Interesting Facts

Around two-thirds of Western countries charge patients to see their GP, fees range from 80p in France to £18 in Sweden, with an extra £5 for a home visit.  In the UK it is currently free (see below). (In some countries patients pay for hospital visits or stays, including Germany, and Sweden where they charge around £7.50 per night, and in Portugal you also have to pay £8 every time you go to A&E. According to a poll conducted by Pulse magazine, half of British GPs are in favour of charging patients for appointments - with some wanting to impose fees of between £5 and £25 a time. The problem is that it puts people off seeking medical help. Germany introduced a similar GP charge, but they later scrapped it.) We've been talking about this in the forum .

Spain is seriously considering moving back a time zone, which would align it with the UK and Portugal. (Currently Spain's clocks run on CET (Central European Time), the same as Germany, France etc., but some people are arguing that Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) (and its summer equivalent, BST) would suit Spain's daylight hours. According to said Ignacio Buqueras, president of the National Commission for the Rationalization of Spanish Time, Spain needs to create new habits to allow them to improve their productivity and at the same time allow them to ensure a work-life balance. Interestingly CET was only adopted by Spain, along with other European countries, during the Second World war when Nazi-occupied France switched to German time, Spain followed suit. However, while countries such as the UK and Portugal moved their clocks back again after the war, Spain's dictator Francisco Franco decided not to.  I think that's as good a reason to change as any.) Sources: ...

It is illegal to play bingo in Portugal. ( 30 customers at a pub where bingo was being played were arrested by police in Portugal for. These dangerous criminals were questioned by police for four hours and those who were not playing the game were arrested for "observing a crime". Strict gambling laws in Portugal mean organisers of bingo or raffle nights have to apply for a one-off government licence. So, how many millions were being won and lost at this game? Well, the prizes consisted of biscuits and chocolates. The police officers took the remaining prizes, the bingo machine, cards and pens. plus a microphone and speakers, as "evidence". I hope someone counted the biscuits. ) Source (This one has to be for +João Crespo .)

The Portuguese government has cut four of its 14 annual public holidays in an attempt to trim its budget deficit and boost economic output. (All Saints Day, Corpus Christi, a commemoration of the formation of the Portuguese Republic and a holiday celebrating independence from Spanish rule will all now be regular working days. As you may know, I live in Germany and today is Corpus Christi.  Now I understand why Joao was asking why I was on a break again and I feel guilty.) 

From 1 January 2014, jugs of olive oil and dipping bowls will be banned from restaurants in Europe. (After that date olive oil "presented at a restaurant table" must be in pre-packaged, factory bottles with a tamper-proof dispensing nozzle and labelling in line with EU industrial standards. The European Commission, a committee of nameless bureaucrats, has used special Common Agriculture Policy regulations to pass this weird bill. Their reason for the ban is "hygiene" and to protect the "image of olive oil" to attempt to benefit struggling industrial producers in Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal. What a load of tosh!) Thanks to    + Luke Pettit for sharing this.

According to best-selling author, Jacqueline Wilson, children from Eastern Europe, Spain and Portugal all have better spelling and grammar than British children. (She receives hundreds of fan letters each week, and told The Independent, that her young overseas fans write more eloquent English than UK kids, she said, "They’re writing in English, and apologising for their English, yet these letters will be more grammatical and spelt more properly than [those from] our own children! Spelling doesn’t seem to be something that happens [at school]. I don’t think it is being taught. Many children don’t even bother to try to write properly, resorting to 'text language'". I dunno wot u r tryin 2 say Jacklynn.)

There are 12 net contributors and 15 net recipients within the EU. (Net contributors receive less money from EU funds than they pay into the joint coffers.  Net recipients receive more grants and benefits than they pay.  The largest net contributors include Germany (at 9 billion euros), France (6.4 billion), Italy (5.9 billion), Great Britain (5.6 billion) and the Netherlands (2.2 billion).  The leading net recipients are Poland (11 billion), Greece (4.6 billion), Hungary (4.4 billion), Spain (2.9 billion), and Portugal (2.9 billion).  Calculating that for each individual EU citizen, however, the picture looks different: Danes pay the most into EU coffers at 150 euros each, while Hungary receives the biggest payout - 442 euros per capita in aid money from Brussels.)

No, not surfing the internet, proper surfing. The Guinness World Records organisation has awarded professional surfer Garrett McNamara from Hawaiia the world record record for the biggest wave ridden. (Back in November Mr McNamara rode a 78ft wave off Portugal. The wave formed above an undersea canyon known as one of the biggest wave-generators in the world. That seems like a reason to avoid the area, but there's no accounting for surf mentality.)

According to the UK's Office for National Statistics Britons went on 10 million fewer trips abroad in 2009. (This was a drop of 15% and meant that altogether Brits saved £5.1 billion. The destinations worst hit were Spain, France, Italy and Portugal, and the USA saw a drop of 20%. I guess the "staycation" is here to stay.)