The Spanish national elections (remember them?) are likely to lead the news in Spain again for the start of this week, as today, Monday, is the day when all the appeals, recounts, and consolidations will have been resolved, and, as such, the definitive results will be proclaimed and the electoral boards will issue the credentials so that the deputies and senators can appear in Congress and the Senate to be accredited. The parade of the new parliamentarians to do the ‘paperwork’ is expected from this Thursday, August 10.
The next key date in the calendar is next Thursday, August 17, when, at ten o’clock in the morning, the Congress and the Senate are constituted simultaneously, each one in its headquarters. It is the day in which the parliamentarians elect the presidents and the Tables of the Chambers and promise or swear the Constitution. They also have to tell the King what’s going on, and perhaps more importantly the different political groups will need to come to some form of agreement of how to govern… Or not!
The government is expected to be in place for the first plenary session in the first week of September. We shall see.
Whilst we’re talking about dates next week, don’t forget that Tuesday 15 August is a holiday. That is also a significant date for the road network. From Friday this week, the next major traffic monitoring campaign kicks in, codenamed 15 Agosto, which is for the weekend surrounding that holiday. Traditionally during this middle weekend of the month, many of the holidaymakers who came to the coast for 2 weeks at the start of the month will return home, meeting with those coming to the coast for their final holiday stint. The complication is that the national holiday is on Tuesday, so the whole weekend traffic monitoring event is extended.
Staying on the roads, from today and throughout the week, ROADPOL, which is the European Traffic Police Network, are carrying out a surveillance campaign focussing on inappropriate speed. This is a Europe-wide campaign, although it may differ from country to country. Either way, because we know that you, our loyal reader, always observes the speed limit, it won’t affect you, but you can tell your less than compliant friends to slow down!
In the UK on Monday, football might be a distraction from the woes, as the Lionesses take on Nigeria as we head into the knockout stages. It’s also World Lion Day on Thursday, incidentally.
Meanwhile, the UK government is expected to turn its attention towards immigration again, and are expected to make a series of announcements on the matter (again), and they expect the first inmates (sorry, we did it again), asylum seekers to board the Bibby Stockholm, but yes, we (and they) said the same thing last week.
Tuesday is an important day for the young folk of Scotland, as exam results begin to be announced.
Prince Harry will be in the news no doubt (remember him?) as he is travelling about to Tokyo and Singapore.
On the subject of the environment, warn the birds that on Saturday, it’s the Glorious Twelfth, shooting season in other words, and keep your eyes on the sky at night (in places) as the Perseid meteor shower peaks.
And, as a final environmental note, for those in the UK enjoying the weather, you might be interested to know that on Thursday the British Red Cross publishes their report on heatwaves.
This week, in the UK, it’s afternoon tea week, so make sure you stock up on cakes and cucumber sandwich paraphernalia to join in wherever you are!
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