Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain: .29.1.20

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

Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain  

 Spanish/Galician Life 

• I confess to being surprised there was no notary involvement in the steps to be taken after my friend Peter's death. But, then, the wheels wouldn't have ground so very fast if there had been any. Now that the funeral is over and we are into implementing the Will, obtaining various certificates, formally accepting an inheritance, making tax declarations and effecting property transfers, normal Spanish service has resumed. Time to call in the gestor and the notario - 2 animals that don't exist in Anglo cultures. And to wait patiently . . 
• My final quote from Rebekah Scott's A Furnace Full of God, especially for reader Eamon in La Coruña: As the camino becomes more popular with tourists and sports-walkers, a minor culture war rages over who is a pilgrim and who is not.
• Eamon has recently told me of 'pilgrims' begging in his city but I've wondered whether these weren't actually beggars pretending to be pilgrims. As I've written, Pontevedra is plagued with mendicants, the latest being an aggressive well-fed chap with a huge paunch. Which I rather doubt is the result of malnutrition.
• Some years ago, Spanish cities in the South realised they could monetise their (rather dubious) Jewish histories. Meaning museums, tours and, of course, shops.This has now spread to the North and I recall visiting a (rather pathetic) Jewish museum in nearby Ribadavia more than 10 years ago. But now we have 3 Galician cities celebrating their Jewish heritage. And Tui has joined Ribadavia and Monforte de Lemos in the 'select' membership of the Red de Juderías de España. ¨With, among others, Barcelona, Jaén and León.
• Pontevedra has a bit of its old quarter which is known - to some of us - as its ex-Jewish quarter. Around a street called The Street Of Bitterness. Until 6 or 7 years ago, there used to be a little patch of grass at the head of this, labelled (in Spanish and Hebrew):  The ex Jewish cemetery. I doubt it's cynical to suggest it'll re-emerge one day, when the council realises it would benefit tourism for the city to be included in the Red.
• Talking of things that might happen one day  . . .  There's a 5-star thermal hotel on our coast between Vigo and Bayona. It's allegedly both illegal and financed by a local drug baron. The judicial process against it began in 2000 and an order for demolition was issued in 2012. But it's still standing and open for business. And possibly always will be.

Spanish

• Word of the Day:-  Una rebeca: A cardigan. Now, I know why a cardigan is called a cardigan but have no idea why the Spanish for it is rebeca. 

Finally . . .

• Fashion note: To be really 'in ' at the moment in Spain - as a woman at least - you need to sport un conjunto de una rebeca y un top.