The ban on fish and chips in Spain.

Concerned about the effect on stocks of cod, the Spanish government has banned from today the sale of British style fish and chips on the Costas. The government says that, although Spaniards also enjoy cod, their portions are generally much smaller. It is the size of the cod pieces that fish and chips shops sell that is the cause of concern.

Licences for restaurants and shops selling cod and chips will not be renewed and officials will be visiting them to restrict sales until their licenses expire. 

It is understood that other types of food sold will not suffer from the restrictions e.g. fish cakes, scallops and  batter scraps. It is also possible for these establishments to start frying other types of fish to replace the beloved cod. One such place in Quesada has already started experiments but the results are so far not encouraging.