Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain: 1.5.21

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain' 

NOTE: Info on Galicia here. Detailed info on Pontevedra coming (relatively) soon. 

 Covid  

After chasing both my medical centre and the Galician health authority, I'll finally have my first jab next Monday. If this blog doesn't appear on Tuesday and thereafter, you'll know why . . .

 

Spain will extend the gap between the first and second doses of AZ’s coronavirus vaccine by between 4 and 6 weeks.This could increase the interval between doses to up to 16 weeks. In the UK, I think it's 12 weeks. But here in Galicia, I have my 2 appointments this month  - for the Pfizer jab? - only 3 weeks apart. I've no idea why there are these differences. Or whether they're scientifically significant.

Cosas de España/Galiza

Spain is different, it's frequently said. Certainly you'd never see these fotos like this in the UK. Mind you, these are nothing compared with what you can see in many shops windows down in Toledo:-

I've talked of differing attitudes to risk. So this is a relevant diagram:-

The Pontevedra city council says its new plan is to make the city a lure for 'intelligent tourism'. This is something else I don't understand the meaning of.

María's Level Ground: Days 26 & 27. Broom hunting.

 

The Way of the World 

Will we one day see the end of black and white chess pieces? Meanwhile, something amusing from Private Eye:-

An interesting take . . . Five years ago, American social scientists noticed a new and intriguing phenomenon. Most ethnic groups feel more warmly about their own race that other races but, "starting about 2016", white liberals actually rate non-white groups more positively than they do whites. This was attributed to 'white guilt.' 

Assuaging this feeling has created a lucrative market for publishers.

English 

The word 'spell' has 2 meanings, born of the fact it came to us via both Anglo-Saxon and French versions of an Indo-European word. One of the meanings in Middle English was 'story'. So 'Good Spell' to 'Gospel'. . . Who knew?