Andalucia

My Auntie Eileen used to live near Leyburn in North Yorkshire. She was a Conservative supporter. One day she invited my family to a Con. Club do near to her house. Family winning out over ideology I accepted the invitation and enjoyed a frank exchange of views with Leon Brittan, the candidate for the forthcoming elections. To give him his due he bought me a wine and I was weak enough to accept it. Years later I made it very plain to Jonathan Djanogly, the Tory candidate for Huntingdon, that I would rather buy my own. As my Uncle Steve said "The Conservatives could put up a donkey here and it would win." True for Richmond, true for Huntingdon.

It's much the same in Murcia where we live. Blue as they come. Not a lot of election activity. But Andalucia is different. Andalucia has been Socialist since the return of democracy to Spain. At the last elections though, the local elections, for the first time the Socialists took a trouncing in the region.

We skipped over the border into Andalucia today to do a bit of sightseeing and it was obvious that it's a political battleground. The signs are that the Socialists are going to get whupped hollow tomorrow but the banners in the street suggested that, at least, they're fighting.