24 de diciembre de 2011

THE U.K. AND THE CANARY ISLANDS, I.


RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE CANARIES AND ENGLAND.
I try and remember our own past, this is one of the real facts that demonstrate the commercial relationship between the Canary Islands and England (and the United Kingdom and Ireland.)
In the past, even during the WW 2nd, there were lots of goods that came and went to England: from the famous sweets to the bananas or other agricultural, essential or miscellaneus products which were expensive but needed for Canarian importer-exporters and Canarian industry/agriculture.
Anyway, money wasn't as important as later on, but goods to sell and buy were. In fact, I've heard many respectable families had to eat, but not like others: people from the country -that is from an agriculture environtment- did. These farmers and also cambulloneros (people with a little knowledge of English that had to offer  and demand everyday who had started doing it face to face) did not have, somehow and deppending on the month, that big kind of restrictions.
Nowadays, in the other hand, tourism is very heard, but we must not forget that the docks all over the islands were full of British -then also Irish- goods, and that there were lots of families that could have some biscuits, soap, peniciline, a petrolman -we used the same word here- and even a quick taxi or water and electricity thanks to the English in the Canary Islands. But that's another story.

Photo above: A sack of English potatoes. Only English potatoes with seeds on it (called 'with pink eye') were allowed here some years ago. Potatoes from other places had illnesses that could end with Canarian agricultural production. Now, potatoes from places from European places like Chipre have came, it has been reported.

P.S. There are many words in our vocabulary today that derive from English words as 'chony, libra -pound- , petrolman, fog, flix, etc.' especially here in Gran Canaria and in Teneriffe. There are also many churches made by the first British (now most of them are Catholic.)
Apart from those 'cambulloneros,' the rest of the manufactures and  workers were from these islands or abroad.

6 de diciembre de 2011

Extractos sobre la Unión Europea II. Último.

EXTRACTOS SOBRE LA UNIÓN EUROPEA II

"UN PROYECTO POLÍTICO Y ECONÓMICO"

"La Unión Europea está formada por doce Estados democráticos con un proyecto político de unificación, configurando así la mayor agrupación voluntaria y pacífica (345 millones de ciudadanos) para responder en común a los grandes desafíos de nuestra época.
La Unión Europea ejerce poderes en ámbitos en los que los Estados miembros han ido transfiriendo sus competencias, primero de carácter económico y, desde el Tratado de la Unión Europea, también políticas. Entre los objetivos de la UE cabe destacar:

- La defensa de la libertad, la democracia, el respeto de los derechos humanos, las libertades fundamentales y el Estado de Derecho.
- La creación de una unión económica y monetaria que incluya una moneda estable y única.
- El apoyo a la solidaridad entre sus pueblos.
- La promoción del progreso social y económico.
- La creación de una ciudanía común.
- El desarrollo de una política exterior y de seguridad común.
- La colaboración sobre justicia y asuntos de interior.

Para alcanzar estos objetivos, la Unión Europea se ha dotado de instituciones:
Parlamento Europeo
Consejo de la Unión Europea
Comisión Europea
Tribunal de Justicia
Tribunal de Cuentas Europeo"

Dentro del apartado PODERES Y COMPETENCIAS, se distingue claramente que dentro de los tres poderes de la Unión, está el de "Ejercer un control democrático sobre la actividad de las instituciones comunitarias".
Creo haber dado respuesta a las dudas o sujerencias que algunos amigos me hacían respecto al papel de la U.E. Gracias.

Del folleto "Conocer Europa". Oficina del Parlamento Europeo en España. (Marzo 1994).

Entrada destacada

Suzi 4, The Rolling Stones and Totalitarism.

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