I finally got to see them laying stones is Plaza de España in front of the town hall today. This may because the work is now said to be finishing by 12^th November. Contrary to my own impression that things have been slow and that completion is rather belated, today’s Diario de Pontevedra insists the work is proceeding a todo ritmo, or at full speed. But I’ve long since concluded the paper is a good news rag, financed once way or another by the local council. So I guess it’s no surprise we differ on this. More importantly, the council has announced that major summer events will now be held in this square, rather than in their usual venue, the town’s main square. So, I wonder if they’ll now change the name from Plaza España to Plaza Fiesta. After all, the two words often seem interchangeable here. Ironically, La Fiesta Nacional is usually taken to be the bullfight. Whereas I see La Fiesta Nacional as, well, La Fiesta.

And talking of words . . .  Here’s a bit of Spanglish I don’t recall quoting before – un making off. Which is, I think, the filming of a documentary about the filming of something else. As in Terry Gilliam’s Lost in La Mancha. By the way, if you’re the person I’ve lent this to, please write.

Just going back to the book I mentioned last week – The Cairo Trilogy – the other thing that astonished me about the beauty criteria of the place and the time (the 1920s to the 1940s) was the importance of eyebrows meeting in the middle. But at least there was no eulogy to plaited underarm hair.

Within 48 hours of finally paying for the internet order I had difficulty with on Wednesday, I received an email from DHL Spain telling me they had a package for me. But Google (Gmail) declined to send this to me as they feared it contained a virus. A quick check confirmed it had nothing to do with my order and was, indeed, an attempt to get a virus into my machine. So hats off to Google. But what a coincidence to receive this message so soon after the order. Or was it really a coincidence . . . .?

Here’s a surprising statistic that one doesn’t hear a lot about – the incidence of mad cow disease in Europe:-

1. Ireland
2. Spain
3. England.

So . . . I wonder if France has banned imports of Spanish beef.

Finally . . . Here and here are references in (sort of) English to the book I mentioned yesterday which proves beyond a scintilla of a doubt for everyone who lives around here that Christopher Columbus came from a village in the parish of Poio. The author is said to be of Italian extraction. But Philippot???

Tailnote for new readers: The first nine chapters of my daughter’s novel can now be read and/or downloaded in pdf form, for easy reading. It’s a “Fast-paced political thriller but, above all, a personal tale of pride and paranoia.” Set in a fictionalised Cuba, it’s being e-published at the rate of at least a couple of chapters a week. If this entices you, click here.