Dawn

Dawn

Monday, November 20, 2017

Thoughts from Galicia: 20.11.17


Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.

- Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain. 

If you've arrived here because of an interest in Galicia or Pontevedra, see my web page here.

Cataluña
  • Madrid must be delighted to have the support of President Juncker, an outstanding EU politician, if ever there was one. And popular, too. Back home in Luxembourg.
  • But at least the man knows how to wear a tie, something beyond President Fart . . . 



Spain
Portugal
  • I see that Portuguese drivers share with their Iberian cousins an aversion to signalling.
Europe
  • So, Germany is in political chaos after the collapse of talks around 4-party coalition talks. Which means, of course, that Europe is in chaos too. It's a legacy of Mrs M's promise to let more than a million immigrants into Germany and the subsequent rise of the right wing Alternative for Germany party. Interesting times. One's forced to ask – If Spain and Germany can't hold themselves together, how on earth can the EU? But I guess it has the advantage of not being democratic and so is impervious to the popular will. As it was with Ireland, France and Holland, as I recall. Maybe it can hold out a bit longer against the grain of history.
Galicia
  • Here's fellow Brit-in-Galicia blogger Paul, with a tale of his attempts to get his fellow villagers to cut back on water use, in the face of the long drought. 
  • Even more distressing is this video of one of the recent spate of fires in Galicia, courtesy of reader Paedeleo.
  • A mere 15 years later, a court in Galicia has pronounced on the damages payable from the Prestige oil spill disaster off our coast. I wonder how long the delay for payment will be. Assuming anything is ever paid, of course.
Finally . . . I'm always bemused, in Spain, when you pay for an entrance ticket then 2 seconds later someone else either takes it off you or rips it a bit. Increases employment, I guess. But things went even further yesterday at the castle in Leiria, where the woman at the desk hand-wrote a receipt for 2 of us, complete with details of our discounts, the respective prices, and the date. Plus the total at the bottom. I was surprised I wasn't asked to sign it. But at least there was no one else to take it from us or tear it a bit. Of, if there was, he or she was slacking on the job. Maybe the official looking chap standing outside the ticket place and chatting to a friend.

Today's Cartoon


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