All right! We're Number One! Spain is the leader in Europe! 20% of us have smoked weed during the last year! According to a European Union study, of Spaniards between 15 and 64 years old, an amazing one-fifth have smoked up, and not at some time in their lives, but within the last 12 months. The European average is 13%. I'll bet it's a good bit lower in the US. The report congratulates the EU because cannabis use has "plateaued and stabilized." Yeah, a stable 20% is a pretty damn high plateau. More worrying: 3% of Spaniards between 15 and 64 have used cocaine during the last year, as against 1.3% in the EU.

The most recent government survey of voter intention puts the PSOE barely two points ahead of the PP, 39.7% to 37.4%, which is within the margin of error, and a smaller distance between the two parties than previous surveys had shown. Meanwhile, an El Periodico survey has the PSOE well out in front of the PP, 43.5% to 37.6%. Here's their graphic in case you're interested.

The actor Fernando Fernan-Gomez died yesterday. Too bad. I liked him. You've seen him as the old guy in Belle Epoque and All About My Mother. His career went back to the '30s, and he was also a director, an author, and a member of the Real Academia de la Lengua. Quite a life. A lot of people didn't like him personally because he had an image as a rude loudmouth. He also claimed to be an anarchist, but he didn't say anything about that before about 1975 or so.

Jack Chiraq has been indicted for corruption and embezzlement while he was the mayor of Paris, only four months after his term as president ended. He'll probably be able to weasel out of going to jail until he finally dies, though. And this isn't the only case against him; there are several more coming up.