As Spain
marks 40 years since the death of the monstrous Franco and the 79th
anniversary of the start of its atavistic Civil War, the new
left-of-centre mayors are finally planning to get rid of the residual monuments to the Fascists which should have disappeared long ago
under the law. Not before time. I wonder if we'll see the removal of
the 2 or 3 shields which adorn Pontevedra's granite walls.
Spain's tourist
industry continues to grow apace, breaking records every year.
Tourism, of course, is a killer of good service. A restaurant in
Santiago appears to employ the only waitresses in the country
incapable of a smile, even when they've been given a good tip. And
serves atrocious Rioja. It's called Galeón Raina. The 2 comments on
Trip advisor are: "Very good octopus" and "Losing
clients". I can't vouch for the first but am not at all
surprised by the second. Stay away.
Talking of tourism . .
. Who - apart from the insufferable Alfie Mittington - knew that the
original name for Benidorm was Ben-i-Darhm - 'The Sons of Darhm' in
Arabic.
And talking of smiling
. . . One of the easiest ways to raise a laugh in Spain - as a
foreigner - is to call
yourself a guiri. Your Spanish friends simply won't be able to suppress at least a smile at you
using this pejorative term.
And talking of both tourism and guiris . . . Here's a foto of a couple of ladies whose behaviour much disturbed the calm of my evening tiffin. They're not good snaps but I had to be quick. I think they were Dutch, whom I've previously regarded as a reserved people. Obviously wrong. Luckily for them (or me), they'll never see these fotos:-
Finally . . . My thanks to my 3 friends who made it a weekend to remember. Especially to the one who broke the blind cord mechanism. And the one who left the garage door open so that all the neighbourhood moths could come into the house. Not to mention all the pigs who'd been sleeping there. This is the song which which I'll always associate them.
And talking of both tourism and guiris . . . Here's a foto of a couple of ladies whose behaviour much disturbed the calm of my evening tiffin. They're not good snaps but I had to be quick. I think they were Dutch, whom I've previously regarded as a reserved people. Obviously wrong. Luckily for them (or me), they'll never see these fotos:-
Finally . . . My thanks to my 3 friends who made it a weekend to remember. Especially to the one who broke the blind cord mechanism. And the one who left the garage door open so that all the neighbourhood moths could come into the house. Not to mention all the pigs who'd been sleeping there. This is the song which which I'll always associate them.
No comments:
Post a Comment