Idiom of the week: Red tape

I've chosen this idiom because the registration period for the year 2013-2014 will start shortly. It's not like we make you go through a lot of red tape at the Adult School of Caudete, but at some point in our lives, who hasn't ever had to deal with it? 

The idiom "red tape" refers to bureaucracy, that is, often ineffective, time-consuming and pointless paperwork. The Administration seems to love it, doesn't it? 

The use of this idiom is metaphorical and highly interesting as it has its roots in the governing of Emperor Charles V, so we could say it is an export of ours to the rest of the world. In the 16th century, in an attempt to speed up legal matters in the vast Empire, important administrative dossiers started to be bound with a red cloth tape to separate them from more ordinary documents. Later, this custom was copied by other European countries.

Interestingly enough, a piece of red cloth tape is still used in modern-day Spain to bind administrative documents together. You may check http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balduque for further information. 

Oh dear, red tape is so annoying...