Bad weather
Despite the balmy weather, Spain's King Juan Carlos flew into a gathering storm last week when he touched down in Warsaw amid allegations of foul play by Poles in the ongoing European Union (EU) talks in Brussels.
The king's visit to Poland was only his second since acceding to the throne in 1975. But the timing of the visit couldn't have been worse as relations between the two countries fell to their lowest ebb since the dark days of Franco and Wladyslaw Gomulka.
First stop for the king was the Sheraton Warsaw Hotel & Towers where he met various politicians and businessmen before inaugurating the Polish-Spanish Forum on Investments and Cooperation.
But no amount of congenial banter about burgeoning business ties could hide the increasing mutterings that Spain is deliberately scuppering Poland's attempts at early EU accession by demanding simultaneous talks on development aid pledged to Spain's poorest regions.
Nevertheless, amid the bitter backroom shenanigans between Polish and Spanish courtiers, polite platitudes were the order of the day.
Poland is an important trading partner and trade is growing each year, said the convivial king. "We support the European Union's enlargement and Poland's accession as soon as possible," he added.
Juan Carlos also used Spain as a model EU country for Polish businesspeople to follow and President Aleksander Kwasniewski was fortunately on hand to concur with the king's advice.
"We're willing to do that," Kwasniewski chortled before uttering a metaphor worthy of Chancey Gardener, the star of the film "Being There": "These days the weather in Warsaw is better than in Madrid."
Unfortunately, though, everything is not looking too good in the garden at the moment.
