THE CULTURAL TIGHTROPE

There are moments in life when you realise you have become a proper adult. Buying a house. Getting married. Having children. And receiving twelve separate debt enforcement notices from the Spanish Social Security system.

A few days ago, I opened my inbox to discover not one but twelve documents bearing the title Providencia de Apremio. At first I thought I’d won something... before then realising it is one of those magnificent Spanish administrative expressions that somehow manages to sound both medieval and vaguely threatening. The sheer number of them gave the impression the SS had decided that if I was going to be pursued for small sums of money, it would do so with the thoroughness normally reserved for international fugitives.

The first thing I noticed was the amount: €59.54. Not €5,954. Not €59,540. €59.54. It was strangely reassuring. For a brief moment, on seeing twelve enforcement notices, I had assumed I was about to discover a financial catastrophe. Instead, it turned out that the Spanish state........

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