Dawn

Dawn

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Thoughts from Galicia, Spain: 19.7.18

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. Garish but informative.

As usual on a Thursday morning, I'm indebted to Lenox Napier of the comprehensive Business over Tapas for some of the following items.

Spain
  • Spain's civil war ghosts:
  1. It looks like the disinterment of Franco's remains won't take place this month. And, if some senior prelate retains a veto, it might well be some time before this happens. Meanwhile, Spain's rump of Francoists is revolting.
  2. Queipo de Llano was possibly the most sadistic of Franco's generals, responsible for 50,000 executions in Sevilla. His body lies in a church there which he had constructed. But the Brotherhood of La Macarena has finally agreed to the moving of his remains from an honoured place to a normal burial area. Quite why the Catholic Church thinks it should remain in one of its places of worship is beyond me. Perhaps it thinks he made a deathbed act of repentance and this makes everything OK.
  3. Slow progress is being made of ridding Spain of street names which commemorate not only Franco 'heroes' but also, would you believe, the Spaniards who fought with the Nazis.
  • Talking of rebellions . . . The Spectator magazine fears that Spanish tolerance for illegal immigrants will surely wane over time, leading to the sort of populism now seen elsewhere in Europe. Says the journal: The number of migrants who crossed from North Africa to Spain tripled last year, and the numbers for 2018 are set to rise even higher. Nearly 20,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in the first six months of the year – nearly as many as claimed asylum in the whole of 2017. . . . There may come a time when the Spanish public gets tired of being Europe’s latest welcome mat for tens of thousands of people trying to flee Africa.
  • And talking of the civil war, here's The Local's list of the 14 best books on this.
  • Here's The Guardian on steps being taken by the new government to bring Spain's obsolete laws on sexual violence into line with those of other Western states. 
  • Good to see it's not only the British defence establishment that gets its number extravagantly wrong. Sometimes through pure negligence. Twice in this case.
Life in Spain
  • If you're renting out rooms here, you should know that, next January, Airbnb et al will have to give the Spanish tax office (the Hacienda) details of all 2018 activities and then update this every 3 months.
  • Here's some relevant advice for non-residents on the renting out of holiday properties here.
  • To be more positive . . . Whether you live here or are just visiting, here's The Local's advice on Spain's 10 most beautiful beach towns.
The UK: Brexit
  1. Well, it looks like – in the face of a No Brexit outcome to the folly of the last couple of years – opinion is moving in favour of Richard North's long-standing EEA/Efta Flexit option. Which is possibly what is now being labelled “the Norway option”. Here, for example, is what one commentator said yesterday: Remaining in the EEA would enable the UK to continue trading goods and services freely within the EEA. But we would not be in the EU, thereby fulfilling the mandate of the referendum. This is not anti-Brexit and is supported by many Leavers: Norway is not a vassal state. Clean-break Brexiteers may not like it but their alternative is no longer feasible. The EEA option can command a parliamentary majority and prevent a meltdown. I'll report tomorrow on North's reaction to this outbreak of common sense, which is possibly too late.
  2. Meanwhile, here's advice on the key points of May's White Paper for us Brits resident in the EU.
Russia
  • Here's a Private Eye cartoon of a week or two ago:-

Clearly wrong; there never was any risk for Putin. He came up smelling of roses. And triumphant. Though this was hardly a tough challenge.

Galicia/Pontevedra
  • Lenox Napier advises of false camino signs aimed at diverting 'pilgrims' past bars and restaurants, for example outside Ponferrada. This has been going on for years near Porriño, between Tui and Pontevedra, after the original route was changed so you didn't have to walk through a large industrial park. There have even been reports of fisticuffs between bar-owners on the old and new routes.
  • Interesting to see that a spa centred on vinoterapia is being set up in Leiro. I must check this out. My existing wine therapy might turn out to be inadequate. I know Leiro well for its excellent Viña Mein ribeiro white wine. This grape was well known centuries ago in the UK, well before albariño replaced it in popularity. Exports were a victim of the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 18th century.
Finally . . .
  • As with both the author of the article I cited yesterday and reader Maria, I too learned things about the English language from folk trying to master it. An Iranian friend asked me years ago how we formed the plural of nouns. With S, I replied. “Really, he retorted. “So, how do you say the plural of 'house'? Or 'dog'? As opposed to, say, 'cat'.
© David Colin Davies, Pontevedra: 19.7.18

No comments: