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You’ve just ordered the tapas and sat back in your chair to enjoy a San Miguel and good conversation with your guests when a hush descends on the table. The mood darkens as if a rain cloud has materialised overhead. You glance around and a man wearing a black frock coat, sporting a top hat, and carrying a briefcase looms, silently, behind you. The cobrador del frac (the frock-coated debt collector) standing at your s

  Once upon a time your bank manager would, according to the television ad by the London clearing banks, pop out of a cupboard under the stairs to lend a financial helping hand. At the time the high street banks had a gentleman’s agreement not to advertise individually on TV, but wanted more people to open current accounts boasting such innovations  as cheque guarantee cards. Obtaining a bank loan depended then