How many penguins can you fit in the Generalitat de Cataloonia’s London embassy?

Trevor @ Tuesday September 2nd 2008 13:01

The Emperor Wu says that small office space is fetching around €650/m² pa on Fleet Street at the moment, so €37,200 pa is probably buying the separatists 50-60m²’s worth of plural reality and national character. It’s an encouraging sign of faith in the underlying strength of the Spanish economy that its regions are expanding such facilities at a time when, for example, the British Foreign Office is doing all it can to get yet more pinko wastrels to take up amateur gardening in Galicia. On the other hand, 60m² doesn’t seem very big for a nation whose male pitch and putt team rules the world. Neither is the location particularly convenient for Whitehall or the City–what do people do in Fleet Street now?–but I suppose if you acquired a mattress and fridge it would make a nice bachelor pad.

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  1. Colin
    September 3rd 2008 11:19

    “Pinko wastrel” Is that me??

    The British Embassy has just closed its [part-time] consulate in Vigo. And the one in Bilbao, I believe.

  2. Trevor
    September 3rd 2008 11:24

    So Germaine Greer hasn’t raised the red flag over the Telegraph from without the gardening section?

  3. Colin
    September 3rd 2008 12:22

    Political pinkos don’t read the DT. We facial
    pinkos do, though less and less. Anyway, the GS has been abandoned.

  4. A Nun
    September 5th 2008 10:42

    The Generalitat has just announced that ordinary operating costs are to be reduced by 25%. I suppose that means that the London embassy will be gone by Christmas. Not exactly a great example of forward thinking.

  5. Joan
    September 8th 2008 12:31

    Why can’t you call it Catalonia. People might take you more seriously

  6. Trevor
    September 8th 2008 12:34

    Cataloonia was the spelling used by the Generalitat during the absurd Catalan culture programme at the Frankfurt Book Fair last year http://www.google.com/search?q=cataloonia I can’t help it if they say they’re mad.

  7. Trevor
    September 8th 2008 12:35

    http://www.llull.cat/llull/docs/ficheros/200706180008_61_0.jpg

  8. Joan
    September 8th 2008 12:40

    LOL How could they do that.

  9. Tom
    September 8th 2008 15:29

    Well, that was for one specific comic/cartoon related exhibition, wasn’t it?

  10. Trevor
    September 8th 2008 18:15

    Why not Catatoonia then?

  11. Tom
    September 9th 2008 12:41

    Was that directed at me? You can call it what you like. I’m just saying that it’s a little disingenuous to say “Cataloonia was the spelling used by the Generalitat during the absurd Catalan culture programme at the Frankfurt Book Fair last year” when ‘Cataloonia’ was merely the name of one exhibition at the event.

    I should think that ‘Catalonia’, ‘Catalunya’ or perhaps ‘Katalonien’ were probably used more frequently.

  12. Trevor
    September 9th 2008 13:06

    Disingenuous? Dishonest, more like. Why did they use Cataloonia, though?

  13. Tom
    September 9th 2008 15:13

    I thought it was to sound like ‘carTOON’. I agree, though, it was silly.

    I called it disingenuous because I thought you were being thoroughly dishonourable. If it was merely dishonest then I take that back :-)

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