Dawn

Dawn

Monday, November 08, 2010

This month finally sees  the debut in Spain of Martin Sheen’s “The Way”, described by someone as “A lovely, leisurely and often highly moving odyssey in which Sheen plays a bereaved dad walking a pilgrimage across northern Spain with his son's ashes in a metal box.” Click here for a personal invitation from the man himself, who’s of Galician extraction. And here for a bit of media commentary.

Another thing about Spain I’ll probably never understand, however long I live here, is the law relating to the building of property near the sea. Or anywhere, for that matter. Hardly a week goes by without a tale of someone’s house (normally that of a foreigner) being demolished; or that of someone else (normally a Spanish film star) being saved from this fate by retrospective legalisation; or a huge block of urban flats being ordered to be knocked down within a few days, after 20 years of court cases and failed appeals. Both Mark Stucklin over at Spanish Property Insight and the editor of Typically Spanish News have recently gone into print on this subject, with the latter calling for some much-needed common sense. Alas, as he says, there seems little likelihood of this happening while we see so many levels of government having a say, from the local and provincial councils, to the regional administrations, let alone the national government and dear Marta Andreasen at the EU. That’s because the culture of petty party politics still reigns at the local level in Spain, and cases of favouritism, if not outright corruption, remain widespread. If only the order came from [Madrid] to sort out this mess, Spanish tourism and the economy would get the rapid boost it so desperately needs. I fear, though, that no one is showing the needed political will, and I see the EU as the only body which can force a way forward. Possibly but my own view is that effective pressure from Brussels is as unlikely as a local outbreak of common sense. So, folks, the watchwords remain caveat emptor. Especially along the coast.

Anyway, by dint of intensive research, I’ve discovered how to get to Oporto airport without having to spend a minimum of a 77 euros on a toll gadget-plus-fees and/or a detour onto crowded N roads. Available for a fee . .

Someone arrived at my blog today after searching for the ugliest part of Spain. There’s no region less worthy of this accolade than Galicia, in fact, but the much larger issue is  . . . What conceivable reason can there be for such a search? It takes all sorts, I guess.

Finally . . . I discovered today that the curator at the fosa museum normally asks if everyone is happy for his commentary to be in Gallego. So it seem he was doing me a favour by deciding to do it in Spanish for the group I was part of. Now, that’s the sort of linguistic harmony I have absolutely no problem with and am now even more impressed with his diplomacy than I was yesterday. And I’m rather glad now that I didn’t make my joke about demanding a Gallego commentary when I reserved my place on Friday last.


Tailnote for new readers: Excellent news . . . My daughter has now posted the tenth chapter of her new novel, “The Second Death of Juan La Roca”. Set in a fictionalised Cuba, this is “A fast-paced political thriller but, above all, a personal tale of pride and paranoia.”. If this entices you, click here.

No comments: