Speak the Culture: Spain: Be Fluent in Spanish Life and Culture

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1. Identity: the
   building blocks of
   2. Literature
   and philosophy
   3. Art and
   architecture
   4. Performing
   arts
   5. Cinema
   and fashion
   6. Media and
   communications
   7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
   the details of

to be involved with the majority of crimes. Below this,

various other regional and municipal courts deal with

matters of a lesser nature. At nearly all levels, the judicial

system in Spain is renowned for working at a torpid pace,

due in part to its complexity. Cases can take years to

reach court and consequently the public, despite recent

reforms, seem largely unimpressed with their judiciary.

On the beat

Spain is policed by three main forces, all of them armed.

Thepolicía municipalpatrol small towns, their power

confined largely to traffic offences and punch-ups. Navy

blue is the uniform colour of choice. Larger towns get

thepolicía nacional, called upon to deal with more serious

crimes and with guarding dignitaries.They get sub-

machineguns to do the job properly. Finally, theguardia

civilenjoy a good reputation despite their traditional

connection to the army.They patrol the highways and the

more rural townships, identified by tasteful olive green

outfits.Theguardia civil’striangular patent leather hat

of old, thetricornio, only comes out for ceremonial

occasions these days. Catalans have their own police

force, as do the Basques. Madrid felt that theErtzaintza

force of the Basque Country, donning a blue uniform and

red beret, wouldn’t be targeted by ETA as much as more

overtly Castilian policing. In practice, ETA has often

singled out theErtzaintzafor violence, attacking what it

sees as Basque collusion with ‘colonial’ Madrid.

Baltasar’s clean
up operation
How many celebrity
magistrates can you
name? Just as I thought.
Start your list with
Baltasar Garzón. He’s
crusaded his way into the
public eye, taking on
everyone from ETA to the
government’s infamous
GAL operation that,
wholly unlawfully, tried to
beat the Basque terrorists
at their own game. As an
investigating magistrate,
Garzón doesn’t just decide
who gets locked up, he
chases the criminals
down. He’s also gone after
high profile figures outside
Spain, calling for the
extradition of Augusto
Pinochet and Osama Bin
Laden to answer charges,
respectively, of genocide
and terrorism. Unashamed
self-promotion, swept
back hair and a talent for
the sound bite have no
doubt helped this son of a
petrol pump attendant rise
to fame. In Spain
he seems revered and
reviled in roughly equal
measure.

Shakedown in the sun

Spain has an unenviable

reputation (some might

even say picaresque

tradition) when it comes

to scams. The current

cons of choice, often

aimed at naïve

foreigners, include fake

lottery tickets,

companies that simply

evaporate once you’ve

handed over your cash

and the time honoured

timeshare dupe.