Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain: 25.6.21

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' 

Covid 

The UK: From 30 June, the Balearic Islands will be on the UK Green list, allowing vaccinated folk go to/return there without needing PCR tests or quarantine on arrival. Here's Think Spain on this. Bottom line: If the Amber status of the rest of Spain isn't changed to Green until after summer, it will be too late to save the British tourism market this year. This, however, assumes that folk from the UK would be allowed into the EU this summer even if Spain were changed to Green.. On that . . 

The EU: Predictably. President Macron has joined Mrs Merkel in demanding a ban on visitors from the UK. This, of course, is because of the prevalence of Delta there. But the British view is that its citizens are being penalised because the UK has both the world's best variant surveillance science and also the most extensive testing capability. As someone has put it: One of the reasons that Britain has had such a noticeable problem with variants compared to elsewhere is that we are actively looking for them. Even Trump got it right on this: The more testing you do, the more cases you find. But this ain't going to butter any parsnips in the EU's capitals. Or not the northern ones anyway.

Malta: Despite being moved to the Green List, the island has announced new travel restrictions for British holidaymakers. possibly the first but certainly not the last.

Cosas de España/Galiza

I trained down to Madrid yesterday afternoon. During the 6 hour trip, we had 3 different announcers, all giving the messages in both Spanish and English. But so rapidly that I caught just a few words in Spanish and almost none in what passed for 'English'. I did understand the Gallego of the first 2-3 hours but this was because it came from a recording.

Despite living in Spain for 15 years, my daughter's still sufficiently Anglo that, this morning, we virtually ran through Madrid's (hot) streets to avoid being late for a meeting of my grandson's playgroup at an entrance of the beautiful Retiro park. We did arrive 5 minutes late but it was another 20 before enough mothers had arrived to justify going further into the park. And one or two joined us more than 30 minutes later.

My daughter and I have both  noticed a lot of German accents in Madrid right now. Probably a lot more in Majorca, as they've been free to travel here for quite some time now. Despite the city's high incidence of Covid cases.

The EU

Is it actually doing a good job of convincing residual Remainers that it's a club the UK shouldn't want to be a member of??

Finally  . . .

It's quite possible that you believe the fruit in the Garden of Eden was an apple. It wasn't; it was 'fruit of the tree of knowledge'. Renaissance painters took to representing this as an apple. And Eve as a harlot.

Note: If you’ve arrived here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try this.