The drain in Spain comes mainly from the train

A friend just back from Spain found himself staying in a pretty little village with its own shiny new railway station, writes Peter Rhodes.

The station is the result of the Spanish doing what politicians call "investing in the nation's infrastructure" and the rest of us call "spending money we haven't got."

Sure enough, Spain now has lots of shiny new public-spending projects.

But it also has 20 per cent unemployment and an economy heading for the buffers faster than you can say Portugal.

Supporters of Britain's £30,000 million High Speed Train, think again.