Snippets: Exhibit, Renta

Exhibit

Mother and child beside canvas

(Self-portrait by Tetsuya Ashida)

Photographed by assumed father of child

Format: smartphone – brand unknown

Courtesy of Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia

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Renta

Gestor before breakfast

Yearly visit for tax declaration (Renta)

Ten thirty and the sun is strong

Wait for the crossing in the shade of a tree

Cross the plaza and into the street

Door is open

Up the steps, saying Buenos días!

The office is cramped but I’m the only client

Nerea sits at her desk, grinning

“Renta?” she growls

“Sí.  Renta.”

Three years ago my landlady did the talking

Nerea looks for my file

I ask how her year was

Nothing special, the reply

Normal? With the stress on “al”

She nods

“Sí.  Normál.”

She asks for my NIE, which she pronounces “near”

I reel off the number, but she wants the card

I don’t mention the heat – it’s boring now

She hands the card back

Something about the weather

Then I twig it’s next year’s Renta

Brexit

Of course.  It’s going to be more complicated

“Complicado”

She might mean difficult

Nobody knows what’s going to happen, I tell her

She shakes her head

I’ll call you, she says

“Bueno.  Gracias.  Hasta luego!”

She smiles and says See you later!

The terrazas in the square are filling with people

Workmen are fixing a sign above a door

I hear “fachada” - facade

My cafe’s the other side of Alcalá

Over the crossing

I doubt it’ll matter next year

Gestor = manager / person who connects you with state services and processes, knowledgeable expert. Not an accountant or lawyer per se.