For several years now, illegal immigrants have been arriving on Spain’s coasts in their thousands each year. Many of them don’t make it alive. Recently the numbers have risen significantly, particularly in respect of Mauritanian refugees trying to land in the Canary Islands. In fact, things have got so bad Galicia has even agreed to take a share of those who make it. The poor souls may find the weather a bit of a shock, though it was 29 in one city in Galicia today, the highest temperature in Spain.

At the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games this morning, I was intrigued to see separate teams from the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Jersey. Food for thought. I wonder if the Basque and Catalan nationalists would support self-determination and nation status for these tiny places. And - closer to home - for Gibraltar, which also had its own team. My guess is Yes and No. But possibly No and No.

On this theme - A letter writer to El Pais today commented on how smoothly recent constitutional negotiations had gone between the German state and the Landers. Noting how all parties had made concessions both in the direction of greater centralisation and greater devolution of power, the writer said it was impossible to conceive this happening in Spain. Here, he said, jealous regions played an endless game of leapfrog in the direction of a proliferation of tax offices, health authorities, etc., etc. Naturally, he saw it all ending in tears. Or at least in the weakening of Spain as a European power.

I mentioned our local gypsies the other day. I read today the police are investigating the impregnation of an 11 year old by another member of the community. A girl being pregnant so young would not, of course, be very newsworthy in the UK but it still is here. Needless to say, the police are getting nowhere. Most people refuse to talk and those that do later retract their statements. It very much looks like they’re going to have to be content with the insistence that ‘things have been dealt with in line with our traditions’

There have been road and pavement works in Pontevedra for at least the 5 years I’ve been here. Many of them have done wonders for the place but they do cause immense disruption to the traffic. In response to a complaint this week about the latest mess, the council replied, in effect, that people should like it or lump it as works are scheduled until 2010 or 2012. Everyone here knows this margin of forecasting error is unlikely to be correct and that we’re really talking about something like 2015. It’s enough to make one wonder what lies behind all this expenditure.