A GUIDEPOST REPRINT: Franco’s Cows, Taxis, Flunkeys and Evangelists

A recent and growing concern has been registered by city officials
and scientists alike about the hygienic state of Madrid’s
milk supply. A high percentage of the city’s milk is
unpasteurized and the possible havoc that
a few badly diseased cows could wreak
is legitimately worrisome

“The Spanish Scene”
by Sonia Copeland
First published in GUIDEPOST
7 August 1964

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Franco on Spain and Europe

Last week saw Generalísimo Franco make a two-stop journey to vacation headquarters in San Sebastian, where he didn’t waste time in taking a nautical spin in the Gulf of Vizcaya. His first stop northbound was in Burgos, where the capital of Old Castile made no bones about proclaiming their satisfaction with current state of affairs. Saluted by an artillery salvo and a resonant tolling of bells, the Generalísimo reminded the burgaleses that Burgos was the capital of the liberation front during the war, and, as he put it, “Here we made the big political decisions, and I took office as the Chief of State; here we directed the last phases of the war, and here we began the peace.”

El Caudillo: “Spaniards should spread their spiritual values throughout Europe”

The following day El Caudillo stopped in Vitoria to dedicate a municipal swimming pool and a milk plant and to talk of Spain and Europe. “Today,”   he told a vast crowd of vitorianos, “the solidarity of Europe is indispensable, and all Spaniards should, while preserving their own spiritual values in the face of an improving standard of living, attempt to spread these values throughout Europe.” He added that today Spain must and will occupy itself as much with the rest of the world as it will with itself. He concluded by noting that “We must clarify the concept that our regime does not constitute a political party, rather a communion, or political system for the Spanish people, an organic democracy indispensable for the unity and life of Spain.”

The Minister’s View.

Minister of Industry: “Contemplate the immediate future with absolute confidence”

Optimism, plainly the current byword as regards the Spanish economy, was employed full- throatedly by López Bravo, the Minister of Industry, when he summed up his view of the economy and its future a short while back. The Minister’s view is of patently good portent. “Today’s facts,” he asserted, “allow us to contemplate the immediate future with absolute confidence.” The rhythm of industrialization is satisfactory.”  “In sum,” he continued, “all indications point to a real growth period in Spain’s economic and social development, permitting the achievement of all the Plan de Desarrollo’s objectives.” These were obviously important and encouraging words for supporters of the Plan who are following its impressive aims with cautious hope.

The Battle of The Cows

A very high percentage of Madrid’s stabled cows probably have some form or other of tuberculosis

Once as common in Madid as churros, the city’s 700 vaquerías are in the process of becoming the brunt of what may be an extended battle of the cows. A recent and growing concern has been registered by city officials and scientists alike about the hygienic state of Madrid’s milk supply. The fact is that a high percentage of the city’s milk is unpasteurized and the possible havoc that a few badly diseased cows could wreak is legitimately worrisome. To aggravate the situation is the recent hike in the price of pasteurized and homogenized milk, encouraging adherence to the cheaper but less safe unpasteurized product.

Figures indicate that Madrid drinks about 500,000 liters of milk a day, of which almost a quarter is supplied by some 12,000 cows in the city’s vaquerías and about 40% come from outlying provinces, where the processing conditions are apparently far from reassuring. The feasible and probably eventual solution to the problem lies in obligatory and thorough pasteurization of all milk in high capacity lecherías, but the capacity for it doesn’t exist at present. One immediate solution to the vaquería problem, proposed a foreign authority on milk, would be the creation outside Madrid of specially planted and nurtured pastures where cows could be more healthily raised than in vaquerías. Meanwhile the unsettling news came from the Ayuntamiento that a very high percentage of Madrid’s stabled cows probably have some form or other of tuberculosis – let’s hope not more than one.

25% More Taxis For Madrid

“Part-time taxistas could help by plying the streets when every taxi in town is going home —  in the opposite direction — to eat”

If downtown parking is getting harder to come by, the Ayuntamiento has foreseen and dealt with the problem. The answer — permission for the granting of 1400 new taxi licenses in Madrid. The almost 25% increase in the city’s fleet should at least nominally help to ameliorate the scarcity of cabs that most madrilños are all too familiar with, although it is as yet uncertain how long it will take to make the new cabs operative. A refreshing suggestion has been made in the Ayuntamiento that special licenses be afforded to part-time taxistas to drive cabs during the lunch period when every taxi in town is going home —  in the opposite direction — to eat.

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GUIDEPOST cover, 7 August 1964

“The Spanish Scene”, page 10, 7 August 1964

“The Spanish Scene”, page 11, 7 August 1964

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Images
Featured image: Cow/Prawny from Pixabay
Inline photos:
>Quote mark/Oakus53 via Commons.Wikimedia,CC BY-SA4.0
>Spread spiritual values/lucianavieira from Pixabay
>Bright economic prospect/Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
>Taxi/GraphicMama team from Pixabay. (Text supplied)

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