ENGLISH EDITION Governments plead for flexibilityGoing fortapas The best method to sort out the world Pushed for retirement before 65 Bärlund: «We must make the most of ageing» Schölvinck: «There¿ll be 1.5 billion old people» Amancio Prada: singer and sou

Most of the governmental delegations of the fifty countries which opened the UN Ministerial Conference on Ageing in León yesterday agreed on the fact that the politics on retirement for the elderly in the European region of the United Nations must be particularly flexible. «We cannot make work to someone who does not want to do so and, at the same time, it is not good to despise the elderly who have a participative spirit and wish to carry on being active», pointed out the Secretary of Social Matters from Spain, Amparo Valcarce, in her welcome speech to the delegations. «The elderly demand their stay in the job market after completing their working stage, and we cannot close our eyes to that reality», she added. Valcarce opened the ministerial conference together with the mayor of León, Francisco Fernández, the Ministry of Work and Social Matters from Kizirguistán, Uktomhan Abdullaeva, the Ministry of Work from Armenia, Aghvan Vardanyan, the Ministry of Health from Andorra, Monserrat Gil, the director of the Department of the Unece Matters, Kaj Bärlund, and the Chief of the Unit in charge of Unece Social Matters, Andres Vikat. The Leonese reviewed the main compromises of the Executive in this matter: «Spain would like the economical and social progress walk hand-in-hand in order to give economical security to the elderly, give a positive focus to any ageing matters and, at the same time, introduce new measurements such as the Law of Dependence. All these aspects have meant important advances for society and have been promoted by the Government.» There are not many people in León who drink on their own. Getting to the bar of a tavern, café or bar is simply the best excuse to meet your friends, and while drinking a gorgeous glass of local wine, conversation starts, controversy is held or sometimes the world is sorted out. The culture of going for tapas as a present, as a gift which nicely goes together with each drink, is so rooted in León that only a handful of bars, not to say none of them, resist this tradition, whose main scene is located in Barrio Húmedo, Barrio Romántico, Burgo Nuevo or Eras de Renueva. The custom of going for tapas has got many adepts in León. You go for tapas before lunch and before dinner, which is a fantastic way to travel around the most important wineries in the province of León without leaving the capital. The preferred types of wine are the mencía one from the Bierzo area and the prieto picudo from Tierra de León, both with their own registered origin. From the simple olives that Casa Benito offers -the oldest bar in the capital- this entertaining gastronomic tour can be as long as your body can take, since most bars lengthen their aperitif time until 3, 4 or 5pm. The following are of special interest in the old part of the city: the «tigers» from Noria, the fried chicken from Latino, the dry meat from La Abacería, Casa Lorenzo or La Pitanza, the fried egg from La Tienda, the pizza from La Competencia, the mussels from Velarde, the garlic potatoes from Gaucho, the croquettes from Rebote, the shoulder of pork from La Taberna de Flandes, the prawns from La Taberna, the mushrooms from Pote, or the frog legs from La Pintona. The culture of tapas has changed with time, like everything. In León, until the beginning of the 80s, tapas were only served in the morning or early afternoon, but eventually their vitamin provision was extended to the late afternoons and evenings. Nowadays, at the beginnig of the 21st century, they are even served with morning coffee. It is strange not to see a fairy cake, a cookie or a biscuit with your coffee with milk, your expresso or your cup of tea. T Working after a certain age, for the moment, is not worth it. The normal legal retirement is becoming an exception and the rule is early retirement. 55% of the population from León leave work between 55 and 64, a problem that is becoming common throughout Europe. The cost for the system of the 87,473 retired people from León is over 64 million euros per month. The incorporation to employment is later with time, employees leave the job market sooner and, thus, our working lives are getting reduced to our first average adult age (25-54 years of age). The picture The picture that experts introduce with regards to the active involvement of the elderly in the job market shows a situation that swiftly claims the application of politics that make working when you are over 65 worth it. The reality of the province of León shows that leaving work between the ages of 55 and 64 is the tendency. According to the data from the Survey of Active Population and the Census, both processed by the INE (National Employment Institute), out of the 52,888 inhabitants from León who are between those ages, only 23,800 are employed, a number which shows an important loss of human capital for companies and a mortgage for the General Budgets of the Estate. ...Kaj Bärlund, Director of Population and Social Matters of the UN European Economic Commision, was yesterday one of the protagonists of the opening day of the Conference on Ageing. He presented a report about the situation of the elderly in the European Region of the United Nations. The United Nations believe in making the retirement age flexible in the Western countries. ...and social politics fashionable in the whole world.» «Nowadays there are 500 million old people in the world. This is neither frightening nor something we must ignore, but it is the reality. This is what we have in this moment. We will soon have 1.5 billion old people and this problem affects 80% of the developing countries, and that is what there is.», added one of the chiefs of the UN in population matters. ...on ageing vibrate with his soulful songs. And Amancio made a miracle yet again. That miracle of the communication that is produced every time the singer is on a stage to look into the soul of those listening to him. He does that using the language of feelings, and that never leaves the listener indifferent. In the company of two amazing cellists, Mariana Cores and Sancha Crisan, Prada delighted the dozens of conference assistants present. 33