Nobody has to think to much on Desolation Row

La Ramblas in Barcelona is endlessly fascinating. Nearly a mile long and for about 16 hours a day full of pavement cafes, street musicians, acrobats, jugglers, and thousands of people wandering up and down. There are dozens of young people who dress up in a wide variety of costumes and stand as still as statues until someone drops a few cents into their cap, and then they switch rapidly to a new pose. I was enjoying one such act whilst quenching my thirst nearby. A chap about 18 years old and a woman slightly younger, coated from head to toe in silver paint and holding various romantic poses, almost totally still. Everything was real pleasant until a small group of youths approached down La Rambla, obviously a few drinks for the worse. They started taunting the kids. Initially just pulling stupid faces and trying to get them to laugh or move. Then, slowly turning nastier as they started to push each other into the two ´statues´. With the sickening realisation that as their voices got louder... they were bloody english, I really feared for trouble. Fortunately, an impressively muscled young American black guy intervened and advised the yobs it was in their best interests to move on quietly...and they did. Britain in Europe? There´s a long way to go.