The car park at Arrecife airport is split into two halves. One half is reserved for the hire car companies, who park their fleet there when not in use. The other half is open to the public and has one of the most unusual price structures that I have ever seen for a car park.

They charge by the minute.

Admittedly the price is only between 1 and 2 cents per minute, and as of 2009 the first half hour is free.  So effectively that is about 1 Euro per hour, making it cheaper than most car parks in Germany.

But still, as fair as it might seem to have such an exact method of charging, imagine what it must be like to have to wait in a long queue at the ticket machine on your way out  and see the minutes ticking by!

Airport parking charges, October 2009

I’ve often read (and heard) about a lack of respect for non-smoking laws on the Spanish mainland, but today I came across an item on a German-language website that defies belief: a judge deciding that an alleged drunken driver was innocent – even though she had an accident whilst over the limit and injured someone.

According to the story on IslaCanaria.net, the driver concerned was suffering from a lack of sleep and was over the legal limit as far as alcohol in her blood was concerned.  Admittedly not that much over, but over the limit none the less.  The pedestrian that she apparently hit suffered a broken shoulder and a broken leg and was subsequently not able to work for 6 months.

Now, whatever the circumstances may have been, such as whether the alcohol contributed to the accident, or whether the pedestrian was actually allowed to be where he was, is it not strange that the driver was allowed to get away with being over the limit?

A quick look at the table for alcohol limits shows that the Spanish limit is the same as that in Germany, but is actually lower than the limit in the UK.  I wonder how many British visitors realise that and think that they are OK to drive, but are actually already over the limit?

But the main question has to be: is it usual for Spanish judges to ignore the country’s laws in this way?

There is one shop in Arrecife that stands out for me: Librería España (Léon y Castillo 16).  With so many shops aimed at tourists, it can be quite hard to find a “normal” Spanish shop – in this case a book shop.

On my first visit to the island I stocked up on Spanish Harry Potter books and last year’s visit was no exception – I just had to go and browse the books in that shop.  Somehow, if you are looking for authentic Spanish literature (not just a translation), it’s much nicer to go to a proper book shop than search online.

Anyway, last year I found a book of children’s stories – and didn’t buy it, which I later regretted.

So it was nice to hear about a website offering just that: children’s stories in Spanish.  They may not be of Spanish origin, which would make them culturally interesting, but they are traditional stories and fairy tales from authors such as the Brothers Grimm and Hans-Christian Andersen which most people will be able to identify with.

In fact, from a language learning point of view I think that it is very interesting to listen to a story that you already know in your native language as it makes guessing any unknown vocabulary easier.

The stories are available as a podcast.  To listen, visit Cody’s Cuentos.