A Boring Tax Bit and an International Spy Denial

I managed to get into a spot of bother over my social security last week. Having been told that the job I have on contract was paying it, I'd assumed that this meant that I didn't have to pay it my self as an autonomo, but apparently it doesn't really work like that so I wound up with a €80 fine. I'm still not sure quite how it works to be honest, despite getting on better at the social security office this time armed with a bit more Spanish. My only guide is my friendly English speaking bank 'cashier' (for want of a better word) at La Caixa (which isn't even really a bank... it's complicated). Now I've got to worry about my British tax return which I've got to file online by 31st Jan, because I was self-employed in England. My tax return for this year will be a nightmare: having been both employed and self-employed in both the UK and Spain this year!

Anyway, so far, so dull, I've also been following with complete fascination and amazement the story of the undercover police that have been living in the environmental movement in the UK for years (you can read a bit about it here if you've missed out). It's of course utterly bizarre that they'd waste that amount of time and effort on interfering with a peaceful protest movement, especially as it seems as if this guy has actually helped facilitate several actions, acting as a driver, as well as being an informant, as well as providing funding. Having just been through the court process for this kind of thing, I find it particularly wierd that he used police money to pay court fines for activists! What a huge waste of time! It occured to me, however, that I'm someone who, having been (very sporadically) involved in the environmental movement, has just suddenly upped sticks and left the country... I'm hoping that friends in Manchester aren't now suspecting me! I'd like to reassure them that I'm just a whimsical individual with an inclination to move around rather than being a police spy on the run!

A techy side note, I've put a thing on the side with all the tags from posts, so that you should be able to click on 'jobs' for example and get all my posts that say something about getting a job etc. I thought it'd be useful seeing as people keep asking me about various aspects of moving to Spain, but please still send me a message if you do want to know anything else and I'll be happy to tell you all I know!

Travel Choas

Oh dear, its been a while hasn't it? Well, I thought my next post was going to be about going back to England and the strangeness of actually being able to speak to people properly, being able to find good coffee etc etc but no, it was not to be...

I was due to shoot straight off from work to the airport last Thursday, only to be reading about the huge amounts of snow falling in the UK from the BBC and friends Facebook feeds on Wednesday night. By the time I got to the airport, there was utter chaos at the KLM desk with one poor guy, who looked like he actually might have been the pilot of the plane, trying his hardest to keep his customer services face on while being yelled at in about 3 different languages. It's amazing how far a calm and friendly attitude gets you in these situations, and he came round to me pretty quickly when he noticed I was smiling and sorted me out very quickly. I might get to Northern Europe if I stayed in the airport for a day or two but the UK? Not this weekend, he said.

This left me in a pretty wierd situation though (bear in mind I was going there to answer bail!) and I had a tense day wondering whether the court would accept this as an excuse, but also unwilling and unable to book another flight (I am getting a refund, but I have to apply for it etc). And then, on Friday, Spain's air traffic controllers staged a surprise walk-out and grounded all air traffic in and out of the country for 48 hours, stranding thousands of people at Madrid airport and leading to the government calling the first 'state of alert' (emergency) since the end of military rule. Bearing in mind that they get paid six-figure salaries and decided to do this on the Friday before the 'bridge' holiday (I'll come back to this), people don't seem very sympathetic to their plight right now. Anyway, if I believed in fate, I would hazard a good guess that it didn't want me in Trafford Magistrates Court on Monday morning...

So, I didn't go back, and ended up getting sentenced in absence yesterday (I got a fine). Anyway, my travails aren't that bad compared to the other defendents pleading not guilty, who have a long trial ahead of them, and the other 6 who's trial starts in Febuary - you can support them and find out what happens here http://www.manchesterairportontrial.org/

Today is in the middle of the 'bridge' holiday - I've mentioned before the large number of public holidays in Spain, and this week there's one on Monday and one on Wednesday, hence 'bridge'. A lot of people take the Tuesday off and call it a week off anyway, hence their annoyance about the air traffic controllers.