Quick update: Tonight's the second round of the Great Zap-Rajoy Debates, and we'll be liveblogging it again. I promise not to get bored and blow it off like I did with the Catalan debate. Rajoy has to go for the knockout tonight, so it should be interesting.

La Vanguardia has a survey out today taken in the days after the first debate, and they've got the PSOE leading the PP 43.5%-39.5%. The PSOE would get 162-167 seats, and the PP would get 152-156, with 176 needed for an absolute majority. They have CiU with 8-9 seats, the PNV with 6-7, ERC with 6, and the Communists with 4-5. This election could go either way.

The bus drivers' strike is on again as of today. The "pickets" tried to block the buses providing the obligatory minimum service from leaving the Sant Andreu bus garage, and the cops charged them and one cop was injured. Last night six city buses were vandalized by strikers who smashed windows and punctured tires; no passengers were hurt, fortunately. The strikers also super-glued the locks at fourteen Metro stations last night, but employees were able to open up the stations without much delay. No arrests were made.

It really pisses me off when strikers behave like they're above the law. You can strike, you can carry signs, you can get a permit and have a demo, that's all within your rights. But you can't vandalize city property or block traffic or put citizens in danger or fight with the cops, and if you do the law ought to come down on your ass.

That idiot Chavez and his buttboy Correa are going to start a war and it's going to get ugly and the Illustrated and Enlightened around here are going to blame the Americans.

Here in Gracia it's Sant Medir's day, whoever he was. There are clubs that get all dressed up and have parades on horseback, throwing candy to the kids. It's a nice tradition, going back to the 19th century. I especially like the horses. The only problem is that the streets end up covered in horse poop and squished candy, which is not too horrible since it's only once a year.