won’t.’

Long gone across the frontier presumably. We never heard a sound, and it is only five minutes walk away. They’d bent the grille and smashed the glass with a sledgehammer and grabbed the lot. Odd, on a Saturday night, as there are normally people walking around at all hours in the early morning coming home from clubs or parties.

Perhaps they were Spaniards belatedly celebrating Día de Andalucía which falls on 28 February?

This was instituted to celebrate the referendum of the Andalucían people to become an autonomous community back in 1980. A bit like Gib’s national day on Sept 10 celebrates their decision to retain British links.

Andalucîa also nominates a favoured son or daughter on this day. This year it is Miguel Ríos, a singer from Granada. Can’t say he is to my taste so no linky. Look him up on youtube if you want. Rock, but nothing special.

The next day, 1 March, was St David’s Day, ie the Welsh National Day. One wears a daffodil and eats leeks or something like that. We did neither. Welsh Partner drank beer.

I did however, get an email newsletter from a company I use, Ethical Wares, based in Wales, which said:

St David (Dewi Sant) was a Welsh Bishop during the 6th Century who has since become regarded as the patron saint of Wales.

He was also a Vegetarian or Vegan and his monastic followers were forbidden to eat meat.  His monks pulled their ploughs by hand as they weren’t permitted to use animals!

Good one, St David.

Which leads me neatly onto another clever little segue (one has to use these words on WordPress), whereupon I shall, somewhat belatedly, moan about rich tosser British princes shooting animals in Spain, or more specifically in Andalucía, and then launching a campaign about endangered animals.

All the news stories very carefully pointed out that RTBPs were not hunting illegally. Well I don’t care whether they were or they weren’t. It’s not as though they are starving is it? They are doing it for fun. They are no different to the Spanish royal family who decided to go big game hunting two years ago.

I’m neither pro nor anti-monarchy, but gratuitous shooting of animals is unnecessary. Can’t they find anything else to do with their time and leisure and money? The only reason for not getting rid of them, is that you would then need a head of state. But I’m beginning to think that might be better. Charles (ie Prince of Wales) has always been pro-hunting. They should get off their privileged backsides and go and work dahn t’ pit or in t’ mill or even in a boring office, and learn how to save money instead of getting big handouts on the back of taxpayers.

On the back of the Marius the giraffe news story, you would think someone, somewhere, might manage to learn something about PR.

Dear Royals,

It is not advisable to go hunting animals the day before launching a campaign to stop illegal poaching. To the average person in the street that looks hypocritical regardless of whether or not the boar and deer you killed were done so legally. And to the average journalist it makes a cracking story.

Yours coldly

Roughseas

How can these people rationalise supporting the WWF and endangered species and merrily go shooting for entertainment. More to the point, they shouldn’t get caught doing it if that’s what they want to do. Shit for brains?

Perhaps they should be fed to the lions, like Marius the giraffe, because clearly their genes are less than exceptional, just like his were?

Meanwhile, I’m wandering around Gib and noticed some strange men with hi-vis jackets and sticks. Ape management or something it said on the back of their jacket.

I asked what he was doing, as Little Snowy clambered up the steps to find his monkey friends.

‘Scaring them off to go back up the Rock where they belong.’

‘People shouldn’t feed them,’ I said.

‘That’s true, and the same people who feed them, then complain. These are wild animals and they bite when people touch them.’

Well, I don’t touch them. We all have our own space, and coming down the town and looking cute seriously helps tourism.

Now do I suspect a conspiracy theory here? (I usually do).

We have taxi drivers who charge a healthy sum (for them) to take people up the Rock to see the monkeys. Why go up the Rock to see the monkeys if you can see them wandering around Main Street?

I have seen taxi drivers feed monkeys (illegal) so tourists can get pretty piccies. And then kick or strike out at said monkeys to send them away when they have served their purpose.

Now we have more aggression against the monkeys. With aggression comes fear. And with fear, comes more aggression from monkeys who are harmless if you leave them alone.

So come on you down there, little officer. Come up here and we’ll play chase on the roofs. And down the drainpipes.

Today we spoke to another monkey enforcement officer aka ape environment management.

We agreed that more rubbish bins were needed and she said the taxi drivers were the biggest culprits for feeding them.

Stupid policy. Stupid people.

And we have a government minister who happens to be – yes – a taxi driver.

Job creation for some and keeping others in a job too. While victimising monkeys.

Just minding my own business, on a chair, and posing for a few photos. What’s wrong with that?