Galician (pseudo) Celticism; The rocky royal family; A mad priest; Funny foreigners; Missable Spanish things; & A weird wanderer.

It's a rare article on Galicia that doesn't start with the nonsense that it's essentially a more Celtic place than anywhere else in Spain. It isn't. It just clings to the 18th century Romantic trappings of Celticism that serve to justify the typical regional claim that "Spain is different. But we are differenter". I will happily revise this heretical view if someone proves to me that the national costumes and the gaita (bagpipe) were much in evidence in, say, the 15th century. Happily, there are the occasional articles which don't mention Celticism and, hallelujah, here's one from the Wall St Journal. By the way, this is not to deny for a second that there were Celts in Galicia; just to reject the claim that Galicia was unique in this respect or more Celtic than, say, next door Asturias.

The Royal Family again: A Spanish friend has insisted for months that the marriage of the Princes, as they're known here, was in deep trouble and that the lovely Letizia was ploughing/plowing a solitary furrow in the night clubs of Madrid. I hadn't really believed this but here's an article which suggests it's true and that the Prince has gone as far as to initiate divorce proceedings. It's in Spanish but I've attached a (terrible) Google translation at the end of this post, tarted up a bit by me.

Maybe Trevor of Kalebeul can answer this but does Google make more of a mess with Spanish than with, say, French? If so, two reasons have to be the frequent absence of personal pronouns in Spanish and the use of su to mean his, hers or their. Here's one wonderful Google rendition into English, talking about the Princess - who has spent a collaborator Mountaineer.

A few decent YouTube videos:

- HT to David Jackson: A mad priest amuses his parishioners. Or not.

- An ad (in Spanish) which mocks foreigner lifestyles and lauds the Spanish easy-going, fun-oriented alternative.

- A list of the 22 things Spaniards (and some of us foreigners) would miss if they went to live elsewhere. I think it's pretty accurate.

Finally . . . Walking onto the bridge into town yesterday, I met a dusky chap dressed in a flamboyant outfit of a bright green and yellow, gaudily patterned short-sleeved shirt with matching knee length shorts. And a brown trilby hat. OK, it was probably only 12 degrees but it all seemed doubly inappropriate. And then I saw him again as I was walking in town (after wasting 15 minutes waiting to be served in the ironmongers). And then again in the main square as I was enjoying my midday tiffin. He seemed to be striding around town, regardless of the stares. One wonders why. Perhaps a visiting theatrical troupe. Shame my camera is bust.

King paralyses the divorce of the Prince of Asturias

Although the battle between Juan Carlos I and his son Philip continues.

The heir to save his marriage and get access to the Throne.

The truth is that Letizia Ortiz has changed his attitude from Buenos Aires showdown with Moncloa.

And the King makes it clear he does not think to abdicate. When he recovers, he will return to the foreground.

Let's start with the latter. HM the King of Spain has paralysed the process - long and abstruse - for a divorce between Crown Prince Felipe de Borbon and his wife Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano

We said yesterday that the King had ordered their legal advisers to prepare the divorce between HRH Prince Felipe and his wife Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano. And so it was. And the worst is that this tragedy would not have become substantial if the King had not been subjected to a double operation in the Chiron Clinic.

Thereafter there was a struggle between father and son, which even, the sources said, His Majesty considered the possibility of a change in succession. The conflict peaked ' splendidly ' when Don Felipe attended the IberoAmerica summit without a role, for the King, unable to travel due to illness, was present via a video in which he made the Spanish proposals and in which he didn't mention his heir who was there.

But Philip has fortunately managed to save his marriage. This has had to see the change in attitude of Dona Letizia, who has turned from a wild creature into a collaborator. The turning point was Buenos Aires, the same day that Madrid lost the organization of the Olympic Games in 2020, and at the height of her journey through rebellion, Letizia came to have a fight with President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, about when they should return to Spain and about using the presidential plane to bring back the Prince of Asturias.

From then, Letizia changed her attitude. Fewer private outings and institutional collaboration in the role expected of her as future Queen of Spain. Even joint activities with Her Majesty the Queen and the Infanta Elena, now in the limelight for having reached 50. SAR Elena de Borbón is still one of the alternatives for the succession, in fact, has never ceased to be.

This change by Letizia, who has returned to smile, still has not got her integration into her future duties as queen consort to 100%, but it has served to calm tempers. The future Queen, whom the Spanish liberals consider their trump card on the throne, even as consort, is expected to be final.

In other words, sources confirm to Zarzuela Hispanidad that for the time being, divorce has stalled, although relations between the King and his son are not the same as of old.

And yes, the King thinks not to abdicate. Just thinks to recover from his hip injury and return to the forefront of public life, to recover his bad image (the bad image of Dona Letizia has not spread to the whole of Spain).

Good news : a marriage is not broken and the country's problems are not increased by a royal divorce, which is always a failure. But remember, the King has no intention of abdicating.