Up near the French border in Aragón, there’s a small and beautiful little village called Fago. It numbers 35 citizens and is famous because its mayor was murdered a week or two ago. The police say that, such was the acrimonious nature of relations between the inhabitants, any one of them could have committed the dastardly deed. According to El Mundo, the village provides a portrait of a rural Spain that’s fast disappearing but which still survives in thousands of villages of less than 100 people. Beneath the pastoral beauty of these, it adds, life is lived on the basis of ancestral hatreds that divide the community into warring factions. As you travel on Spain’s ultra-modern highways or in its equally modern trains and coaches between its booming cities, you could be forgiven for not knowing this.

Per capita income in Ireland has now passed not only that of the UK but also of the USA. There are said to be several factors behind this – not least EU subventions – but investment by American companies is certainly significant. I can’t help wondering if the latter would have happened if the Irish government hadn’t abandoned decades ago its strategy of favouring Gaelic over English. These days, most official documents are published in both languages but it’s glaringly obvious that English is the favoured language of the population, despite being the tongue of Ireland’s not-much-loved colonial oppressors. Here in Galicia, things were similar when I arrived 6 years ago; everything was in both Gallego and Spanish. Now, though, it’s hard to find anything official or semi-official [fliers and brochures for bank-sponsored events, for example] which is in anything but Gallego. I get the impression things are similar up in Catalunia and possibly have been for even longer. This is a natural consequence of ‘nationalist’ aspirations but I, again, question whether it’s sensible for the economic future of these regions that would be nations. Specifically, I’m not much impressed by the argument here that fluent Gallego speakers have access to the world’s Portuguese-speaking economies. Brazil, for example. And . . .

In the arcane world of constitutional theory, there’s a difference between ‘federal’ and ‘confederal’ entities. The latter seems to mean a union of two or more states. The USA is federal. As is Germany. Both the UK and the EU might qualify as confederal states, although perhaps more de facto than de jure. As for Spain, it’s possible it currently ranks as a de facto federal state but could become a de jure confederal state, if and when one or more regions achieves its aims of independence. Confusing, isn’t it? But interesting, of course.

Galicia Facts

Galicia’s 3 airports, now handle 4 million passengers a year, 11% up on last year. La Coruña showed the highest growth but this was probably because Iberia – in a fit of pique - switched its domestic flights from Santiago, after Ryanair started flying there.

Presumably because of fears about declining population, the Xunta has announced plans to permit the grandchildren of emigrant Gallegos to be become Spanish without any residence obligation, provided one of their parents has kept Spanish nationality. Putting this another way, it’ll no longer be necessary for one of their parents to have been born in Spain. At least, I think that’s what’s been announced.