Here's
another extract from Richard Townsend's late 18th century take on
Madrid society, focussing here on the extra-curricular activities of
the clergy. There's some normal stuff below this:-
The
principal lovers in the great cities are the canons of the cathedrals; but where the military reside, they take their choice, and leave
the refuse for the church. In the country villages, the monks bear
rule; at least within their limits, and even in the cities, they set up their pretensions. As for the
parochial clergy, one thing is certain, that many of them have,
families, and all are involved in the common censure. Even in the
Asturias, my friend, the good bishop, auxiliary of Oviedo, a man of
high principle, yet of great humanity, severe only to himself, but
companionate to others, made
it a rule,
that none of his curates must have children in their families.
This
sacrifice, at least, he insisted they must make to decency. Beyond
this he did not think it right to be too rigid in his enquiries. In
short, during my residence in Spain, I never found one person
inclined to vindicate the curates from the common charge but, at the
same time, all, with united voices, bore testimony to the superior
virtue of the bishops. Indeed, these venerable men, from all that I
could hear, and from what I saw in the near approach, to which they
graciously admitted me, for purity, for piety, for zeal, can never
be sufficiently admired; but too few of the clergy, either secular
or regular, till they begin to look towards the mitre, seem to think
it necessary, that they should imitate these bright examples, or
aspire after such high perfections.
This
universal depravity of morals, if I am not much mistaken, may be
traced up to the celibacy of the clergy. It is true, the example of
the court, since the accession of the present monarch, has given
prevalence to practices which were before retrained, and made that
honourable, which had been
attended with disgrace ; but the effect must always, in a measure,
have been coeval with its cause. Nay, must we be inclined to blame,
in the first instance, the Italians, who are said to have brought
this practice into Spain, we must be obliged at last to trace it up
to this mistaken principle, that
conjugal affection is inconsistent with the due discharge of the
ministerial functions. In conversing freely with the clergy on this
subject, I never met any one, besides the archbishop of Toledo, who
attempted to vindicate this principle and, wherever I was, I had no
difficulty in declaring war against it, because they do not confider
it as an article of faith. The principle is absurd, yet upon it is
founded the celibacy of the clergy, and from that, in my
opinion, is derived the corruption of their morals.
It has
been common for Protestants, who travel in a Catholic country, to
inveigh against the clergy, and to laugh at the people, as priest-ridden: such abuse is exceedingly illiberal. The priests themselves
are to be pitied; but the law which binds them, the cruel law which
requires, that they must offer violence to nature, or, more properly,
the power which can abrogate that law, must bear the blame.
The
purpose of the law is however frustrated for nature is like a rapid
river, which, checked in its progress, scorns restraint, and, when
diverted from its proper course, either overflows the country, or
forms new channels for itself. What then is gained? The parochial
clergy, and these are the only clergy who mould be suffered in a
state, have their connections and their children, but not as they
ought, in the most honourable way. They are disgraced in the eyes of
the people, who are taught by their example to live in the violation
of the laws and their children, for want of a proper education, are
fitted only for the vilest employments in the community.
How
different is the picture, where marriage is allowed. The minister is
like the father of his parish, and his wife performs the office of a
mother; both set an example of virtue, and in every village teach the
peasants how to value their domestic comfort. In the street, their
children, commonly a numerous offspring, are distinguished by their
look of health, by their cleanliness, and by the decency of their
conduct; and, when sent out into the world, they form the most
valuable members of society.
Should the
Spanish government resolve to set the clergy free, more ample
provision must be made for their maintenance, because at present it
is scarcely sufficient for their own support ; and this might be
easily accomplished out of the vast revenues of the bishops, or by
the suppression of some useless convents.
SPANISH
SOCIETY
Solidarity:
Nice to see the Browlee brother buggering up his own chances of a
gold medal by helping his collapsing brother across the finishing
line of an international triathlon race. But odd to see the Spanish
athletics association demanding that one or both of them be
disqualified. After all, the Spanish guy took the gold medal and the
Spanish media loves the word solidarity. But, then, it does usually
mean an insistence that EU subventions must be started, maintained or
increased. In line with the fundamental principle in this fun-loving
country that it's always best to live at someone else's expense –
be it it your parents or your children. Or the state, of course.
Ethics:
Another telling incident.
Corruption:
She wages of sin? The PP may have kicked out the Valencian politician
accused of decades of corruption but, as she's clinging to her seat
in the senate, her income has actually risen significantly as a
result. Confused? Click here for the explanation.
THE EU
Below is a
review from The Local on Spain's 30 years as a member of this. I
would only quarrel with bits of it. Affection for Brussels has reduced over
the last decade – for obvious reasons – but a lot of cash still
comes this way and the suggestion of a Spexit would surely reduce
everyone here to tears of laughter.
ELSEWHERE
More Daft
Advertising puffs:
- Lawyers: Your Case is our Cause. Translation: Your case is our profit.
On the
other hand, there's a very clever Unicef ad aimed at my generation.
It stresses that we had it all, and that it's time to give something
back. I almost responded.
DOMESTIC
STUFF
A
Fantastic Spanish Weekend: Without planning, my 2 lovely neighbours
requested a curry lesson and came round at 12 on Sunday for this. And
then talked without stopping until 2. Simultaneously, of course.
During the lesson, I had to introduce the lovely, ever-worrying, ever
solicitous Ester to the English phrase: Teaching your grandmother to
suck eggs. The lovely Amparo was highly amused. But tried to hide it.
This pleasure followed on from a visit on Saturday evening to the
inauguration of a new Galician beer, NASA, at the invitation of my
most Galician friend, Fran. Who blamed launch delays on 'the fucking
Spanish'. Quite.
MISC
Did you know that the sooty
tern can fly up to 4 years without landing?
THE
GALLERY
More
examples of Finnish/British nightmares:
ARTICLES
From The
Local:
Spain
reflects on 30 years in the EU: From poverty to prosperity, Brussels
put up the cash and Spaniards brought the ideas
SPAIN
would normally have been celebrating its 30th anniversary as a member
of the European Union in 2016, but a sombre note hangs over this
landmark year as the country reflects on issues threatening the
'club', including the Brexit vote and increasing anti-EU sentiments
in France, The Netherlands and elsewhere. One-time vice-president of
the European Commission, Spaniard Manuel Marín - who helped convince
the other then member States to allow his native country to join -
said he was one of the student diplomats at the College of Europe in
Bruges, Belgium, in 1973.
They were
taken on day one to a ceremony housing the bodies of those who
perished in the second World War, and reminded that this was the very
reason the European Union existed.
Now,
though, Spain is reflecting on a mixed history as a member State -
austerity measures imposed by Brussels in light of national debts
have caused hardship in Spain, and the country has narrowly escaped
being fined for its continued, consistent failure to meet deficit
targets.
And the
lucrative trade agreement and political community has been shaken to
the core by the Brexit vote, and the rising of the far right in some
member States.
Bureaucracy,
and very high expenses for MEPs and Commissioners, have come into
question throughout, although most member States believe this can
only be influenced by those who have a seat at the table - that is,
each of the national leaders who make up the Council of Europe.
De Gaulle
in 1944: “Spain can join when they get rid of Franco”
Three
decades ago, joining the then European Economic Community (EEC),
which would become the EU, was the launch-pad Spain needed to repair
itself - it was still a very poor country with levels of illiteracy
far higher than in any other civilised, western country, and had only
known democracy for a decade after having been under a dictatorship
spanning more than 40 years.
But the
country's morale was given a sharp upwards push as its social and
economic conditions went from strength to strength, achieving a
drastic transformation in a relatively short time.
Of course,
nowadays, the EU is a far cry from that which was designed by Altiero
Spinelli, an Italian reporter exiled to Venice island after
challenging the iron-fisted reign of Franco's ally, Benito Mussolini.
Spinelli
wrote an open letter calling for a federal, united, but free Europe,
in response to the mass killings he witnessed during the height of
World War II - and this letter would form the basis to the European
Coal and Steel Community, later to become the EEC and then the EU.
He wanted
to see Europe becoming a 'united international force', ending
nationalism and totalitarianism in individual States and protecting
human rights, as a way of preventing a possible future World War III
- given that the 1939-1945 conflict had left the equivalent of
today's entire UK population dead in just six years.
Spinelli's
idea was supported by the French Resistance, since president Charles
de Gaulle and prominent diplomat Pierre Mendès France had decided to
try to set up a 'European union' of France, Belgium, The Netherlands
and Italy.
They said
Spain would be asked to join them 'once they had got rid of Franco'.
It would
take another 30 years, however, before Spain 'got rid of' its
dictator, which only really happened when he died.
‘Repairing
Spain’
Back in
Franco's time, the European Union as it was then was symbolic of
freedom from censorship and social and professional liberty - in
fact, ex-European Parliamentary speaker José María Gil Robles says
Spain used to be 'quite jealous of' students in universities
elsewhere on the continent who were able to live as they wished and
voice their opinions without reprisal.
And
although polls seem to hint that a third of left-wing voters believe
the EU has harmed Spain in recent years more than it has benefited
the country, the idea of a 'Spexit' remains unthinkable.
Spain has
enjoyed EU funding allowing it to improve its infrastructure, and the
country firmly believes the responsibility for the smooth running of
the EU lies with each and every member State - meaning if any one of
the current 28 is unhappy with the way it is working, they must take
part of the blame for it.
And the
country recalls that the usefulness or otherwise of the EU to a
country is dependent upon what each country - Spain included -
contributes; not just financially, but in terms of ideas.
From a
poor farming nation to a thriving western State.
Back in
1986, when Spain became a fully-paid-up member, two-thirds of workers
were in the agricultural sector, and had no Social Security
provisions, meaning no State pension or sick pay.
Rural
dwellers often had no electricity or running water, relying on wells;
just 10 years previously, its black-and-white TVs only had one,
State-controlled channel which lauded Franco in every programme, and
by the time of its EU entry, still only had two channels.
Roads were
potholed, cracked, dangerous and often missing - motorways did not
start to appear until the 1980s or 1990s - and its GDP was less than
half the EU average.
The
difference in 30 years is palpable: mobile phone and internet signals
are available everywhere in the country, with 4G and fibreoptic
beginning to roll out in more developed areas; exports have increased
by 800% since 1986, State pensions provide a liveable wage, laws
covering human rights and equality including same-sex marriage and
adoption and protection for domestic violence victims are set in
stone, and Spain's largest companies have a top international
presence - in fact, the chairman of Inditex, the country's biggest
clothing chain, is the richest man in Europe.
And 14,000
kilometres of major highways today are a far cry from the 483
kilometres of 1986 - and whilst its [unnecessary?]2,500 kilometres of fast rail
links remain insufficient to connect the country's most populous
areas, the quality of trains and efficient level of service are among
the best in Europe. Much of this growth has been through EU grants
totalling billions, invested in [unnecessary]airports, roads, trains, banking,
industry, arts and culture, healthcare and social programmes - and
Spain is set to receive another €45 billion between now and the
year 2020.
The amount
Spain receives from the EU has been curtailed somewhat due to less
well-off countries from the east joining the Union, but the financial
benefits Spain gets in return for its membership fee of 1.24% of its
GDP remain very high.
José
María Gil Robles describes the EU as the 'vitamin pill' that put
Spain on the fast track to becoming a modern western country, and the
returns have been worth it for Europe, since most regions are
becoming net contributors rather than net beneficiaries, with the
exception of Andalucía, Extremadura and the Spanish-owned
city-province of Melilla on the northern Moroccan coast, where the
GDP is less than three-quarters of the average for Europe.
Even life
expectancy has soared in Spain as a result of the EU's stimulation -
from just 76.4 three decades ago, it is now one of the highest in the
world at 83.2 years, or over 85 for women.
Life-changing
ideas, hard bargaining and top negotiating skills.
Although
Spain signed the treaty to join the EU on June 12, 1985 - 31 years
and 11 days before the Brexit vote - its membership was not complete
until January 1, 1986.
Spain was,
predictably, vociferous and rebellious as a member, but could never
have been accused of not fighting its people's corner or pushing for
change - tugs of war and heated debates going on until the small
hours bore fruit all round, and although Spain initially resisted
some of the changes imposed on them - fearing they would destroy the
country - many of these, such as the industrial reform, turned out
for the best.
The then
socialist president Felipe González said he was 'terrified' when he
got the orders to 'either get rid of or completely rehash' an
industrial sector Brussels had told him baldly was 'completely out of
date', but admits that without it, Spain would not have the thriving
motor export industry it does now, with Europe's largest Ford plant
based just south of Valencia, in Almussafes, along with sizeable
plants manufacturing other makes.
González
says the fact Spain has more green-belt nature reserves under special
protection orders than anywhere else on the continent is largely
through the EU's iron fist - and funding.After all,
before the Berlin Wall came down, Spain was the country which took
the most cash out of the EU for infrastructure and the second-most
for agriculture.
But
Spain's own contribution to the EU has always been hugely valued -
even if it has not always been in financial terms, the 'hope',
'strongly pro-Europe view', 'momentum', 'dedication' and
'highly-qualified, hard-working civil servants' were, from the
beginning, what gained Spaniards the nickname of the 'Prussians of
the South'.
Also,
Spain opened the Latin American trading market to the EU, thanks to
its own cultural, historic and linguistic ties.
Everyone
who benefits from EU citizenship, from being able to vote in European
Parliamentary elections, and the human rights charter has Spain to
thank, since it came up with the ideas and worked with France to push
Germany into agreeing - and the so-called 'Spanish model for
immigration' has been hailed as a blueprint, especially given the
country's wildly cosmopolitan nature with over 140 nationalities
living side by side in harmony and considered 'just another citizen'
by the native population.
One-time
Commissioner Joaquín Almúnia cites all this, but admits that these
days, Spain's 'contribution' to Europe includes an 'unacceptably-high
level of unemployment', and that politicians have become gradually
more distant from the EU because Spain is 'too busy navel-gazing'.
And the College of Europe alumnus Manuel Marín feels it is Spain who
has lost its way in the EU rather than the other way around - once
the hard negotiators known for their bargaining prowess, they are now
being likened to cash-stricken, debt-ridden Greece, which is
'disastrous', Marín admits.
Spain is
‘losing its interest and influence’ in EU
Once,
Spain offered Europe the 'wisdom of an old nation' and the 'energy of
a new nation', in the words of president Felipe González, but now,
González himself feels Spain has lost its influence and is 'bringing
nothing of real value' to the EU.
Germany
appears to be the main driver, but largely because 'not many
countries want the job' - and, as a result, Spain and other EU
nations are relying far too heavily on the Germans to come up with
the solutions, the former PSOE leader reflects.
"We
need fresh dedication from nations who really believe in Europe to
prevent the Eurosceptics and nationalists from eroding it and letting
their inflated egos get in the way - and clearer leadership and
greater democracy is necessary," González considers.
He says
Spain's slow emergence from its financial crisis years is
'inefficient' and 'painful, socially', but that Europe as a whole
needs solid security and foreign affairs procedures in place to solve
the refugee situation - as well as a drive to get back to the EU's
one-time strategies that aimed to squash growing social and financial
inequality among citizens caused by an increasingly-global economy
and political panorama.
The
general consensus in Spain is that Europe is 'part of the solution'
rather than 'part of the problem', and that it is Spain's job as a
member to contribute towards the changes it wants to see.
Whilst the
Brexit vote has left the rest of the EU reeling and given a surge of
self-confidence to the far right and Europhobes, there is a growing
sense in Spain that if the UK genuinely does not feel part of Europe
and does not believe in the unity and teamwork of its nations, it may
be better all round if it did, in fact, break away.
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