Today I went to Mercadona and decided to buy some fresh fish. I asked the girl to give me 4 bacaladillas, she duly put the 4 in a paper cone and proceeded to weigh them, 620 gm for the record. She then tipped them out of the cone onto the bench, I asked her why and she said she had to clean them, I replied that I would do it myself at home. She then said that she had to do it, to which I replied that I did not like the way that they cleaned the fish. She said that she must do it as it was the norm. My reply was that I no longer wanted them and would go elsewhere.

Next Monday you must do your shopping only in row 1 of the supermarket, on Tuesday row 2 and so on each day, it does not matter what you want, the supermarket manager has more experience and will choose most wisely for you.

Well, they are the "professionals".

Brings to mind the necessity of a university diploma in order to conduct certain types of simple, innocuous trade such as a car mechanic in some countries.

When I lived in Germany, I remember if the plumber needed to turn off electricity he was forbidden to do so until a certified electrician could flip the switch. Only the electrician had the proper legal certifications for that.

So, perhaps she is just doing her job. You wouldn't want to be subjected to incompetence, would you?

What are you implying, as an electrical engineer I think I am qualified to turn on the lights, in order to be able to see to do the fishy biz, maybe I need certifying?

Ahem... I can assure you that a car mechanic these days needs to be a) mechanical engineer, b) electrical engineer, c) software engineer d) refrigeration engineer, to name but a few. Far from an innocuous job these days...

She had just attended the Mucky Donna school of advanced misery located in Nerja (old store) that's all.

I designed Built my own satellite receiver and K Band LNB back in 1983 and there was only one test card to be seen via satellite with EUROPA written on it, I designed and built some Sat receivers and antennas for a guy in Egypt in 1992 and also put some systems together for an Italian Co and the Italian embassy and consulates in Egypt. When I went to get planning permission for my 1.5M dish in 1993 I was told by the local Italian town hall that I had to get the plans and installation details drawn up by a local TV repair guy................... What...They had no idea what Noise figures meant or Declination for that matter and as for Earthing well.....
Just a case of low profile and DIY.
I don't know about Spain but in Italy if you are caught adjusting your tappets on your old mini you could get a fine of up to 500Euros, there is no DIY car maintenance allowed....