The church of San Francisco in Pontevedra gives free meals to the poor. The pan de pobre. Normally they accept gifts of food from public-spirited individuals but yesterday they rejected contributions from the 15-M (Los indignados) movement. This was because they'd criticised the Pope's visit to Madrid. Bizarre. And petty. Whatever happened to the Catholic doctrine of 'Hate the sin. Love the sinner"?

There's talk of cloning the bull called Mouse because of his highly valued murderous capabilities. Against that, there was an ironic/sarcastic leader in the Voz de Galicia this week which stressed that spain was a country of great cultural diversity and that (regrettably, they clearly felt) El Ratón was part of this.

The Galician good news is that cruise ship traffic into Vigo is 36% up on last year. The bad news is that boats also figure in the latest incidence of fraud - too many passengers being allowed onto the ferries that take people to the wonderful Atlantic Islands. Stuff safety.

Talking of fraud, the article I cited last night on Celta Vigo illustrates the sort of thing that goes on here. As it happens, I know the guy who heads the company who audits the accounts of Carlos Mouriño's companies. He insists they're all good sound businesses but that the purchase of Celta Vigo was a fit of madness. Not to mention a opportunity for skulduggery on a massive scale.

I looked again today at the brochure for the new museum in Pontevedra, the one which centres on the defensive ditch just inside the old city walls. You know from the very first sentence that the ship has been spoilt for a ha'porth of translation tar. This Spanish sentence - En relación con las obras de remodelación de la avenida de Santa María, en el año 2008 se llevó a cabo una actuación arqueológico que permitió localizar los vestigios del foso que protegía el palacio arzobispal de Pontevedra - is given in Engish as "In connection with the refurbishment of the Avenue de Santa María, in 2008, took out an archeological work that allowed us to locate the remains of the moat that protected the archbishop's palace in Pontevedra." Trust you noticed that Avenida was translated into English but not de Santa María. Why?

Which question reminds me that Spanish TV is to air its own version - person for person - of the ancient US comedy series Cheers. Why? If you're going to go the cheap, uncreative way of flagrantly copying something else, why not go for something a little more modern, like Curb Your Enthusiasm? A little too outrageous/avant garde for Spain, perhaps.

Finally . . . . A

FOTO SPECIAL

Graffiti is big problem in Pontevedra, as it is in other cities. The barrio of Malasaña in Madrid, especially I believe. But there's good and bad graffiti. Here's the bad, on a door.

And here's the good, on a nearby wall.

And some from another street.

And here's the only bit of the ancient town walls which retain the castellations(?).

Here's a car - a gypsymobile - which really shouldn't have been driving around the old quarter.

Here's one of the very many streets in the old quarter to have had its name changed.

The original name was Fried Fish St. Logical, as it's just up from the market.

And here's a building I've walked past a hundred times and which, until I looked up today, I hadn't appreciated was a fine example of traditional style.

Finally, here a gaita (bagpipe) band. Again, I did want to post a video but it wouldn't upload.