With a view to revising my Galicia web page, I’ve been organising the dozens of brochures I recently picked up at the tourism exhibition in Pontevedra. The high spot of this was discovering just how daft people can be in trying to be creative. All the numerous leaflets for the Pontevedra province carry a banner claim written in 3 different type sizes and spreading the key adjective across 3 lines. For example:-

.............EMO
PONTEVEDRA CIO
Una Provincia NANTE

As ever at times like this, my conclusion is that Spain’s infamous nepotism/cronyism is at work here. Surely no professional could recommend this mess.

The other thing I noticed was just how many national, regional, provincial and municipal organisations were producing brochures for places in Galicia. And then, to cap it all, I stumbled on a new one. An organisation called Eixo Atlantico has produced a 62 page brochure on the delights of North Portugal and Galicia. So, why have they entered an already-crowded fray? Well, because the EU designates North Portugal and Galicia as one of its Euro-Regions. Clearly, this not merely justifies but demands another layer of bureaucracy.

And talking of nonsense…..For those with a high boredom threshold, here are more of Mr Zapatero’s formulas for meeting Catalunia’s demand that it be called a ‘nation’ in its new constitution:-
- Catalunia is a national community
- Catalunia is a community with national ‘entity-ness’
- Catalunia is a community with a national identity
- Catalunia is a national reality
- Catalunia is a singular national entity
And the very best…
- Catalunia is a nation within the nation of nations which is Spain

I’m reminded of something in my early religious education about the number of angels which can fit on a pin head. The equivalent in Spanish, I’m told, is arguing about which sex angels are. And then there's the scene in The life of Brian where the Monty Python team argue about whether they’re members of the Palestine National Front or one of several variants. If it wasn’t so important, it would be hilarious.

For new readers – If you’ve arrived here because of an interest in Galicia or Pontevedra, you might find my non-commercial guides interesting – at colindavies.net