Early this morning, a large market had been set up all along the Ramblas Nova in Terragona. Something that caught my eye was the taxidermist's van parked next to a stall selling all manner of caged birds.

In the Roman tower in Tarragona this morning, I decided to take the lift to the top. Having pressed the button, I was waiting for something to happen, when one of the attendants sidled up to me and growled “It's broken”. Which is how I came to count all the stairs to the top, including the 29 'killers' in the final spiral staircase.

Having moved on to the remains of the Roman amphitheatre, I was accosted by a young Russian woman, who asked me if I could join their group, as they needed to increase numbers to get a discount. I agreed to this, until she told me I was number 15 and they needed 25. At which point I moved on. Russians, by the way, seem to be catered for in every bar and restaurant in Tarragona.

Driving along the AP2 from Tarragona to Zaragoza later today, the traffic was so thin I mused that the road had been built just for me. The toll fee of more than 27 euros knocked me out of my reverie. And also explained the absence of vehicles, of course.

A question for Trevor the Baldie – What's the difference between El Periódico with the red banner headline and El Periódico with the blue one? Surely they can't be running separate left and right wing versions.

To assist Orthodox Jews – and, I imagine, their Muslim counterparts – an American company has introduced 'modesty glasses' to solve the problem of being confronted by immodest women. Special blur-inducing stickers are attached to the lenses of one's spectacles and such harpies are reduced to a 'harmless blot'. Perhaps I should get some for Pontevedra.

I see the latest Spanish mayor to join the massing ranks of those accused of corruption is the mayoress of Alicante.

Finally . . . It never rains but it pours for the Madrid government. In the north east of the country, Sr Rajoy is fighting off Catalan secessionist demands. And now, down in the south west, UEFA has stabbed him in the back by admitting Gibraltar to the community of European footballing nations. Though admittedly only provisionally.