Mail Currency Repeats

[Update at end of post]

The word has clearly gone out at the Mail to administer one of those periodic kicks at the Euro, given that the single currency did not collapse at the weekend as many of the assembled hacks would have liked. So instead, we get a story of a village in Spain that is supposedly going back to using the Peseta for its currency. Except that it isn’t doing any such thing.

“Spanish village goes back to peseta as Euro crisis takes hold” begins the headline. But all that the residents of Villamayor de Santiago have done is to dig out notes and coins that remained unspent when the Euro notes and coins were introduced. It’s a typical piece of Mail story inflation. And it’s not a new story, either, as a look at the paper called, er, the Daily Mail shows.

Yes, back in March last year, the Mail was telling its readers about Murgardos, in the north west of the country, where ... “The peseta returns to Spain to boost economy”! This time, the story was more accurate, telling that there was an estimated €1.7 billion worth of the old currency not accounted for after the changeover to the Euro. So the Mail is recycling its own stuff.

But it’s a place in a different part of Spain, and the angle can be changed to make it look that bit worse for the Euro, so that’s all right, then.

[UPDATE 17 February: right on cue, Richard Littlejohn has picked up this non-story, telling readers "A Spanish town has turned its back on the Euro", which it hasn't.

Dicky Windbag also calls for the return of "pounds and ounces", so no doubt he'll be able to tell his adoring public how many of the latter there are in one of the former. And how many fluid ounces there are in a pint (clue: the answer is different for liquid). And how many pounds there are in a stone, stones in a hundredweight, and hundredweights in a ton.

Doing all your sums in Base 10 is easier than farting about with base 16, 14, 8 and 20. And don't start me on inches, feet, yards, chains, furlongs and miles. Dick, you're a dick. Try engaging brain first and including the odd fact in your copy]