Friday, September 26, 2008
Double parking in Galicia
Although hardly ever seen in the UK, USA and elsewhere, the concept of double parking – and that means leaving and locking your car for several minutes whilst going somewhere – is alive and well in Galicia.
On many occasions it beggars belief as car after car lines up and traps those “legally” parked in their legitimate spaces. This is often compounded by parking on zebra crossings, disabled spaces and, of course, in front of drives and entry ramps to apartment car parks.
So what is the typical Galician’s attitude to this? Well it is pretty consistent.
If you are the perpetrator of this act, then you clearly have no problem with it. But equally those who find themselves blocked in (and forced to wait for the driver of an illegally parked vehicle) by this act, seem only slightly irritated.
It is also amazing to see that the driver causing the problem is frequently doing little other than talking to someone whilst the “blocked in” driver is visibly waiting within his or her view. Naturally, this does not prompt any action, or indeed an apology when the trapped car is finally released.
As for police action, this is rarely seen! The local police simply ignore double parked cars. I guess that issuing a ticket would cause paperwork and possibly upset a friend who knows the person behind the double parking, so it just goes by unnoticed.
Obviously this has to go down as a low level of civil disobedience, but ultimately it does no real harm, causes only minor disruption and frankly no one gives a wotsit about it. A guess that one of the great traits of the Galicians is that they can always see that, in the greater scheme of thing, something like double parking simply does not register on the scale.
Have I double parked whilst in Galicia? You bet I have.
On many occasions it beggars belief as car after car lines up and traps those “legally” parked in their legitimate spaces. This is often compounded by parking on zebra crossings, disabled spaces and, of course, in front of drives and entry ramps to apartment car parks.
So what is the typical Galician’s attitude to this? Well it is pretty consistent.
If you are the perpetrator of this act, then you clearly have no problem with it. But equally those who find themselves blocked in (and forced to wait for the driver of an illegally parked vehicle) by this act, seem only slightly irritated.
It is also amazing to see that the driver causing the problem is frequently doing little other than talking to someone whilst the “blocked in” driver is visibly waiting within his or her view. Naturally, this does not prompt any action, or indeed an apology when the trapped car is finally released.
As for police action, this is rarely seen! The local police simply ignore double parked cars. I guess that issuing a ticket would cause paperwork and possibly upset a friend who knows the person behind the double parking, so it just goes by unnoticed.
Obviously this has to go down as a low level of civil disobedience, but ultimately it does no real harm, causes only minor disruption and frankly no one gives a wotsit about it. A guess that one of the great traits of the Galicians is that they can always see that, in the greater scheme of thing, something like double parking simply does not register on the scale.
Have I double parked whilst in Galicia? You bet I have.
Labels: double parking, Galicia
