But the real reason you should boycott this company is the abysmal way it treats its employees. Labour rights for Lidl workers are practically non-existent and there are dozens of accounts of the firm's frankly astounding abuses of workers. Things like:

• A culture of terror in many Lidl stores, which forces employees to do what they're told or face loss of shifts
• Regular, unpaid overtime (resulting in sometimes absurdly unfair working hours)
• Intimidation and humiliation of women (including a special cap given to a menstruating woman)
• Pressure on workers to prevent them organising or joining trade unions
• A campaign of spying on employees during breaks
• Denial of sick pay by moving shifts when a worker is ill; invasive 'checks' at workers homes by management

Now, any one of those reasons should be enough for anyone interested in solidarity or workers' rights to stop shopping at Lidl. I'd add that from what I've seen, the majority of their products are of very low quality and are generally of the processed variety. If you value your own well being and that of your fellow workers, shop somewhere which sells locally-sourced, quality food. It may cost a little more but food is so important that spending a little more in exchange for much better quality makes complete sense.

Look after yourself and your fellow worker: avoid Lidl and eat healthy, natural food.

Some further reading:

Cheap but not so cheerful

Every Lidl hurts

Lidl international campaign

Lidl accused of spying on workers

The Lidl shop of horrors

Over at Vice, there's a bit of video about the Welsh Defence League marching in Swansea. I can't embed the video, but you can see it here. The WDL/EDL are the street thugs of the BNP. Performing Nazi salutes, shouting racial threats and promising violence, these people are the real face of the BNP's politics.

As a side note, it's nice to see Andrew Fitton, SWP and Unite Against Fascism organiser in Swansea, on the video. I haven't really thought much about Andrew or any of the other SWP activists since I left Swansea more than seven years ago… but seeing him on that video reminds me of both the joy of discussing and marching for something I believed in, and the bitter-sweet frustration that comes from being involved in a small political group. Seeing Swansea UAF on video reminds me that I need to get back to that kind of direct action right now.

So thanks, Vice, for that.

[Via: Troy's Twitter feed]

Oh yeah, and here's why

Click here to view the embedded video.

So it was with some dread and awe that I read this blog post concerning the state of Spain's two largest banks, Santander and BBVA.

Apparently, it's pretty obvious that these two large banks are hiding massive liabilities which, if suddenly exposed, could cause the Spanish economy to collapse. Ignore the bullshit on that blog about 'racial pressures' and you still have a coherent case that decries the secrecy behind the apparent miracle of Spain's two massive banking success stories. And it makes sense: how could it be that these banks could be 100% safe when their American and British counterparts have received billions of Euros in bailouts?

I therefore invite finance-minded readers of this blog to tell me just how precarious our situation here really is. Are we fucked? And if so, to what degree?

Firstly, Gürtel. This case of corruption in the Valencian PP has moved on quite a lot since the courts ruled that it was unlawful to 'archive' the case. The PP itself has moved from dogged support for anyone and everyone connected with the party to a few pre-emptive and yet also belated amputations. Top of the list is Ricardo Costa, general secretary of the Valencian PP. President of the Comunitat Valenciana Fracisco Camps seems to have had his hand forced by PP head office and has announced that Costa will be out in a few days, all the while noting that he trusts and backs him implicitly. This is the first major head to roll in the PP but it likely won't be the last. Esperanza Aguirre, president of the Comunidad de Madrid has also forced the exclusion of three regional PP names, Alberto López Viejo, Alfonso Bosch Tejedor and Benjamín Martín Vasco – all linked with the Gürtel case.

Aguirre, suave political operator that she is, seems to be using this corruption case to make another push for control of the party. It remains to be seen how successful she is in this enterprise… but the idea of her leading the national party is slowly becoming a terrifyingly real possibility.

I wouldn't want to incur the wrath of Trevor by failing to mention the Palau de la Música Catalana case, here in Barcelona. This story, though nowhere near as politically damaging as the Gürtel case, is still serious enough to warrant a proper full-length blog post some time in the future. Essentially, the PMC case is a classic story of misuse of public funds (aka 'stealing a shit load of cash'). Boss of the Orfeó Catalan, Felix Millet, has more-or-less admitted that more than €3m of Palau funds went missing under his stewardship. He seems to have spent the money on himself (and his business partner Jordi Montull). It seems that among other things, the pair used some of the money to buy a building which they then sold on at a €1.5m profit.

The larger crime in the PMC case is that the bill for refurbishing the Palau a few years back was a massive €22m, even though it actually cost less than half that. So Millet seems to be willing to admit the 'smaller' crime in the hope that everyone will just forget about the other €13m that he nicked. Sadly, this could just happen: this case should have been in the courts years ago but for some reason only seems to have made it there now.

The political sides of this story are twofold: firstly, Millet is a big player in Barcelona's political-cultural axis. The position of head of the Orfeó/Palau is extremely prestigious and Millet also served on the board of FC Barcelona and was a recipient of the Generalitat's St Jordi cross. All that, and he seems to have donated about €500,000 to the Fundació Trías Fargas, a politico-cultural organisation which is effectively a part of the CDC, which itself is a constituent party in CiU.

The second controversy (and arguably by far the more important one) is that the courts in Barcelona received notice of presumed corruption, lots of €500 notes and various irregularities in the Palau, five years ago. It seems that they've done very little to prosecute the case since then, until now. Why? I suppose that would be the corruption.

Gemma and I are beginning the process of looking for a new house. Our awesome little flat in Cerdanyola del Vallès was perfect as a starting point for our life together here but 7 years on, it's not getting any bigger. We're looking in Cerdanyola, because we like the area where we live. But we're also going to look at places in other parts of the metropolitan zone. This thebadPoll is really very simple: where would you choose to live in BCN if you could choose right now? Do you like the narrow streets of the Gòtic, or do you prefer the seaside charm of Vilanova i la Geltrù?

The list of options is not exhaustive, so feel free to recommend a place if you really think it needs a special mention.

As usual, you can vote on the right >> … but it's your comments I'm hungry for.

Gemma and I watched the Granada TV (UK) 1983 documentary about the Spanish civil war this weekend. Among many other conversation points, it raised an issue I've never quite understood since the first time I read about the war: how did Valencia move from being one of the last bastions of the Republic to becoming the key PP stronghold it is today? I've heard claims that Valencia was 'settled' by Francoists in an attempt to break left-wing loyalty there, though I've never seen any evidence for this.

So what happened? Was there a concerted effort to change Valencia's demographics, and therefore politics, or did this shift occur 'naturally' because of changes in industry and other conditions there? Or maybe it was a mixture. Or maybe Valencia was never as socialist as I've been told. All opinions are welcome, but what I'd like best is some evidence supporting your position.

Laporta will end his Barça presidency in June, and until then he appears unlikely to announce any plan for his future career. That career, according to many commentators, will consist of a long-planned Catalanista political thrust, a rumour backed up by Laporta's presence at the alternative celebrations for the Diada, last September 11th.

If it does happen, it will hardly be a surprise. Laporta has overseen the completion of the Catalanisation process at FC Barcelona, a process which begins with the club's own constitution. If he does accept the Reagrupament job, he'll likely prove to be a smooth and cunning opponent in the election. Is it just me, or is there a lot more independentist stuff bubbling on the stove at the moment?

Wordpress is dicking me about with images at the moment… but anyway, here's a nice pic of Laporta looking extremely comfortable with PSOE stooge, Montilla

My question to you is simple: which song would you pick if you had to pick just one song? Imagine yourself on a desert island, with only one song to accompany you… what would it be? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below… if you comment with a YouTube/similar link, I'll add the video to this post.

My choice: it was a difficult decision, but currently I lean in favour of I'll Be Your Mirror, by Lou Reed, performed by Nico and the Velvet Underground. It's a near-perfect love song with great guitar that still manages to pack some poetic punch. Here's a video, in case you didn't already know this fantastic piece of music.

Click here to view the embedded video.

From Sophie:

Click here to view the embedded video.

From Than:

Click here to view the embedded video.

From Algernon:

Click here to view the embedded video.

From El Primo:

Click here to view the embedded video.

From Mike:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hello rainstorm, come into my life

The "I am British" app was produced by i2we, a San Francisco based app developer that has come up with dozens of similarly named apps like "I am soccer / futbol", "I am lesbian" and "I am childbirth professional". What these apps seem to allow you to do is (a) define yourself by your nation, sport or profession; (b) earn points by saying you're doing stuff connected with your chosen app (like "I am toast and marmite" or "I am binge drinking"; and (c) socialise with like-minded people. So far, so stultifyingly dull.

But what really interested me about this app is what users of "I am British" say about the app and themselves. The app reviews are enlightening. They range from slightly confused but determined calls to preserve Britishness:

Must keep up our heritage remember the little things fish n chips on a friday,bacon butties fof breakfast.Support the local harvest festival.Donate to your local church.Most of all dont tarmac or blockpave over you gardens,people who do this are killing our green pastures our HERITAGE.

…to barely literate threats:

Born n bred british
i die 4 this fuckin country
so if u dont like it here fuck off i aint dying 4 u

…and there are even some opposing views:

You should be proud of what you achieve, not what you are. Saying you're proud of your heritage is as stupid as being proud of your eye colour.

When one young guy says that he was "Givin shit to pakis " – he receives a high five. Someone else comments that he's "Sick to death of the vile infection of freeloading scum washing up on our shores for a free handout!!!!:(" – which leads to a "Hear hear" and a further clarification from the original poster that:

At Present I find myself unemployed,All I
need to help fix this problem is a Gun and
an ammunition supplier that can keep up
with the demand for bullet's.

I like how a vague threat of terrible violence is rendered fluffy by the inclusion of a smiley.

The problem with "I am British" is that racist opinions aren't in the minority. Most reviews and many wall posts seem to espouse pure BNP ideology, though not couched in that party's flowery language.

see if u look above there no black in the flag so is our country overrun with blacks

i work for livin an pay ma taxis unlike these fukin imagrantes thats what makes u british.this country is gettin raped

I no that many people class them selves British even the ones who was born in this country but i kida disagree because if you was born in England then you are English. Government wants us to call our self's British even when we are totally the opposite. If the foreigners get to choose if they are Asian or any other race but we cant call our selves English. Personally i think it is terrible the why the foreigners get everything and we get nothing when we are the true citizens. I think there is going to be a big riot if the government dont do nothing because we are getting sick of all of it. Soon the white race will be gone if we dont do nothing. We aint racist we are realists. Bring back England

ME COME TO ENGLAND POOR AND BROKE. GO DOWN DOLE SEE SOCIAL BLOKE, FILL IN FORM STAND AROUND KIND MY GIVE ME PLENTY POUND,ALL IS NICLEY SETTLED DOWN NICE BIG HOUSE IN ROTHERHAM TOWN ,ME THINK ENGLAND DAMN FINE PLACE MUCH TO NICE FOR WHITE MAN RACE AND IF YOU DONT LIKE COLOURED MAN THERS PLENTY ROOM IN PAKISTAN! [This post comes from a chap who appears to be a British soldier]

I know I shouldn't be surprised by this sort of thing. But with Modbury suddenly flying multiple England flags and Union Jacks, I'm concerned that Britain is seeing an increase in a type of patriotism that seems to be predominantly based on race hate. Maybe I should "leave the country" (that won't be difficult)? Or maybe I'm just over reacting and nothing has really changed.

Another oddity is Tremlett's insistence that "Although Las Ramblas has always attracted prostitutes, they used to occupy a small area near the port", which is, as a local travelling tinker muttered to me, "a complete load of bollocks". I'm not sure when this golden age of non bollock grabbing Rambline strolling is supposed to have occurred but it was certainly not very recently. Barcelona has always been packed to the rafters with ladies and gentlemen of the night (and plenty of lady gentlemen too). Indeed, it'd be hard to walk down a single street in the city without passing some brothel or other (even if you don't realise it).

What this whole story really represents is the latest development in a late-summer-nothing-to-publish episode, where El País shocked our sensibilities (and had us checking again and again) with some pictures of a long-haired tourist making the beast with one back with a prostitute round the back of an overpriced market. Noted local newspaper, 20 Minutos (oh, yes I did!) interviewed various pillars of the community the other day, asking them whether they thought that Les Rambles has a major problem with prostitution. General opinion: it's a hell of a lot better now than it used to be.

My feelings: Mexican sombreros and €7 a beer are far more offensive and nearly as exploitative.