Mornin' all, and a very very sad morning it is too here in Catalonia, where I've lived for a tad over twenty years.
I know that most folk don't want politics in this forum and I agree, but there comes a time when you have to say ¡Basta ya! and the sickening repression of the Catalan people, not to mention the pitiful state of so-called 'democracy'' in Spain is simply beyond the pale.
So, although my blog remains thespanishbiker.com - and rightly so because it's all about biking in Spain - and our business remains The Spanish Biker LLP as otherwise we'd have to go through the troublesome and expensive process of re-registering it with Companies House (and in both cases the hard won 'brand' would be lost) I'm making clear water between myself personally and 'Spain' ...
Regs
Simon
PS get the groovy new avatar!
Not The Spanish Biker!
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Not The Spanish Biker!
Be sure to visit www.thespanishbiker.com the invaluable guide to motorcycling in Spain - plus guided rides, HISS Events* and off road touring support service
*Highly Informal Sojourns in Spain
*Highly Informal Sojourns in Spain
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Re: Not The Spanish Biker!
Blimey Simon!
I can only hope that you and Mrs not spanish biker are OK. Definitely anxious times across Spain and goodness knows what the overall implications will be across Europe as this plays out.
I can only hope that you and Mrs not spanish biker are OK. Definitely anxious times across Spain and goodness knows what the overall implications will be across Europe as this plays out.
Not all those wandering are lost
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Re: Not The Spanish Biker!
It'll give the EU more to think about than Brexit for sure I can't imagine what the EU would've said if the UK had prevented us voting on Brexit but it hasn't said much about the Sanish debacle though?
***just like Britney Spears oops I did it again……sold the Scrambler & as of now there may not be a replacement***
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Re: Not The Spanish Biker!
Not The Spanish Biker !!! Oh no!! You will always be known as "The Real Spanish Biker"!!
But it all seems to be getting very messy over there in Catalonia. Pity as it's such a beautiful place, especially riding motorcycles on and off-road.
Like the avatar, you are looking very well for 100!! you should have ridden another 40km and then took the picture
You can always move over to the dark side of the Pyrenees No didn't think so!! Too much rain..
Take care.
But it all seems to be getting very messy over there in Catalonia. Pity as it's such a beautiful place, especially riding motorcycles on and off-road.
Like the avatar, you are looking very well for 100!! you should have ridden another 40km and then took the picture
You can always move over to the dark side of the Pyrenees No didn't think so!! Too much rain..
Take care.
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Re: Not The Spanish Biker!
It is a dreadful situation with the Catalan people and also the Basques. Reverse the situation with our Scottish referendum and imagine the SNP being outlawed and "Jimmy Krankie" fleeing the country before her impending arrest. I hope they get everything sorted out soon.
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Re: Not The Spanish Biker!
don't go against Spain, Simon ... its only some in the govt that is reacting this way? ... and probably only some in catalunia that desperately want independence?
a lot of brits love Spain
a lot of brits love catalunia
[especially the hiss and picos and the Pyrenees],
this may be the wrong time to `go for it` (udi)
just let it play itself out
just play it cool (like I always do )
and concentrate on your biking stuff.
and the good things in life.
things may seem like they are falling apart but things will settle down
and you may be proud to be associated with spain again.
the Spanish biker !! ... yeah !!
a lot of brits love Spain
a lot of brits love catalunia
[especially the hiss and picos and the Pyrenees],
this may be the wrong time to `go for it` (udi)
just let it play itself out
just play it cool (like I always do )
and concentrate on your biking stuff.
and the good things in life.
things may seem like they are falling apart but things will settle down
and you may be proud to be associated with spain again.
the Spanish biker !! ... yeah !!
Re: Not The Spanish Biker!
you are still the spanish biker ! dont feel left out we in england have a vote on all things . then some toff tells us it wont count what no brexit ! its all the same different country same old shit . think more of yourself as an european the same as will in france..... the scottish can just feck off along with the welsh . . canvey island wants independence as wel,l next is yorkshire. no place is safe from the revolution but feck that lets get them bikes out and ride.
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Re: Not The Spanish Biker!
Thanks for your kind words all of you. It's not that I/we are thinking of going anywhere, but we are personally involved with many dear friends who see terrible aspects of history repeating themselves. And I'm not talking distant history, I'm just sixty so I was just eighteen when Franco died and my peers over here had their childhoods blighted during the repression. The situation isn't new, it's just gone atomic in the last year. In fact the PP govt. have been attacking Catalan rights ever since they got into power - more so after they failed their attack on women when repealing the right to abortion got quashed, actually just watered down, back in 2015 (when the European parliament was all against them!).
Pete, we have always thought of ourselves more 'European' than British for a lot of reasons, not having any kind of settled life in the UK being the main one I guess. But although we're not personally affected by the Independence issue as such, because we're not Spanish citizens, with the Brexit that's something we've had to think about. But you are affected when you see grown men crying on the street when they realise that forty years of positive change has simply been taken away almost overnight.
Sadly, I don't see that anyone outside seems to be getting the message, the BBC reporting is worse than pathetic and I don't suppose the papers are much better. You read editorials asking whether there will be a new civil war. Well these days there are more ways to wage war than guns and tanks, and in fact the economic war has already begun with the govt. pressuring, successfully, thousands of companies to move out of Catalonia, taking their tax revenue with them if not actual jobs. Moreover the direct control the Catalonian budget has starved medical research labs of essential funds, doing critical damage not just to research itself but the song term future of the sector, in which Catalonia excels. Even worse on the human rights aspect, charities supporting literally hundreds of thousands of people in poverty, the homeless, disabled, mentally ill, etc. etc. have had their core funding frozen ...
As for cyberwar, well it seems to have cooled off a bit since the Referendum and UDI but the Guardia Civil shut dozens of the Generalitat's web sites, including essential public information, and in fact this is still going on ...
I could go on all night, but life is short. As you guys say Spain is great - and most Catalans still feel that - it really is a small minority of s***e pelicans and some racist, and fascist it has to be said, bigots out there ... But - the £-€ exchange is shifting - at long last!!! - and my mortgage interest rate has just dropped to less than 0.5%! and thanks to Will and the Haute-Pyrenees boys I've had some great days out in the mountains ...
Regs
Simon
Pete, we have always thought of ourselves more 'European' than British for a lot of reasons, not having any kind of settled life in the UK being the main one I guess. But although we're not personally affected by the Independence issue as such, because we're not Spanish citizens, with the Brexit that's something we've had to think about. But you are affected when you see grown men crying on the street when they realise that forty years of positive change has simply been taken away almost overnight.
Sadly, I don't see that anyone outside seems to be getting the message, the BBC reporting is worse than pathetic and I don't suppose the papers are much better. You read editorials asking whether there will be a new civil war. Well these days there are more ways to wage war than guns and tanks, and in fact the economic war has already begun with the govt. pressuring, successfully, thousands of companies to move out of Catalonia, taking their tax revenue with them if not actual jobs. Moreover the direct control the Catalonian budget has starved medical research labs of essential funds, doing critical damage not just to research itself but the song term future of the sector, in which Catalonia excels. Even worse on the human rights aspect, charities supporting literally hundreds of thousands of people in poverty, the homeless, disabled, mentally ill, etc. etc. have had their core funding frozen ...
As for cyberwar, well it seems to have cooled off a bit since the Referendum and UDI but the Guardia Civil shut dozens of the Generalitat's web sites, including essential public information, and in fact this is still going on ...
I could go on all night, but life is short. As you guys say Spain is great - and most Catalans still feel that - it really is a small minority of s***e pelicans and some racist, and fascist it has to be said, bigots out there ... But - the £-€ exchange is shifting - at long last!!! - and my mortgage interest rate has just dropped to less than 0.5%! and thanks to Will and the Haute-Pyrenees boys I've had some great days out in the mountains ...
Regs
Simon
Be sure to visit www.thespanishbiker.com the invaluable guide to motorcycling in Spain - plus guided rides, HISS Events* and off road touring support service
*Highly Informal Sojourns in Spain
*Highly Informal Sojourns in Spain
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Re: Not The Spanish Biker!
Ha ha, you're way too late Will, a few weeks before my own I congratulated a bloke I trained with on his 60th via Facebook, he noticed the same avatar and said basically the same as you!
Regs
Simon
PS i found a replacement for the fuel filler cap tat I lost last weekend, plus a new set of indicators to replace the one that fell off in June .... so back on the road soon!
Be sure to visit www.thespanishbiker.com the invaluable guide to motorcycling in Spain - plus guided rides, HISS Events* and off road touring support service
*Highly Informal Sojourns in Spain
*Highly Informal Sojourns in Spain
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Re: Not The Spanish Biker!
New tube in the bike and all ready for the next trip.Simon_100 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 04, 2017 9:21 amHa ha, you're way too late Will, a few weeks before my own I congratulated a bloke I trained with on his 60th via Facebook, he noticed the same avatar and said basically the same as you!
Regs
Simon
PS i found a replacement for the fuel filler cap tat I lost last weekend, plus a new set of indicators to replace the one that fell off in June .... so back on the road soon!
Had a sort out and have now 3 spare 17" tubes, next time will carry one!!
Snow in the mountains this morning!! Winter is almost upon us!!
But hopefully a few days riding still to come, next week looking very cool..