5 or 6 years ago, it was reported that the first people to move into Britain as the the ice receded 15,000 years ago came from northern Spain. Specifically from the Basque Country, as I recall. Well, we are all Gallegos now. The latest DNA research suggests it was people from Galicia who colonised both Britain and Ireland. Something which the Brits returned in small measure when they settled in Bretoña in the north of Galicia in the 6th century. For those who can read Spanish, here's the details.

Something else which some readers may not be aware of is that Christopher Columbus - Crístobal Colón in Spanish - hailed not from Genoa but from a little hamlet in a parish of my barrio, Poio - across the river from Pontevedra. As a firm believer in the validity of this claim, I've been trying for a couple of years now to visit the museum set up 3 years ago in CC's natal home in Portosanto, a few hundred metres down the road from me and visible from my eyrie above the city and its environs. Along with my visitor, I tried again on Saturday, only to discover it doesn't open at weekends. But there's always tomorrow.

One thing we did get to visit this weekend was the Archeological Park of Campo Lameiro, 20km out of Pontevedra up in the hills. This is a splendid exhibition of prehistoric petrogliphs(rock carvings) and it deserves to be a success. But it won't be. Visitors are few - almost certainly because of the location - and once subsidies are withdrawn as a result of La Crísis it will surely go under. Shame.

Talking of the economy . . . Here and here are articles from foreign newspapers on the consequences of Spain's phoney bum(boom) and its collapse. They make very sad reading.

I noted this star high up on the roof of a building in the old quarter today. 

As the back of the building is in one of the streets which formed the pre-1492 Jewish quarter, my first thought was it was the star of David. But then I wondered whether it wasn't a Masonic star. A bit of research on the internet revealed that these can look exactly the same, so I'm no wiser. A prize for anyone who tells me which is which below.