Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain: 7.5.21

 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: If you want to know more about Galicia or read my Guide to Pontevedra city, click here. 

Cosas de España/Galiza

From Sunday next, the Spanish state will back out of the Covid restriction business and leave it to each of the 17 regional governments to impose whatever they feel necessary. But they’ll have to get court approval in each case, with opponents having the right of appeal against them to the country's Supreme Court. Cue confusion and possible chaos in at least some regions, as things wend their way through the notoriously slow Spanish system. Making interim fines potentially illegal, I guess.

Have the Andalucian Jehovah Witnesses gone all hi-tech? Or is it, perhaps, the Mormons? . . . In the past few days more than a dozen devices have been left on doorsteps in Chiclana. All had the thing on their screens - a  Bible prophecy.

It's suggested the Galician government will (initially) impose a cost of 1 cent per km on all its new toll roads, compared with the almost 12c/km we pay for the existing AP9 north-south motorway. I've no idea if this will include the N roads, such as the N550 which runs north-south between the Portuguese border and La Coruña but I suspect so. Probably via overhead gantries with cameras, as in Portugal. Meaning you have to buy a dongle. Another new tax. Certainly it'll include the A6 which runs down to the north of Madrid and is currently free. As well as other (much shorter) A roads in the region

The Way of the World 

The UK Football Association is replacing the shirt logo of the medieval crest of 3 lions with one featuring a lion cub, a lion and a lioness. The FA says the move will give the crest a “fresh purpose” that will symbolise “inclusivity at all levels of football”. Toddlers next.

English

A possible synonym for ‘dogsbody’ - ‘chief cook and bottle washer’.

Spanish 

How do you say ‘dogsbody’ in Castellano. Take your pick:-

From one site, the very literal: Cuerpo de perro.

From another: The better - Burro de carga  

From a third: The probably best - Botones

Quote of the Day

Has Peloton's lockdown cult lost its stride and is it about to go from must have to must hate? I think I was in the van of this trend.

Finally  . . .

 

You can pee in at least 3 ways in Spanish:-

Orinar

Hacer pis

Mear

The last one comes from the Latin meiere, from which came meio. But this means both urine and semen. The mind boggles.