"Activists take on European Parliament".

Must get on the bus so I can enjoy free p1ss trips around Europe.

"How it does this (by subsidies, low wages or by mechanization) I do not know.
Sep 19, 2019 at 2:32 PM | AK"

I think a combination of all three, starting with explosive "extraction", allowing for large blocks of slate to arrive in factories.

The use of explosives, that might cause micro fractures in the finished product was dismissed by the EEC Ruling. It is lucky for the Spanish that they are not trying to extract Slate Gas

Roofing slates need to be manufactured by skilled artisans and is (or used to be) very person-intensive. I suspect that, in order to out-compete on price and by such a wide margin, Spanish slate must be produced extremely cheaply because it has to offset transport costs. How it does this (by subsidies, low wages or by mechanization) I do not know.

Sep 19, 2019 at 1:44 PM | Mark Hodgson

... and they offset the Carbon Footprints of their trip by .... ?

"Matthew Sowerby, 18, from Kirkby Lonsdale, said: “The most hopeful part of the trip, for me, was meeting with the Belgian national coordinators of the Fridays For Future movement."

Why don't they all move to Belgium? It would be the most noble thing they could do for the UK.

Roofing slates need to be manufactured by skilled artisans and is (or used to be) very person-intensive. I suspect that, in order to out-compete on price and by such a wide margin, Spanish slate must be produced extremely cheaply because it has to offset transport costs. How it does this (by subsidies, low wages or by mechanization) I do not know.

"Activists take on European Parliament"

https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/17911382.activists-take-european-parliament/

"Two Cumbrian climate activists have had the opportunity of a lifetime to visit the European Parliament.

The pair joined 15 other young environmentalists from across the north west as they went on a trip to Brussels to discuss climate change with the European Parliament, NGOS, and other climate activists.

It was organised by Gina Dowding, the Green Party MEP for the north west, who has given her support to the Fridays for Future youth strikers in the region...."

"In looking for coloured slate .....
Sep 19, 2019 at 12:46 PM | TinyCO2"

AK can provide the geological explanation, but just because two slates can be matched in colour when in the showroom, is no reason to suppose they are of the same quality, or will still match in years to come.

Limestone quarries will contain many strata. Some are good for fine structural masonry, some are better for crushing. The easiest to carve, is not the most durable!

Restoration of Chichester Cathedral in the 1980s required limestone from the original French quarries, as Victorian repairs, replacements, restorations to carved work, using British quarried stone had not weathered well in exposed areas.

"The Spanish industry was (is?) heavily subsidised. It is one of the wonders of the EU that one nation can do that at the expense of another.
Sep 19, 2019 at 11:39 AM | Rhoda Klapp"

German brown coal IS cheaper to extract than the good stuff from South Wales, so the EU enables Germany to keep burning it.

If Spanish Slate can be delivered to a Welsh Valley, and still be half the price of stuff from the same valley in Wales, something about the playing field is not as flat, square, straight and level as a snooker table.

In looking for coloured slate I found it hard to source good quality regardless of price or location. In the end it was easier to go from outlet to outlet till I found what I wanted there and then. The same place could have a different quality the next time or mixed quality at the same location.

Sep 19, 2019 at 10:17 AM | It doesn't add up...
"Nitrous" is popular in drag racing as it is a method of squirting additional oxygen into combustion engines.
Having nitrous piped around a hospital is not very satisfactory in the event of a fire.