I guess we all have different ways of mitigating the tedium of a long car trip. So . . .

Driving back from Madrid today at a steady 120kph (75mph), I was passed by 62 cars in 3 hours. Now, this may not sound a lot to you but, firstly, traffic is very light on the motorway to the North West and, secondly, it compares starkly with the total of 5 cars doing less than 120 which I passed. A number of conclusions might be drawn from this but the main one, I guess, is that Spanish drivers treat the legal maximum as more of a minimum. No great surprise there, though.

As the majority of cars flashing past me were black 4x4s, I got to wondering whether it’s a condition of purchase of these that, instead of going off-road, you piss up and down the nearest motorway for a minimum of 10 hours a week, just to show how rich and stupid you are. Or is there, perhaps, a select group of Spaniards who spend their entire lives driving up and down the country’s motorways at 160-180kph and putting the rest of us in our place?

Stopping for a coffee somewhere in Castilla y León, I was disappointed to read that the Rumanian government had repeated its doubts that citizens of that fine country currently resident in Spain but unemployed will be happy to swap their Spanish dole for whatever is on offer back home. No great surprise there either.

It was, of course, raining heavily when I entered Galicia. But then:- 1. It usually is, and 2. It had been raining in Madrid over the weekend. More importantly, the sun was shining when I got to the coast. So I could leave Ryan to roast in the car while I gave my usual English conversation ‘class’ to the 5 lovely ladies of the Sagrada Corazón College. Or to the 2 that turned up anyway.

Finally . . . It seems cats only have 7 lives in Spain. Under EU rules of free movement, I guess they’ll all be looking to take advantage of the 9 they could have if they upped sticks and emigrated to the UK. Unless Rumanian cats have nabbed all the available places. Among other things.


Looking for a holiday place in Galicia this summer? Click here for details of a lovely cottage in the hills outside Pontevedra. Mine, of course.