Galicia Spain

Sir John Moore

2012-02-13T11:44:00.001Z

As correctly answered by Mike the Traditionalist, Sir John Moore was the man I referred to in the last post and you can find out more about him (and the poem that Mike refers to) here - http://www.galiciaguide.com/John-moore.html.

Moore is famous, as far as the French and Spaniards are concerned, for his role in the battle of Elvina, however he is also largely cited as the man who invented the concept of the “light infantry”. This perhaps makes him more significant in terms of world history.

Back to the present and my puzzle for this week is as follows.

In the city of Pontevedra there are many attractive squares and nearly all have a name of some significance. One in particular is called the Prazo do Teucro (square of Teucro).

What is the significance of this square’s name, i.e. to whom does it refer, and who was the “claimed” famous brother of this person?

On to other things and a contact that I have in the commercial aviation world believes that Ryanair have no intentions of reviving the Liverpool to Santiago de Composteal flight route – now or in the future. This is a great shame and also one that seems to make no commercial sense as the flights were largely full on all of my trips with them.

Again one has to suspect that the Xunta have created so many problems for non Spanish carriers that the budget airlines simply cannot be bothered with all of the hassle. Regrettably this is Galicia’s loss and a loss to all of the bars, hotels and other small businesses who now miss out on overseas tourism and the money that it brings in. But that argument has never carried any weight with the Xunta.

Filey

2012-02-06T11:14:00.001Z

The answer to my last question was in fact the coastal town of Filey, just south of Scarborough.

Going back a hundred years and beyond it was a significant fishing town and, although many of the boats harboured in Scarborough, they were registered and sailed by Filey fishermen. Exactly how the trade with northern Spain came about I do not know, but it was by all accounts a very buoyant and financially worthwhile exchange and one that went on for decades.

This weeks question, and I hope it is not one that I have asked before, is connected with the city of la Coruna.

La Coruna has a lot of history associated with the British, most connected with battles, invasions and war. This one is no different, except for that fact that for once the Spanish and British were on the same side fighting a common enemy, the French.

In one particular battle, that of Elvina, a British soldier gained fame and a lasting place in the history of la Coruna for his exploits. He was interned on a hill overlooking the bay and is perhaps more famous in la Coruna than his native Scotland.

After all of that the question is, what was his name?
A second question could also be, what else was he famous for in military circles?

Capela da Virxe Peregrina

2012-01-24T16:52:00.000Z

In answer to my last question, the name of the church is Capela da Virxe Peregrina, often referred to in English as the pilgrims church, and it is found in the centre of Ponteverda in the aptly named Square of the Pilgrim (a rough translation!)

The church is small, round in plan and very much in the category of what the English would probably describe as a folly.

I was contacted a couple of days ago about the development or expansion of the marina at Muros to which I must admit to having absolutely no knowledge at all. If anyone does know what is, or has been, developed there I would be grateful if they could let me know.

On to this week’s question and I think that it is time to move away from religion and churches to something else.

The answer to this week’s question is something that some Galicians will no doubt disagree with, however it is correct and log books, details of catches landed and sold verify the fact.

The question is:

A dried cod which can be cooked in milk, water or stock is very popular across Galicia. However if you go back one to two centuries ago, much of this cod was not caught and dried in Spain, but actually in Britain and the greater volume of it came from what was once a port on the English north east coast. What is the name of this town (former port) and/or the much larger town (soon to be a city) next door to it.

The answer may surprise anyone who is familiar with this town, so when I give the answer next week I will add some facts about the place and its former fishing status.

Compostela

2012-01-18T18:20:00.000Z

The answer to the last question was the “Compostela”.

It is picked up from the Pilgrims office in Santiago de Compostela after completion and examination of the Pilgrim’s Passport (Credencial) which is stamped at various stopping points along the way.

These days it is only necessary to walk the last 100km in order to qualify for the Compostela and you can even get one by travelling on a horse, or cycling the last 200km.

This weeks question is in keeping with the same theme as the one asked previously. One of the cities in Galicia has a famous little church that is synonymous with the pilgrimage. The thing that sets this church aside is that it is actually round.

Question - What is the name of the church and importantly where is it (i.e. which city)?

I am back to providing random links to other websites, in this case one in yet another locality in Spain, namely Barcelona - http://www.barcelonaweekendbreak.net/.

First question of 2012

2012-01-10T18:37:00.000Z

A detailed answer to my last tester can be found in the comments section and, with little free time on my hands, I will allow anyone interested to get the response from there.

Ongoing work on our house is making time a scarce commodity. I am spending part of my days working and perhaps even more time decorating and sorting out problems. Hopefully the work will come to an end some time soon and then normality will return.

In the meantime, Happy New Year to any readers and here is the next question, albeit a week or so later than intended.

I watched the very disappointing Martin Sheen film, The Way, over the Christmas break. I would certainly not encourage anyone else to sit through two hours of this nonsense, however my question is prompted by the film.

What is the name of the certificate awarded to anyone successfully completing their own Camino de Santiago?

No clues – it is too easy.

Pelayo

2011-12-20T14:30:00.000Z

The ongoing building work taking place at our house has prevented me from blogging over the course of this last week, but things are finally coming to an end, so hopefully I can get back to normality.

Anyway, the answer to my last teaser was a king called Pelayo (you can find out more about him here - http://www.asturiasguide.com/Covadonga-pelayo.html.)

In short he was the leader who started the fight back against the muslims in the north of Spain and he is celebrated in festivals, with statues etc. Probably the best statue of him is at Covadonga next to an impressive church in the hills near the start of the Picos de Europa. There is a photo of it on the page linked to above.

This weeks question is a seasonal one.

Santa Claus and many other things that we do and celebrate in the UK and the USA are particular to us (and of course the Germans and Austrians), however in may other countries things are different and Spain is one example.

So, my question is based around the opening of what we call Christmas presents which tend, in Britain at least, to be opened on Christmas Day. In Spain the equivalent to Christmas present are opened on a different day. So my question is:

Which day is it and what is the significance of this day?

I want the date and the reason behind that date, i.e. its significance.

Have a Good Christmas.

Picos de Europa

2011-12-07T08:49:00.002Z

The answer to the last post is the Picos de Europa mountain range that runs through the inland part of Asturias, particularly the eastern section. It is quite a sight and, once you escape the industrial parts of Asturias, the scenery is nothing short of breathtaking.

There is also a lot of history connected with this part of Spain. It was never conquered by the Islamic Moors and it was from Cavadonga and Cangas de Onis that the Reconquista (re-conquest) of Spain was started. The Spanish (probably Visigoths back then) were greatly out numbered, but they defeated the muslims and this was the start of a 700 year long quest to rid Spain of Islam and take control back of their own country. Obviously they were successful.

Numerous festivals celebrate this event, a number of them in some quite brilliant ways, however to describe these would no doubt breach political correctness here in britain.

At the inception of what was to become the Reconquista, a now famous king led a group of soldiers, farmers and fishermen into battle against the moors and my question for this week is:

What is the name of this king?

There are numerous statues of him, one at the stunning monastery at Cavadonga where he is said to be interned. (This is definitely a place worth visiting if you spend any time in Asturias).

Briefly back to the UK and I am amazed at how little news coverage the London Olympics seems to be getting – not that I am complaining. However it is unusual that it is not continually mentioned on the TV and in the press when it is so close. It just makes you wonder if we are about to make an enormous cock up of it and therefore the powers that be are trying to keep the lowest profile possible

Witches of Lugo

2011-11-29T12:02:00.000Z

Lugo has for some reason managed to get an association with the occult and primarily witches and wizards.

So the answer to last week’s question was “witches”.

If you wonder around the city of Lugo you will often see someone dresses up as a witch, often hoping to get a financial gain in the way of euros dropped into a plate or basket. How the association started I do not know, nor have I been able to find out by asking locals, so if you have any ideas please let me know. It is always fascinating to find out the origin of these traditions.

This week

For this week’s question I am going to jump out of Galicia and into neighbouring Asturias, just north and east of Galicia.

Galicia really is a beautiful region, but if anything Asturias is even better, at least when it comes to mountainous inland scenery. So based on that personal opinion here is my question.

Asturias is famous for a mountain range. It is popular with walkers and climbers alike and one of the many walks on, around, or over, part of this range is considered to be in the top ten most scenic walks in the world.

What is the name of this mountain range?

There are no clues as none should be needed.

If you ever get a chance to travel in Asturias I recommend it. The coastal road is very scenic and the cities of Oviedo and Aviles are good to explore (Gyjon less so – in my opinion). However, be aware that this area has an industrial economy as well as a farming one and that mining and smelting iron take place in the areas close to the major cities. These areas are far from scenic, but they represent the industrial side of Spain. If you avoid them and go to the likes of Cangas de Onis and Cavadonga (I hope that I got the spelling right) you cannot go wrong.

Castro de Santa Tegra

2011-11-24T16:03:00.001Z

The answer to last weeks question was Castro de Santa Tegra just above a Guarda.

Apparently this castro has been around for over 2000 years and in terms of its completeness, and the fact that you can easily view it from above, it is one of the best that I have seen. There is also one of the units that has been re-roofed to give a feel for how it was in its hey day.

If you want to find out more take a look here http://www.galiciaguide.com/Castro-de-Santa-Tegra.html. You can also get some info about the town of a Guarda. Unfortunately when I was last there the weather was pretty poor, but on a good day the hills above the castro afford an impressive view.

This weeks puzzle

Lugo has a superstition that has resulted in a particular type of mythical historic character becoming something of a mascot or icon. So much so that you will often see people dressed as them. What are they?

The clue is that there were some in “Eastwick”.

That is it for now.

For anyone interested in home saunas, here is a page from a website all about them http://www.sauna-kits.net/fitting-considerations.html

Bodegas Castro Martin

2011-11-17T20:26:00.001Z

The answer to my last and very difficult question was Bodegas Castro Martin in the province of Pontevedra.

We were very fortunate to get a guided tour around their bodega a few years ago (this is not something that they ordinarily do) and it was both interesting and educational. Their facility is nothing short of superb and the standards of hygiene and cleanliness were exemplary.

Their wines (or at least the ones that I have drunk) are, to my unsophisticated pallet, as good as they get. If you want to find out more this is their website - http://bodegascastromartin.com/. I would assume that there will be information on one of the many pages informing visitors of where they can purchase the produce of Bodegas Castro Martin in various countries.

If you want a very basic overview of Galician wine take a look here -
http://www.galiciaguide.com/Galicia-wine.html.

And so to this weeks puzzle.

Galicia has many “castros” (a general term used to describe what are believed to be Celtic settlements or sometimes forts). These things are actually all over Europe including the UK, but for some reason the Galicians make a big deal over them whilst the rest of us seem to almost ignore them.

Anyway, I find them fascinating and as a result I have visited quite a few, so my question is:

What is the name of a very large, well preserved and tourism publicised castro just outside of a Guarda?

I do not think that this question warrants any clues, so I will not offer any.

Castello de San Felipe

2011-11-08T18:40:00.002Z

The answer to last weeks question was:

The “Castello de San Felipe”

located close to the city of Ferrol.

I found this coastal fortress interesting to visit and, although low lying and somewhat sprawling, it was on quite a large scale. Our enjoyment was somewhat tainted by poor weather with constant showers, but even so it was well worth the visit and we even got a mini guide book in English – a novelty in Galicia.

Whilst I have nothing against Ferrol itself, I would never suggest that a tourist use up valuable time visiting this small city, however the castle is a different proposition. If you want some additional information about it take a look at this page http://www.galiciaguide.com/Castello-de-San-Felipe.html.

And so to my next question which is both difficult and certainly not common knowledge.

Galicia, and particularly the southern area of the region, is famous for the Albarino wine which is quite superb. Not surprisingly there are many bodegas that produce this wine, however to my knowledge at least there is only one that is run by an Englishman.

So what is the name of the Galician bodega that is run/managed by an Englishman?

The clues are that it is in Pontevedra, it has a connection with my name (although not me) and it is probably the most highly regarded bodega in the region exporting its produce to discerning wine drinkers all over the world. I believe that they even supplied wine to the Concorde flights when they were still operating (although I may be wrong). Oh, and the owner has a site blog in English.

Answer in my next post.

A Good Galicia website and a Galicia video

2011-11-04T17:42:00.001Z

I am not actually giving the answer to my last question in this post, so anyone interested in that information will have to call back next week when the answer will be provided.

What I am doing is bringing to the attention of anyone interested in Galicia two sites.

The first I have mentioned several times before, but it deserves periodic referrals because it is so good and so interesting to anyone thinking of moving to Galicia.

The url is http://www.visitgalicia.co.uk and the site is an interesting and ongoing diary of the experiences gained whilst living in Galicia and trying to renovate one of the traditional old farm houses. Numerous daily events are mentioned and it will give anyone considering taking on the same challenge a feel for everything from the bureaucracy of Spain to the challenges of getting reliable workmen. Have a look at it.

The second url is for a video made by a guy in Florida who sent me the link yesterday. When I checked out his website it would appear that he really knows what he is doing, as indicated by a photo of him receiving a film making award from John Travolta no less. Anyway, the short video is something that he put together after a recent trip to Galicia and I think that he sums the region up beautifully. Watch and enjoy http://vimeo.com/27804082.

My next post will have the answer to my question of a couple of days ago – as long as I can remember what it is!

Catoira

2011-11-01T21:52:00.001Z

I have just read the question that I posted the other day and for a few seconds I could not remember what I was thinking about or what the answer actually was. Fortunately my memory has started to function again and the question and the answer are now back in my consciousness.

The location is the tower ruins at Catoira and the festival is one that involves Viking long boats and a bit of play acting. A large number of people visit this fiesta and there are many stalls – most selling food, alcohol or trinkets, and a lot of hippy types (at least when we were there).

The ruins (you can see and read about them here - http://www.galiciaguide.com/Catoira-towers.html) are actually pretty good, but you are best advised to visit them outside of the festival period when you will almost certainly have the place to yourself. The one downside is that a road bridge runs parallel to and almost next to the ruins – pretty bad planning. Anyway, click on the link to find out more.

This week’s question

I have only ever been to Ferrol once and, whilst it is a perfectly acceptable town/city, it is not somewhere that I would recommend anyone to travel out of their way to visit. That said, just down the road from Ferrol there is a massive low lying castle which (in my opinion) is worth taking a look at.

The question is, what is the name of this castle close to Ferrol?

The only clue that I will give is to add that it is on the coast and that it protects one of the rias.

Daniel Alfonso Rodriguez Castelao

2011-10-27T09:08:00.000Z

My very delayed follow up to may last post is here.

In the question that I previously posed I asked who the godfather of everything Galician was.

The answer is a man called Daniel Alfonso Rodriguez Castelao who is strongly associated with the town of Rianxo where you can see a statue of him along with the house that he once occupied.

Different people have very different views of Rodriguez Castelao. Many see him as the instigator of the nationalist movement in Galicia and those who promote this cause view him as an inspirational figure. Here is a little bit of information about him - http://www.galiciaguide.com/Rianxo-galicia-town.html.

In truth I do not know enough about him to form a view about his political goals and ambitions, however I do know that he was keen to promote the Galician identity and everything, from the lifestyle to the language, that is associated with it.

Next question

This is a slightly more involved question and it relates to an event, a castle and a festival that has developed around a particular location.

What I want is to know the name of a place in Galicia where there are the remains of a castle and an annual festival (held by the river adjacent to the castle) that has Viking long boats renacting a past event. It is a big fiesta in Galicia and attracts a lot of people and numerous stands selling everything from mementoes to food and drink.

Answer in my next post.

Rosalia de Castro

2011-10-05T20:25:00.000Z

The answer to the last question was the author and poet Rosalia de Castro and there is a museum in her former house in Padron. The guide who was there the last time that we visited speaks very good English and will happily take English speakers to one side and translate his Spanish commentary into English.

The museum mixes examples of Castro’s work with originally furnished rooms to offer a feel for how the author lived and the literary works that she produced. The museum is just outside of the main town, i.e. no more than a 5 minute walk. There is ample free parking across Padron. If you want to find out more you can do so from this page http://www.galiciaguide.com/Padron-galicia-castro.html.

This weeks question is concerned with another famous Galician and in this instance the man in question is regarded as the father of all things gallego. His was a staunch nationalist (seeing Galicia as a nation) and one of the people from whom those who now argue for a Galician state take their inspiration. Whether or not those aspirations are ones that he would have shared is another question and one for others (not me) to debate.

As for a clue – he had connections with the town of Rianxo on the coast. I will say no more.

Black Jet

2011-09-22T18:05:00.001Z

The semi precious stone about which I was asking in my last post was of course black Jet. It is found in narrow seams in and around both Santiago de Compostela and the Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby. You can find out a little bit more on this page - http://www.galiciaguide.com/Santiago-plazas.html.

Interestingly, to me at least, when I was in Whitby back in May I bought my wife some jewellery from one of the specialist shops in Whitby. The owner and crafter was as it turned out quite famous in his line of work and, when he found out about our Santiago connection, he told us about an international meeting of jet cutters in Santiago some years back that he had attended. Apparently the Jet from both Whitby and Santiago is of a quality found nowhere else.

Another question

Galicia, and to be precise the town of Padron, is famous throughout Spain and the Spanish speaking world because of its connections with a female author. She was in fact a poet and her prose are even more popular now than they were during her lifetime. Her story is an interesting and also, ultimately, a sad one and there is a museum all about her in Padron.

So, what is her name?

Answer in my next post.

Finally, Galicia has had one of its driest summers on record. The result, aside from a good sun tan, has been an increasing number of forest fires. It is interesting though that the damage to land and the loss of life has been much lower this time round than in the past. It would seem that the way in which these fires are dealt with and the evacuation of human beings has improved as the experience of the forest fire problem has increased.

Saint Jean Pied-de-Port

2011-09-14T15:26:00.001Z

My posts seem to be getting ever more sparse. The reason, or excuse, is a mix of work and home renovations which are dictating everything in my life at the moment. So, with apologies for the delay in blog posts, here is my first post of September over a months after my last one in August.

The belated answer to my last question is Saint Jean Pied-de-Port in France and more information about this town and the Camino de Santiago: French Way can be found from this link - http://www.galiciaguide.com/Stage-1.html.

This week’s question

I am trying to think up a question for this post and the thing that comes to mind is this.

Which mineral, classed as a precious stone, is Santiago de Compostela famous for?

The clue to this one is that Whitby in the UK is also famous for crafting the same stone into jewellery items. I could add even more clues, but that really would be giving the game away.

Another Camino related question

2011-08-11T10:46:00.001Z

The answer to last weeks question

The Camino that I was looking for in last weeks post was the “French Way” and the 33 stages of the main French Way total up (roughly) to around 800km or approximately 500 miles.

If you want to work out the exact “stage by stage” total I will leave that up to you. Stage distances can be found here - http://www.galiciaguide.com/Camino-history.html#stage distances.

With the exception of a single page I have finally finished the new Camino de Santiago section of Galicia Guide so, inspired by that, I will ask another “Way of St. James” related question for this weeks challenge.

This week’s question

The Camino does of course conclude at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. However, where (i.e. in which town) does the French Camino actually start?

Again I am looking for the starting point of the “main” French Way, i.e. the point at which some of the other tributaries to the French Camino meet up and then continue along a consistent route to their final destination.

Clue – the town in question is on the banks of the river Nive.

Ribeira - Finisterre

2011-08-04T17:53:00.002Z

Since I started asking Galicia related questions my blog seems to have been “picked up” by a number of different sites who are sending me an increasing number of visitors. Whether this is good or bad I have yet to decide. It certainly increases my traffic count, but it is also sometimes resulting in my blog (or at least part of it) being indexed on other sites before the original source. I am not too sure that I am happy about that and I may opt out of the blogger syndication system.

Anyway, for the time being I will leave things as they are and move on to the answers to the last quiz.

Last weeks question answers

The large fishing port that I was referring to is Ribeira – see: http://www.galiciaguide.com/Ribeira.html to find out more.

The coast of death town that I was looking for is Finisterre – see: http://www.galiciaguide.com/Finisterre.html for more info.

Both of the above are certainly worth a visit if you happen to be in their vicinity, however they would not be near the top of my list of places to visit in Galicia. Actually, Ribeira does have a very nice (and large) beach!

This week’s question

I started posting these questions as a result of getting hits from the google “question a day” page which asked a Camino related question. So I will go back to the Camino de Santiago for this weeks challenge.

Questions (again in two parts) - what country does the longest of the various Camino routes originate from and what is that Camino called?

How long is this Camino (approximately)?

The clue for the first one is that it is a nation followed by the word “Way”.
i.e. _____ Way.

There is no clue for the second part other than to say that, in total, it is equal to several marathons (the running distance and not the chocolate bar now known as snikers!).

That reminds me, I need to start a campaign to get the original “Marathon” bar name reinstated.

This week’s question

2011-07-31T17:35:00.001Z

Galicia is famous for its sea food and fishing - despite being almost overlooked by Rick Stein in his current TV series about Spanish food. Then again he also said that the Magpie (Whitby) serves the best fish and chips in Britain. Of course it does!!! Actually they are the worst fish and chips that I have tasted in Yorkshire. So we can safely dismiss his knowledge of seafood and fish.

So, staying with fishing, Galicia is of course the fishing capital of Spain and it has both the largest fishing port in Spain and a very infamous town in the north of the region from which many sailors embark and never return. It is know as the “coast of death”.

The questions are:

What is the large fishing port called?

And

What is the name of the famous port town on the coast of death? It has a Spanish and Gallego name.

Clues (if you need them) are:

The answer to the first question begins with the letter “R”

The answer to the second question is the same town that is frequently and wrongly described as the most north westerly point of mainland Europe.

Answers in my next post.

Noia

2011-07-29T20:49:00.000Z

It has taken me a while to get back to this blog, mainly because I have been working on formatting and uploading the 33 stage French Camino route which Maria has been working on for the last two years. I will get on to that in a minute, but first the answer to last week’s question:

Answer = Noia (or Noya as it is known outside of Galicia)

It is the town that my wife originates from and it still has the original Bishop’s palace (really just a large town house) plus the Saint Martin church with its famous and much photographed portico in the Tapal square.

Going back to the new Camino section of Galicia Guide, I have now uploaded the Camino stages, but still have the supportive pages to put up. This will probably take me another couple of weeks and, all told, it will be the biggest single addition to Galicia Guide for a few years.

The main index page for this section is - http://www.galiciaguide.com/Camino-de-Santiago.html, however links to many of the pages (other than History section and French route stages 1 to 33) are currently dead.

I will try to post another Galicia related question here over the next few days – time permitting!

Padron question: The answer

2011-07-15T19:58:00.001Z

My last questions were connected with the Galician town called Padron and, on reflection, the first question might have been answered in two ways – but that is, for the clue that I offered.

The actual answer to Q1 was pimientos de Padron, also known in some circles as Russian Roulette.

For those who have not heard of them, they are small green peppers that look somewhat like chilli peppers, but (in most cases) they have less of “a bite”. They are fried in oil and sprinkled with salt, then eaten with bread and wine. Most are peppery and tasty, however the occasional one is very hot. Incidentally, the way that “idiot celebrity chefs” in the UK prepare them on TV is of course completely wrong and utterly ridiculous.

The other thing that Padron is famous for is it large open air market, however that was not the answer that I was looking for.

The answer to Q2 was Iria Flavia (if I remembered to spell it correctly). This was Padron’s Roman name in the time of Saint James and you can even visit the exact spot where St. James preached. It is just outside of Padron’s new town.

This week’s question is also connected with religion and concerns the Arch Bishop.

Question - Today, Santiago de Compostela is the seat of the Bishop, but that was not always the case. If you go back in time the seat of the Bishop in Galicia was in a small seaport. What is it called?

Clue: This town has a connection with me, so it should be easy to figure out using this blog – however that would be cheating.

Stations of the Cross

2011-07-11T22:04:00.001Z

I have been a bit slow in posting the answer to my last pictorial question, however, better late than never.

The picture showed a series of crosses with a path running along side them and my clues were that it was in the south of Galicia and that it had, or was, close to somewhere of tourist interest.

The photo actually shows what I believe translates to the “Stations of the Cross” and it is located at Santa Tegra close to a Guarda. The tourism (and also historical) connection is that there is a large and popular Celtic castro at this same location and there is quite a large (and surprisingly tacky) collection of stalls and shops at the summit of the hill where both are situated. A tough question to get right if you have never seen the sight in question.

This weeks question is hopefully easier and again it comes in two parts. Both are connected with the modern town of Padron.

Q1 – What is Padron famous for?

Q2 – Padron, or the old site of Padron, was a preaching ground for Saint James. However, the area had a different Roman name in those times. What was it?

Clues

Q1 - The answer is delicious with crusty bread and white wine. It is also seasonal!

Q2 – You need to go back in time a couple of thousand years.

Answers in my next post.

The sea inside

2011-06-30T09:14:00.003Z

Since I am short on time and have little to write about concerning events in Galicia, I will continue with the theme from my last blog, namely setting a question.

So, to start off with, here are the answers to my questions posed in the last blog:

Movie: The sea inside (Mar adentro)

Town: Boiro

This blog's question

This time my question is one of a pictorial nature and it comes thanks to Angela who came across a photo that she wanted me to try and identify.

You can see the photo to the right and the question is: what is it and where is it?

It took me a lot of figuring out and anyone who can get the answer correct deserves a pat on the back. In truth the only reason that I could identify the site was because I had once passed it and happened upon a similar photo that I had taken.

If you want some clues, here they are.

It is in Southern Galicia.

It is in an area of tourist and historical interest.

Good luck.

Galicia challenge

2011-06-27T12:10:00.001Z

Following on from the google a day puzzle of last week that gave me so many hits on topics like “Galicia cathedral”, “Santiago cathedral” and the like, I though that I would introduce my own regular blog challenge concerning a place, fact or question about Galicia. On each occasion I will post the answer in the next blog, so there is no need to email me for the answer. I will try to cover a diverse range of topics, so there will be no common theme beyond Galicia itself.

To start off - Since films about Galicia, e.g. the Martin Sheen one about travelling on the Camino, get made from time to time, I thought that I would start with a movie challenge.

Question:

The question is a double one, namely what it the name of the film and in which Galician town was it based.

Clues:

It was about a paraplegic, his legal quest for voluntary euthanasia and it stared an actor called Javier Bardem. It is a very good film and well worth the watch. There is an English sub-titled version doing the rounds and in the UK it occasionally gets aired on Film 4.

Finding the name of the film should not be too taxing, however finding out where the main character (in this true story) lived is slightly more challenging.

The answer will be in may next post.

Google-a-day puzzle - 23 June 2011

2011-06-23T20:46:00.000Z

As a result of the “Google-a-day” puzzle (for today), my Galicia Guide website has had an all time record number of people having hits on the Santiago cathedral pages - all coming from their searches for “Cathedral Galicia” or similar terms.

Top marks to the person setting this clever question/riddle as it combines general interest, religion, geography and a past and present historical event in the form of a pilgrimage. It also sets the focus on a part of Spain normally omitted from everything mainstream.

Here is the google page in question - http://agoogleaday.com/#date=2011-06-23.

Hopefully it will ignite the interest of some website visitors to explore Galicia in greater detail and maybe also to take a look at the Martin Sheen movie about the Camino.

The answer to the riddle is of course St. James (or for that matter any modern day or past day pilgrim) and the route referred to is the Camino de Santiago.

Incidentally, a week ago a British TV property show also looked at buying a home in Galicia, so perhaps there is a bit of northern Spanish promotion going on at the moment.

My 400th post to this blog

2011-06-16T19:25:00.001Z

Interestingly, I had my first really offensive blog comment for some time at the beginning of this week. Thanks to the sender as it did make me laugh.

Anyone who has a blog about any country or region will have received these from time to time and in this case it came from someone claiming to be a Galician nationalist. I will not offend (or more likely bore) anyone with the comments and abuses that were made, however I must complement the sender on their excellent written English and, in particular, their ability to use expletives in the perfect context. As will always be the case, I do not allow these comments to be published, so anyone writing them does so for their own amusement rather than to gain any kind of readership on my blog.

Fortunately such comments do not reflect Galicia or the typical Galician who is normally friendly, polite and in my experience welcoming of foreigners.

Talking to a Galician friend yesterday, I asked about the season for pimientos de Padron. I had always been under the impression that they became available in late May and that the final pickings were in September. Apparently, with the advent of poly tunnels, the season has now been extended in both directions and you can get them from April through to October. That’s seven months out of the year. I only wish that they were as readily and cheaply available here in the UK where the climate is equally ideal for them. In previous years my wife’s father has grown them in the UK, but this year, knowing that he would be in Galicia when they would need harvesting, he has decided not to bother!

Finally, I see that the movie website (see page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441912/) gives Martin Sheen’s “The Way” 7.1 out of 10 based on 27 critics reviews. This would seem to be a fairly positive endorsement.

If you are taking a cruise covering the Med and Northern Europe you may have a port of call in one of the Galician ports. To find out more visit this link http://www.galiciaguide.com/Cruise-galicia.html.

A few thoughts

2011-06-15T15:15:00.002Z

I decided to check out some of the links on this blog the other day, only to discover that a few of them were dead and some others had not been posted on for some time. I guess this is a result of either recession cutbacks or bloggers losing interest in posting.

I have now tidied the links up and corrected one link that was incorrect.

In any event it did result in me updating myself with the latest events taking place at http://www.visitgalicia.co.uk and this is a read that I would recommend to anyone considering buying and renovating a property in northern Spain.

Leading on from this - I have occasionally had emails regarding what to do when buying a house in Spain, particularly with reference to ensuring that everything is conveyed correctly. The Spanish system is of course very different to the UK and USA and it can result in numerous problems if good legal advice is not taken.

Talking to someone the other day (who has gone through this process), their recommendation was not to use a Spanish solicitor (even an English speaking one), but rather to use a UK based practice.

They assured me that this did not incur any additional cost and that further, the liability of the solicitor was secured under UK law and not that of Spain. They were also convinced that, in the event of a problem (which there was not), they could rest the blame on the UK solicitor and that the British court system would solve it promptly. By contrast getting a court case and legally placing the burden of responsibility on a Spanish based solicitor was something that they did not feel was practical. An interesting and quite probably accurate view point.

Of course in most instances this situation is academic as the sale goes through without a hiccup, however when there are problems they are usually big ones and they seem to be of the kind that do not occur in other territories.

In all instances the golden rule is "buyer beware".

The Camino, the Galician economy & getting to Galicia

2011-05-26T10:13:00.003Z

Several years ago my wife told me that she would write a step by step guide to the main Camino de Santiago, namely the route that runs from France to Santiago de Compostela, also know as the French Way.

From that time to the last couple of weeks I have been able to moan, complain and ridicule her seeming lack of progress.

However the whole thing is now complete and it runs to 33 stages and tens of thousands of words. It would seem that the pressure is now on me to look at ways of setting it out in an easily accessible way and then transferring all of the content from word documents to html pages. At a first glance I am wondering if it may be several years before I have transcribed the whole thing onto the website. Next time I ask her to undertake such a mammoth project I will encourage her to take her time and deliver it to me bit by bit.

A friend with a business in Pontevedra tells me that the heat wave there continues with temperatures getting as high as 33 degrees centigrade. Unseasonably hot for the time of year and, with a lack of rain, it could be that the forest fires start early this year!

The same friend also tells me that the economic situation, as it is experienced by people on the ground and not those basing views on newspaper reports, is getting worse. Several of her acquaintances who were fully employed professionals up to a couple of years ago are now grateful for part time work and short term contracts. In addition, many are even prepared to travel some distance for such opportunities – very unusual in Galicia where a 10 km journey to work is considered almost unreasonable.

Perhaps the most exasperating aspect of this recession in Spain is the apparent busyness of the cafes and bars from lunchtime onwards. This gives the misleading impression that things are buoyant, people are relaxed and that there is always money for a coffee or a glass of wine.

The reality is that the people seen indulging in this café culture activity are primarily local government employees of which every city, town and village has an abundance. Once the short working morning is concluded these bureaucrats retreat to their favourite bars and cafes where they indulge themselves in casual conversation for the remainder of the day. Not a bad life, but one that is at the expense of those employed in the commercial world and the tax payers of the EU’s contributor nations of which we (the UK) are one.

I have mentioned a couple of times that my websites about Galicia are in fact experiencing record visitor levels at the moment. However the relationship between visitors and interest in holiday arrangements is a very loose one right now and it would seem that browsing rather than making firm plans is the name of the game. Having said that the same friend mentioned above, who runs a tour company in Galicia, has actually had to turn some business away because of double bookings and high enquiry levels. Hopefully things are showing an upturn when it comes to the tourist industry.

For those interested in Galicia’s largest and most prosperous city Vigo, here is an entry page that will allow you to explore it in more detail - http://www.galiciaguide.com/Vigo-index.html. Vigo is not renown for its beauty or architecture, but with its newly found status as a popular cruise stop-off it is seeing increasing tourism and this is probably why its small medieval district has been spruced up over recent years.

Finally, I have been looking at the ferry and car option as a way of getting to Galicia rather than going down the Ryanair and hire car route. At the moment I am trying to determine the feasibility of each option with the former being cheaper, but also adding (over the course of a 3 week break) well over 2,000 miles to the clock. I will probably do a post about this over the next week or two and add useful links for anyone interested.

Euro Song Contest

2011-05-16T14:22:00.001Z

I mentioned some weeks ago that Spain’s Eurovision Song Contest entry was sung by a Galician lady and yesterday saw the big event itself.

The song faired somewhat poorly (to say the least) and whilst both Colin Davies and my wife liked it, I thought it firstly: pretty poor and secondly: not in the mould of current winners. That said, it was superior to the UK’s Blue entry and in a different class to the embarrassing Jedwood. How does that rubbish pass as entertainment and are Jedwood really male, they look and sound like very effeminate girls to me.

Staying on the Eurovision song contest I was, until a few years ago, under the impression that this event still had some status in Spain. That was until I asked my wife to enquire about the views that her Spanish family had on it during a “big” Sunday lunch. The response did not come in words, but rather laughter. They appear to consider it every bit as much of a joke as we do – or at least those in the young to mid life age range.

Interestingly I have noticed a significant increase in traffic to my Galicia related websites. In fact visitor levels are, for the moment at least, back to the 2008 highs (when Ryanair were flying there from 3 UK airports). Whether or not this will translate to more tourists for the region is another matter, but it is unusual that interest in the region seems higher now that during the 2010 Jubilee year.

A week away

2011-05-01T13:59:00.001Z

My visitor stats tell me that my "fair weather" readers have now left me in droves following the return of Colin Davies and his daily Galician blog.

At one point in January I was getting 70 to 80 readers per day which is pretty impressive for any blog, but I am now back to a quarter of that amount.

Thanks to the few who loyal readers who remain.

In truth I am not all that disappointed by the change. Firstly, it signals Colin’s return and secondly, it takes the pressure off me to try and make at least a couple of posts per week – this has always been challenging in more ways than one. So, with the status quo returned I will feel no pressure to try and write when, in reality, I may have nothing to say or write about.

So, with that short observation out of the way, I will sign off for the next week as I venture off to the East coast of Yorkshire (specifically Filey) for the next 6 days. We will be staying in what sounds like a very impressive little house in the centre of the town and no doubt exploring the surrounding coast and countryside. I hope that the weather remains good and that today's strong wind abates.

Friends in Galicia

2011-04-24T14:52:00.002Z

I inadvertently posted this on the wrong blog the other day and I have only just picked up on the fact. So here is what should have been my blog from last week.

Between my wife and myself we have been in contact with various friends who are residents of Galicia over the last few weeks and, without too much to write about, I thought that I would give them a quick mention.

We have some Galician friends (M & R) in Noia who are avid cruise fans and have an excellent photographic business in the town. They are also very cosmopolitan and international in their outlook and have a very worldly view of life. This does of course contrast with many other residents of the region who have a more “regionalist” take on things. Diversity is of course a staple of any democratic society.

M & R’s business is pretty cutting edge and the first digital photo album that I ever saw was in their high street store. Even going back several years ago they were already offering photographic prints on handbags, mouse mats etc. So, as a plug for them, their website is http://fotolaser.es.

The friends that we probably see the most when we are in Galicia are also residents of Noia, however in their case they are a mix of Galician and American and we have known them for several years. They moved to Noia from Florida a few years back and for that reason we share a lot of values and cultural references with them. (I will call them J and P.)

The Galician and American mix refers to the fact that J is American, but with a Galician father, and P is Galician, but spent most of his working life in the USA. P, despite being Spanish, also talks with an American accent and uses lots of USA colloquialisms that I usually only hear on US TV shows and they sound great in everyday conversation.

Aside from the fact that we go out for dinner and entertain each other from our respective Galician residences, we also bump into one another on a near daily basis, so they become our most social friends when we are in and around Noia.

Moving further a field another couple, Rose Marie and Vicente who run a tour guide company called Galicia Mystic Tours (http://www.toursofgalicia.net), are residents of Pontevedra and we always try to visit them when we are in the region.

They moved to Galicia from Canada and their tour business has received accolades from customers and travel experts for its unique way of presenting the region, its culture and special features like the Rias Baixas.

Both of them are incredibly enthusiastic about not just Galicia, but life generally, and we always feel like we have had an injection of positivity after we have been in their company.

Our other big friend in Galicia is of course fellow blogger Colin Davies and I had the great pleasure of Colin’s company on Monday of this week. As ever, Colin was in great form and we talked for some three and a half hours about everything from the British school system (if it can still be called that) to events in Galicia.

Interestingly, one of the subjects that Colin and myself discussed was the need for a qualified solicitor when buying property in the region and this page - http://www.galiciaproperty.net/solicitor.html, will give you some additional information about this.

Any prospective buyer should be aware that there are a number of property agents in Galicia who will do anything that they can to dissuade buyers and sellers from taking legal advice and you should avoid these people like the plague. They have only one motivation, i.e. to push the sale through at all costs and leave you to pick up the pieces later. An honest estate agent will have no problem with a client using a solicitor (although you should never use a solicitor suggested by the seller or their agent).

Because of economic circumstances, Maria and myself made the decision not to go to Galicia last year and, as a result, Monday was the first time that Colin and myself have been able to sit in the sun and enjoy a café con leche (although in Colin’s case without the leche) since late summer 2009.

It is amazing how the memories and even the mood and atmosphere of Galicia seem close enough to touch once you start talking about them and recalling past events and experiences. It made me realise that, despite circumstances, our choice not to go to Galicia last year was a bad one. We will not be deterred by economic ups and downs when making our holiday plans this year.

The return of a friend

2011-04-10T11:57:00.000Z

A number of people have emailed me about Colin Davies and his recent break from blogging. Well he is now back, so please visit his blog at:

http://colindavies.blogspot.com/

Allariz - Ourense

2011-04-08T16:16:00.001Z

Annoying complications with root canal work and a crown have meant that I have not felt like writing a blog for the last couple of weeks. Indeed my suffering is now set to continue until 9th May after my dentist removed all of her previous prepping work to leave the tooth and roots open. This should apparently sort the problem out! Eating is now even more fun than before.

I have very little to write about at the moment, but I would again advise anyone considering a Galician trip to go over there over the next couple of months. April and May see the region at its beautiful best and, better still, it is almost deserted.

With nothing of current interest in mind, I thought that I would mention a town in Ourense called Allariz. Ourense is probably the least visited Galician province when it comes to overseas tourists, but it has some of the best landscapes and some beautiful towns. Allariz is one of them and, like many of the inland towns, it is rarely visited by foreigners (or even none Galician Spaniards).

It is a few years since I went to Allariz, but it is a town that starts in a valley and finishes on a hill and the old town makes up most of the buildings that bridge the two areas. It is well maintained and very Galician. The area around it is also very scenic.

At the top of the hill there is a monastery whilst at the bottom, not surprisingly, there runs a river. I particularly liked Allariz because there was no sign of any other “none Galicians” and that always makes me feel as if I am exploring new ground.

The monastery is actually nothing too special, but the winding cobbled streets of the old town definitely are and there is a picturesque café down by the river where the town starts. This is also one of the spots where there is parking.

One of the things that I particularly remember about this town was how “almost” deserted the old district was, but by contrast how busy the plateau area to one side of the monastery was. This may have been something to do with the time of day, or the day of the week, but one area was a ghost town whilst the other was packed to the rafters.

The big problem with Allariz, and most of the places in Ourense, is simply their inaccessibility. If you are based in Lugo, la Coruna, or even much of Pontevedra, Ourense somehow seems to take a long time to get through. The main road network is not great and, although the scenery makes up for this, you have to do a lot of driving in order to get your reward.

I guess that the best way to see places like Allariz would be to make one or two overnight stays in the Ourense province and plan a series of stops that take you into the area on one route and then back out on another.

For some pics see http://www.galiciaguide.com/Allariz.html.

From my sick bed

2011-03-20T20:07:00.002Z

I have been out of action with a bug of some kind over the last week or so, but with stage 3 of some dental work (including two crowns) taking place tomorrow I am trying to get going again. Hence a new, but very short, blog post.

I will start by saying that if anyone is contemplating visiting Galicia at the moment, April and May are pretty much the best times to do so. The weather is often good as Spring moves towards Summer and the scenery is at its absolute best. Everywhere is bathed in yellow from the daisies to the broom and the place is a sheet of yellow and green. There is also an absence of tourists.

I often do a news search on Galicia related topics and, increasingly, Google are throwing up everything from Wikipedia to commercial network sites in these results. All a bit annoying, but also sometimes enlightening, as in this case:

Apparently, if you have lost your job and are facing desperate times, a company called “Follow the Camino” recommend that you get yourself to Galicia and walk the Camino (with them as your tour company of course). They will provide a guided walk or bicycle tour and, because of your unfortunate circumstances, will give you a 10% discount. I guess that taking a holiday is absolutely the best thing to do if you are worried about your mortgage and bill payments. Here is their final paragraph attempting to entice those who are unemployed:
If you have lost your job in the last twelve months, and you feel you’d like to get away from it all to reflect on what you’re going to do next, Follow the Camino will offer you a 10% discount on all its basic package prices for 2011 holidays if you book by 30 June 2011.

To me this is almost on a par with the relentless loan shark and internet gambling advertisements that fill TV advertising breaks. Let’s get your money when you are down and when you can afford it the least! What the ad also fails to point out is whether you can still get the 10% discount if you have been unemployed for more than 12 months. Perhaps the offer does not apply to anyone who they class as long term unemployed.

This article - http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/03/03/bilingual-countries-like-wales-show-society-can-have-more-than-one-language-91466-28269346/, yet again using the Welsh language to support the arguments for gallego and its bilingual existence in Galicia, appears to take the same reasoning that previously suggested that two languages could not perpetually exist in a society, and turn the logic on its head to state that they can. As Colin Davies has said many times, regional languages are political issues and the same “alternative interpretation” of facts that are used in politics can be used to either support or shoot down the justification for a second tongue.

Unfortunately I will have to bring things to a close prematurely as I am seriously struggling to keep my “always limited concentration” going.

Coach Trip TV show in Galicia

2011-03-09T18:56:00.001Z

Well, I forewarned everyone about this several months ago when the TV company responsible for the Coach Trip television show got in touch with me, and yesterday and today the la Coruna and Santiago de Compostela episodes of the program went out.

(My minor connection with this)
I was contacted separately by two different people about the Galicia stops of the Coach Trip back in July last year when they were trying to come up with some regional activities for the party to have a go at. My two suggestions were playing the Galician bagpipes (which they used in la Coruna) and preparing and eating pulpo (which they obviously did not). I suspect that part of the problem with Santiago was that they arrived the day after the Saints Day when everything was winding down. This is probably why they headed off to the coast. Lucky Santiago!

If you missed the program, rest assured, you have temporarily been spared the embarrassment of seeing British people behaving badly and raucously in northern Spain. Unfortunately the bad news is that, like every episode of this show, it will be repeated dozens of times until you finally succumb to the torture.

I normally avoid Coach Trip like the plague, but naturally I had to see what they did and it really beggars belief that it is possible to find such a collection of vile people and load them all onto one coach at the same time. Regrettably the outcome is what seems to qualify as entertainment in this age of “everyone can be a celebrity” television.

So, having moaned and complained about Galicia not getting any publicity or TV coverage in the UK ,I have now got my comeuppance - Coach Trip Galicia style.

Perhaps the most telling thing about all of this is that the stats for my Galicia themed websites showed no noticeable increase in visitors as a result of the Coach Trip exposure of the region. One has to assume that the people who watch that kind of show and the people who visit places like Galicia (through choice) are very different. Thank God.

Anyway, now I have Benidorm to look forward to on Friday night, how good can TV get!

Bill Oddie, the Eurovision song contest and more

2011-03-05T20:18:00.002Z

I will start with a quick thanks to Paul for adding a comment with a link to details of the release dates for the Martin Sheen Camino based movie. The link is http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1441912/releaseinfo.

Next, moving away from Northern Spain and into the world of ornithology - Some years ago the comedian/actor/singer/song-writer/musician/ornithologist and general know it all Bill Oddy went to great lengths on one of his “bird shows” to point out that robins (i.e. the bird) never land on bird feeders. At the very time that he was saying this we had a robin in our back garden on a sun flower feeder and, as I look out of my window now, two robins are taking turns on a feeder full of fat balls. So much for the knowledge of “so called” experts attained from books rather than real life observation! Stick to the Goodies Bill.

This analogy (i.e. apparent fact versus reality) takes me on to a fact about Santiago de Compostela that has mildly irritated me for some time.

It is apparently a recorded fact that Santiago gets more rain than any other city or town in Galicia with some rainfall recorded on over 300 days every year. I have to confess that Santiago is not somewhere that I go to with any degree of regularity, however I have only ever been there in the rain on one occasion. This leads me to question whether these rainfall statistics are really correct, or whether somehow the rain only falls at night and then dries rapidly before dawn. Then again perhaps I have simply been incredibly lucky. Either way, it would seem that the rainfall must be very brief and fleeting and it makes me (at least) wonder why this apparent “wet and rainy” Santiago image is one that is promoted in some of the free tourist guide booklets. Perhaps the assumption is that tourist like rain.

I frequently refer to the comparative safety and sanity of Galicia when compared to the UK, however it would seem that la Coruna is not quite as safe as I thought – or at least its airport. Last week the coach of Real Madrid was apparently attacked by a man armed with a knife and one of his aids or bodyguards was “cut” during the same incident. It happened as the coach signed autographs in the airport. For those interested in the outcome of the real fight, i.e. Deportivo la Coruna versus Real Madrid, the final score was 0-0.

Now for some serious news. Galicia has a great honour in 2011, namely that of having a Galician born representative for Spain in the Eurovision song contest. Her name is Lucia Perez and she hails from O Inicio and her entry song is titled Que me quiten lo bailao. For those who cannot wait to hear this masterpiece here is a link to the song on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci53hGxsrUQ, you can make up your own minds as to the quality of the entry!

Finally, a bit of external reading for anyone interested in Galician shellfish and the provocative topic of the Galician language.

Galicia is of course famous for its seafood and particularly its shellfish. It is interesting therefore to read that apparently anything up to 80% of “so called” Galician mussels are in fact not from Galicia at all. Many are Chilean mussels, yet they are marked as being native to Galicia. To find out more take a look at this article http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews.asp?l=e&country=0&special=&monthyear=&day=&id=40931&ndb=1&df=0.

You can find a rather obscure article about the Welsh and Galician languages with some illuminating statistics here http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/03/03/welsh-and-galician-the-facts-91466-28269345/.

Statistics that tell a story!

2011-03-02T19:26:00.001Z

First of all, in my periodic updates of flight information regarding airlines flying to Galicia, I omitted to mention a recent route by Easyjet that connects Santiago to Geneva – thanks to Andrew for pointing this out. We can only hope that this is the first of many more flights destined for Galicia, ideally with some from northern or central Britain.

Secondly, I need to correct my glaring error from a previous post where I incorrectly assumed that the Martin Sheen film about the Way of St. James had already been released in the UK cinema and was awaiting DVD and Blu-Ray release. Although released in Spain last year, the film has not yet opened in the UK (unless it has done so over the last few days). As a result, those wanting the DVD or Blu-Ray copy will therefore have a little bit longer to wait.

Like many people with blogs and websites I occasionally look at my visitor statistics to see how people find the sites and the kinds of searches that they use. (These stats counters provide all sorts of information from browser and operating system details to lists of pages visited and even the ISP.)

Unfortunately, having trawled through the last 9 pages of Galicia Guide’s most recent site viewers there have been no unusual or inappropriate search terms used to get to the site. Disappointing as I had intended to make any that I found an amusing part of this post! However, it is also interesting to look at the origin of the visitors and, to give you a picture of that, the last 500 pages views were generated by people from 34 different countries. One of those 34 countries was listed as “without a name”, so I assume that the origin of that visitor could not be resolved – or maybe it was someone from Libya.

Not surprisingly about 58% of those visitors (at 6.18 pm UK time) came from a country whose indigenous tongue is English and that figure generally increases as the day progresses and more US states come online. By 9.00pm in the evening this figure can rise to well over 70%.

Interesting nations listed in the statistics that I surveyed included Iran, Latvia and Macao, but without spending more time looking at the data I cannot ascertain if the viewers were English speakers or nationals using a web Translator.

Another interesting (or probably not so interesting) statistic is that those same 500 page views from 34 countries came from a total of 142 cities, 4 of which could not be resolved to a specific identity.

My reason for going on about this is partly because I am struggling for something to write about, but also because it throws weight to the level of international interest currently shown in Galicia. Many people would assume that this small northern Spanish region was not particularly well known internationally, but with visitors from Luanda in Angola and Hovedstaden in Denmark this is clearly not the case.

This is illustrated better than anything else by throwing in one final statistic. Namely that the single visitor out of the last 500 page views who visited the greatest number of pages was from Speichersdorf, Bayern in Germany. He or she looked at a series of different pages about la Coruna, a Guarda and Lugo and found the site through a search for “a Guarda” – not the best know town in the region.

The Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James)

2011-02-24T10:54:00.002Z

I will start rather boringly by mentioning that my website about Galicia will soon be supplemented by a large and brand new section all about the Camino de Santiago or Way of Saint James.

Although I continually update pages and periodically add new mini town guides, this will be the first all new section for a number of years. As yet I am not quite certain of the scale of the project as the entire segment has been researched and written by my wife (with the help of a number of people who have completed different parts of the French Camino). However, from what I have been informed by my Galician partner, it would seem like it will be at least 40, and possibly as many as 60 or 70, pages in “webpage” length.

For anyone interested in finding out about the Camino, this excellent and entertaining diary by Colin Davies recounts a section of the Portuguese Way that he completed last year - http://www.colindavies.net/Camino.htm. (There are plenty of photos for those who like to see as well as read, plus extensive appendices.)

Staying with the Camino for just a little bit longer, this link http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2011/3127002.htm came up when I did a “news” search on Google and it relates to a book recounting a Camino undertaken by a chap called Tom Trumble. The book is not concerned with the religious aspects of the trek, but rather the personal journey of the author – it may be of interest to some.

The Sheen family, or at least Martin and his son Emilio, are continuing their promotional quest for their film about the Camino de Santiago. Last night they were both on a TV magazine show in the UK (which I somehow managed to miss), no doubt with the objective of gaining publicity for the movie which will shortly come out on DVD. When it does become available I will obviously get hold of a copy and give it a review here (although I am certainly no movie critic).

For those thinking of visiting Galicia this year I have updated some of the flight availability information on Galicia Guide. The Ryanair details remain the same, but there is some further information about Vueling flights going into both la Coruna and Vigo. As yet I have not done any price comparisons between the two airlines, so it will be interesting to see if Vueling, as a “new” budget airline, are competing on price.

Interestingly the Vueiling information comes from an individual who periodically contacts me by email to let me know of changes to the former Iberia schedule. I have little doubt that he is an employee of Vueling and that his communications are all part of a viral marketing campaign, however his information appears to be accurate, so I am always happy to hear from him and use the info that he provides.

Finally, for those who have been following it, the 14th chapter of Colin’s eldest daughter’s novel is available to read here - http://theseconddeathofjuanlaroca.blogspot.com.

Since I am struggling with a heavy workload and a lack of genuine Galicia related subjects to write about, I will call it a day for now.

Changes in sand levels

2011-02-16T12:18:00.002Z

I am a long way from being one of the “eco people” and, as someone who reads the real facts (rather than government propaganda aimed at excuses for new taxes), I know that humans are having very little impact on global warming. That said, global warming and cooling cycles have been rocking this way and that for eternity and right now there are some clear and measurable changes taking place.

I mention all of this by way of making reference to some observations that I included in some blog posts of 3 and 4 years ago when I noticed a very significant drop in the sand levels at some of our local Galician beaches (namely Testal and Taramancos near the town of Noia). Not only did the sand levels fall by around 5 feet, but all of the white powdery sand was washed away and now only a hard muddy sand remains. This happen over the course of a couple of years, a very short time span.

I now see that the same thing has also happened at the East Yorkshire beaches like Filey and Cayton Bay where all of the soft top-layer of sand seems to have disappeared.

No doubt rising sea levels will be targeted as the cause, yet in both areas coastal erosion levels have not accelerated. Have the tides become stronger? Have the under currents changed? It would be interesting to know what the real cause is. I know that at the time of my first noticing this (in Galicia) I suspected illegal “sand selling” which is not uncommon and, although some of the locals had a similar viewpoint, I am no longer so sure.

Interestingly, some friends down in Pontevedra tell me that in their view the recession is getting worse and that they see no immediate end to it. Yet at the weekend I was talking to someone who had recently been to Southern Spain and who had been told by numerous people that the property market down in the south was picking up. Perhaps this was nothing more than trying to” talk a way” out of the recession, or perhaps the people that he was speaking to saw him as a property buying prospect and they were priming him accordingly.

My neighbours, who have a villa in Murcia, are taking a break there in a week or so, so I will get some idea of their take on the situation when they return. In any event, there do not seem to be any consistent recovery signs showing just yet. (I amend that comment slightly having just read an email by some friends with a tourism business in Galicia who tell me that their bookings for 2011 are already up on this time in 2010.)

Finally this link http://www.corporate-fx.co.uk/marketupdates/News/Story/spanish-regions-becoming-more-popular-1297328509.html suggests that property buying in places like Galicia and Asturias is on the increase, however the source is an employee of the Spanish tourism office, so perhaps this is not the most reliable source.

Is Galicia ready for more tourism?

2011-02-10T10:33:00.001Z

Bear with me as I give a background to my answer to this question.

Back in around 2007 a large hotel reservation company contacted me about becoming part of their affiliate program. The way these “affiliate” systems work is that you promote their hotels and, in return, you get a small slice of any business that you send their way. Typically a very small slice indeed.

At the time I was not very interested as the website in question, Galicia Guide, had no commercial content and was our “personal” guide to the area with no outside intervention or influence (that remains the case). However, I was contacted many times by one of their people and I remember very clearly that they had about 80 hotels across the region. At the time I thought that this was pretty impressive and so I ultimately decided to give the program a try.

Today, less than 4 years later, that same company (with the same affiliate program) have over 470 different hotels scattered across the length and breadth of Galicia. This is an increase by a ratio of about six times. Naturally most of those hotels were already operating, however they were not book-able through an online international agent and consequently they were hard to find and pre-book. That has clearly improved.

For me the termination of the Ryanair Liverpool to Santiago flight schedule at the end of 2008 was a big disappointment, however this year there are direct flights from the UK to three different destinations within Galicia. This means that you can now enter the Galician region at la Coruna, Santiago de Compostela and Vigo airports - A big choice for a single region. Where you depart from in the UK is of course restricted to the Greater London area, but none the less the choices are far more open at the other end.

It becomes obvious that getting to and staying in Galicia has, despite some setbacks, become easier over recent years. But that is not all. Ten years ago very few bar and restaurant staff spoke any English. Most of those employed in shops would not even know which country an English accent represented, but again things have changed. Many of the generation that have left school and gone into the hospitality sector over the last decade do speak some English. They also see opportunities in tourism and the potential of this industry to present a good career path for them over the next few decades. All of this indicates that perhaps there is an improved underlying infrastructure to Galicia’s tourism potential, even if it has developed despite a lack of Xunta initiatives and promotion.

To me this indicates how ripe Galicia is for a significant increase in tourism and it also confirms the ability of the existing independent (none state assisted) infrastructure to deal with it.

Regrettably, setbacks with certain airline schedules and even the withdrawal of some well known car rental companies like HolidayAutos have not helped matters. Even so the region clearly has a good hotel base with a mix of large international hotels in the cities and many smaller family runs hotels in the lesser towns and rural areas, and getting to Galicia is no longer a big issue.

So is Galicia ready for more tourism? I certainly think that Galicia is well placed for an increase, but it requires some help and some much needed publicity. Whether this comes from Xunta funded international advertising, or some features on travel related TV shows I do not know. What undoubtedly remains the case is that this “hidden” part of Northern Spain will remain hidden unless (or until) its existence gets more of a headline. Furthermore, any publicity needs to not only to promote the place and the location, but also the huge differences between Galicia and the more well known southern Costas. It is this difference that can advance tourism in the area and generate the kind of “explorative” tourist that the economy and the population would welcome on all levels.

Social differences

2011-02-07T12:36:00.000Z

There are many things about Galicia that you quickly realise distinguish its character from that of places like Britain and the USA.

People having an argument is a great example.

When this occurs with strangers it can be an explosive and dangerous situation – at least in the UK. Typical examples can be over an incident whilst driving, or some other act of thoughtlessness or a disregard for others. When this happens it is far from uncommon for the situation to escalate into violence and, at the very least, unpleasant bad language will be liberally used.

Somehow this level of intensity is never (or at least very rarely) reached in Galicia. The discussion can be noisy and accompanied by lots of hand waving, but this seems to be as far as it goes. Another difference is in the level of insults. Using the Spanish equivalent of the “F” word carries very little offence, however calling someone “uneducated” is as bad as it gets. In fact, when this occurred whilst my wife’s father was having a dispute with a neighbour over some land it literally brought the discussion to a few seconds of silent shock. Questioning someone’s parentage is taken comparatively lightly, however questioning their intellect is not. I suspect that there are many historical reasons for this, most of which relate to the increased value that a good education is perceived as having in Spain (and of course the converse).

On another occasion that I remember well, we were having a coffee in one of our favourite cafes when we saw a driver (opposite the café) park his car directly in front of a property entrance. He quickly disappeared, no doubt to a shop or bakery, during which time another vehicle arrived wanting to enter “what we assumed” to be his drive.

This second driver got out of his car and was clearly very agitated by his “prevented entry” as he waited for the owner of the first car to return and move his vehicle. When he finally did, there was a massive argument with shouting, gesticulations and everything else that these events generate. Shortly after this started we left the café with the argument still raging and headed into town. Amazingly, about 45 minutes to an hour later we returned, only to see the same two characters leaning against one of the cars and having a chat and a laugh. This is a situation that I cannot imagine happening in the UK, but one which is common place in Galicia and, I suspect, most of Spain.

Good manners are certainly different in Galicia to many other parts of the western world (or at least the UK). Greetings and salutations are given a very high priority (as they should be), but a general unawareness of the presence of other is surprisingly common. This manifests itself in all kinds of ways from “rarely” moving out of someone’s path when walking, to making lots of noise, even if it will inconvenience or disturb someone else.

In the case of the latter, I think that what appears to be a general “disregard for others”, has more to do with the Galicians liking the noise and company that comes from other human beings.

Another example of this is that the Galicians do not like open space around them. As an example, we often seek out semi deserted areas of beach so that we can have a large area to ourselves – even if it means walking some considerable distance. However, time and time again when another group of people arrive on the beach they will park themselves only a few feet away from us, even if the rest of the beach is deserted.

One case sticks in mind from a couple of years back when we decided to walk some ten minutes down one of the local beaches in order to get a completely deserted space to ourselves. When we finally set up camp in a little rocky cove there was no one within 300 – 400 metres of us. Even so, a group of teenage girls who in the UK would want to be as far away from adults as possible, walked past hundreds of yards of clear sand to sit 6 feet from us. They did of course produce a radio and combined this with a mix of excitable noises whilst playing cards. Having said that, their behaviour was good and they did of course say hello on there arrival and goodbye on their departure (before which they picked up and removed all of their empty cans, bottles etc). I suspect that our disappointment at their arrival was in part due to our anticipation of their behaving like typical British teenagers, namely getting drunk, making lots of noise, swearing and leaving a mess behind them. Of course they did none of this.

One area where either, I have to disagree with some of Colin’s (Davies) experiences, or perhaps simply say that “we got lucky” (lucked –out), is in striking up friendships with Galicians.

My wife is of course from Galicia, but English is her native tongue and to the locals she is perceived as a foreigner, so I doubt that her presence gives us any real advantage. That said, we are of course a couple which, in a country with fewer divorces than the UK or USA, may give us a social gain.

In any event I would have to say that, we have been able to meet people, e.g. based on taking to them in their business, and then see them socially.

There is no doubt that family and the family unit always take a priority (as it should), be we have found a willingness of casual acquaintances to go to the next stage and become “loose” friends.

Indeed, in reality, it has been with family (those of my wife) where we have struggled the most. In fact with one particular member, arrangement after arrangement was made and, not only did they not turn up, but they never even let us know of their “changed” plans. Nor of course was there ever an apology, even when we waited at a bar till well after midnight one occasion.

These days we always make an arrangement to meet up with them at some tapas bar or other, but we then dismiss the arrangement knowing full well that they will be a no-show.

At first I found all of this very annoying, but now I recognise it for what it is, a form of social posturing that is intended to complement you by agreeing to meet up, but without the actual intention of ever going through with it. I suppose it is a bit like saying, “lets have a drink some time”, where the comment is made more out of courtesy than intension. The difference, however, is that the time and place are formalised, even though the intention to turn up is not.

Anyway, that is my 1200 words for today. I will post again later this week.

Thinking back in time

2011-02-04T14:26:00.000Z

Over the last eleven years I have been fortunate enough to amass quite a number of memories of times spent in Galicia. I have also been fortunate enough to make friends with a number of people who are resident in the area and this has ultimately made the region a home from home. In fact in many ways more of a home than my English one.

I am also fortunate to have a Galician wife with family still in the region and this has the advantage of giving us multiple accommodation options, all at the perfect price – FOC. We always stay in the seaside town of Noia, just 34km from Santiago de Compostela and about one hour’s drive away from Pontevedra.

Last year was, for a number of reasons, the first year in over a decade that we did not visit Galicia. Given that we have, on a number of occasions, had three holidays per year there (often with one of 3 weeks or more) it left a large void in 2010. Naturally we are hoping that 2011 will see a return to the status quo.

So, by way of revisiting some past memories, I am going to recite some of these experiences over the next couple of blogs. The first one was an evening in Pontevedra back in around 2005 or 2006 and it highlighted, for me, many of the differences in social attitude, a feeling of personal security, and the Galican (Spanish) approach to “going with the flow”, that differentiate Galicia from the UK.

This particular day was actually significant for a number of reasons. Some months earlier I had made email contact with Colin Davies (many of you are familiar with his blog) and Colin had generously offered to put us up in Pontevedra for a couple of days.

We arrived at Colin’s house late in the morning and, after enjoying some first class Albarino (that Colin gets from a friend who owns a bodega), headed down to the beautiful old town of Pontevedra.

The first two big memories I have of this day are meeting Colin after many months of email exchanges and the spectacular view that Colin’s massive living room window offers over Pontevedra. For those who do not know, Colin’s house is in the hills directly above Pontevedra city and it looks down over the historic quarter and the river. In the distance there are hills and lush scenery. It is a view to behold, particularly if you have never seen it before and you were not expecting such a panorama.

Once in Pontevedra old district, Colin gave us his personal tour which included calling in for lunch at his favourite tapas bar followed by a leisurely walk around the town. One thing that sticks in mind are the numerous people who exchanged salutations with Colin and it was obvious to us that he was known to many in the town.

The remainder of the afternoon passed by very quickly as time always seems to when you are enjoying yourself. I vaguely remember going back to the house in the hills for dinner, but my next memories are of being in Pontevedra in the evening as the sun was setting. For those who have not visited Pontevedra the new town is somewhere that you can easily pass by. However the old district, especially at night, has a magical feel and it is overflowing with atmosphere and the sound of people laughing and talking. This is one of my big memories along with the way in which the whole of the old district was illuminated. Unfortunately on subsequent visits all of these things are taken for granted and almost ignored.

As I just mentioned, there was plenty of noise and lots of people and we spent most of the evening in the busiest of the bar encircled plazas (I forget the name). But despite this and the fact that we were there until after 2.00am in the morning, there was no drunkenness, no bad behaviour and no atmosphere of anything other than fun. I wish I could say the same thing about England’s cities at 2.00am in the morning!

The other big memory that I have of this evening is of two young women, both of whom Colin knew, spotting him at the table and coming over to talk to him. Naturally he introduced us (my wife and myself) and, despite having told Colin that they were meeting with some friends, they then spent the rest of the evening in our company. This was very much one of those “take the best and most immediate offer available” choices that the Spanish often make and which we Anglos struggle to comprehend. Anyway, the evening was our gain and a loss to whomever the ladies were originally intending to meet up with. Additionally, one of those ladies, Elena, is someone who we have subsequently met on several occasions and whose company is always enjoyed.

I vaguely remember going down to a little coastal town the following morning and having breakfast, but it is the previous day that sticks in the memory.

What does 2011 hold for Galicia?

2011-02-01T10:26:00.001Z

I wonder if 2011 will see an increase in Galician tourism?

The last two years have seen overseas visitor numbers drop and there are several reasons for this. One is clearly the economic crisis, but another is the absence of the once familiar “holiday” program on British TV. These shows were once staples of late winter and early spring TV viewing but, like so many other things, they seem to have disappeared.

Up to three or four years ago we had long running holiday destination review programs like “Wish You Were Here (Judith Chalmers on ITV) and Holiday (on BBC), however these shows have now been cast away – no doubt for more “reality TV”.

Certainly in 2006 and 2007 both of these shows featured Galicia and a number of other TV programs based around “buying homes abroad” also highlighted both Galicia and Asturias. All of this indirect publicity increased Galician tourism and was no doubt a motivation for the Ryanair routes that, at one time, headed to Galicia from three different UK airports (remember Liverpool and East Midlands). “The good old days”.

I can also recall, again in 2006, 2007 and 2008, being contacted by various holiday magazines and even a couple of UK TV stations regarding articles and features that they were planning about Galicia or one of its cities. All of that does, however, seem to have come to an end – at least for the moment.

Perhaps though there is some light at the end of the tunnel. After the first month of 2011 my website statistics show a definite increase in visitors for January 2011 versus 2010 and 2009. Furthermore, some friends who run a tour company in the region have also noticed enquiries and bookings up from the previous two years. Maybe there is a possible resurgence.

Staying with tourism, I do not think that Galicia benefits from the Ryanair flights in quite the way that it could or should. My reason for saying this is based on Ryanair’s approach to marketing and publicity which pretty much excludes all forms of direct advertising. This means that if you do not know about their flights to Santiago de Compostela, you are unlikely to discover them through any external promotions. Add to this the Xunta’s inward looking approach to everything and the obsession of Turgalicia to promote the region to its own inhabitants in gallego and you have an odd set of circumstances.

All of that said, Galicia is about to get some UK TV time in 2011, although it may not portray the region so much as a collection of British tourists. I was contacted by two different researchers from the TV program “Coach Trip” in late summer of last year as they prepared to film an episode (possibly two) in both Santiago de Compostela and la Coruna. Their reason for contacting me was to see if I had any ideas for traditional “participatory” activities that could be set as challenges for the coach passengers! I gave them a couple of ideas, so I will be interested to see if they are adopted. Their timing was such that they were arriving in Santiago on either the day of, or the day after, the St. James’ day festival. Not the best of timings.

By all accounts the Jacabeo year (2010) was a big money making success for Galicia. So much so that the Xunta even contacted Rome to see if the occasion could be extended over two years. At least that is the rumour! It would seem that religion can make money after all, but then again it always has.

Finally, did you know that Picasso has a connection with la Coruna? This article will tell you more http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110201/FEAT/302019948.

Portugal toll road information

2011-01-26T11:09:00.002Z

It will probably surprise most with a general knowledge of Galicia that, the fish landed in the greatest quantities by the Galician fishing fleet last year was horse mackerel, 28,500 tonnes of it. Apparently “hake” has been the fish of choice in the previous years, but in 2010 it became the bridesmaid. Painted mackerel was in the bronze medal position.

Toll roads in Portugal

Here is the best link that I can find with information about the new toll road system in Portugal. If you are flying in to O Porto airport with the intention of driving up to Galicia you need to read this link or you will definitely have some fines to pay.

http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/5031043523/m/789006232001

The new system was introduced in October 2010 and, if you do not appraise yourself of how this affects you, you can expect a fine of anything from euros 120 to euros 600.

In either a malicious or a money-grapping approach, the government have also increased the police presence around these toll roads in an attempt to catch people out.

The other disappointing factor in all of this is that car rental companies are not informing their customers of these tolls or the fines that are involved if you mistakenly do not pay them.

The final point I will make is to take a quote from the link above with reference to "the toll roads":

“You should note that when landing at Oporto airport it is impossible to leave it without driving along one on the auto-estradas affected by this toll scheme.”

Developing property in Galicia

2011-01-24T18:57:00.001Z

For those interested in buying and refurbishing an old rural property in Galicia, this site - http://www.visitgalicia.co.uk may be of “great” interest to you.

I have added it as a permanent link in the left hand column for anyone who wants to refer back to it. I suspect that a number of people will.

In short this website is an ongoing web-log about a collection of buildings that are gradually being refurbished by their British owners. The eventual intention is that they will be fully restored, upgraded and renovated into a small complex that will operate as a rural hotel. The couple who own them will then relocate to Galicia and run the hotel themselves.

Consequently, the website is a live log of everything that they do and the processes in which they have to involve themselves in order to reach their goal. The whole project will, I believe, take a few years to fully complete, so those who follow it will see the project unfold before their eyes.

What makes this particularly interesting is the fact that a number of people have done a similar thing (although often on a much smaller scale), however few (if any) have documented it in a public way.

Thank you – Flights – Toll charges – AGA

2011-01-19T12:26:00.001Z

First of all, thanks to the numerous people who have emailed me and commented on this blog over the last couple of weeks. I am unused to this level of interest and must put it down to the fact that Colin Davies is taking a temporary rest from his blogging activities. It would seem that I am the beneficiary and this is putting pressure on me to increase my post regularity and the quality of my writing. Please do not judge this blog by Colin’s high and entertaining standards, I cannot begin to compete with him.

Unfortunately, being a visitor rather than a resident of Galicia, my posts cannot be about daily life or the amusing and infuriating experiences of Galician bureaucracy (like Colin’s), so my blogs tend to be related to how to get to the region and what to do once there.

As anyone who does visit this blog regularly will know, I do have a couple of websites about Galicia and these tend to take up 99% of my “Galicia related” effort. To this end I have just finishing updating the current UK-to-Galicia flight details on one of these sites – and you can see this information here http://www.galiciaspain.net/transport.html. I hope that this will assist anyone who has been caught up in the recent furore regarding Ryanair and the Galician Xunta. Things have now been agreed and there is a fixed flight schedule which should continue to operate until the end of summer in 2013. Incidentally, there are also direct flights by Vueling (formerly Iberia and Clickair) from Heathrow to la Coruna. So those who can get to London easily do have a couple of options.

If anyone has any further information, tips or advice on reaching Galicia by air or any other means, please let me know. Unfortunately getting to this part of Spain is never as simple as it should be and any information that I can post here and on my websites will help others.

The other thing that I would really like more information about is the new toll road system that has been put into place in northern Portugal. It would seem that this has the sole intent of “catching out” commuters from O Porto airport to Galicia. Any fixes or alternative route information (that can be utilized by other visitors) would be much appreciated (and would be posted here).

Finally, I was told by Colin (I think) some time ago that the AGA had come to an end. As a result I removed some links that I had placed to the site and its forum. However, the other day I saw that the website was still operating at http://angalas.resai.es, albeit without a fully functional forum link. Is this site still alive and being used? If it is can someone let me know and I will reinstate some backlinks to it.

Latest on Ryanair flights from London Stansted

2011-01-15T17:26:00.002Z

Please be aware that the information below is taken from regional newspapers, so I am relying on their accuracy and information sources.

Good news if you live near London and want to visit Galicia (or if you have a holiday home there.

After many weeks of discussions and (reported) walkouts, Ryanair will re-commence their London Stansted flight route to Santiago de Compostela and tickets apparently went on sale for the summer season on Friday 14 January 2011 (yesterday). Flights are now available to book from 27 March to 31 December 2011. It would also appear that this schedule has been secured for three seasons, i.e. to the end of 2013.

I have just tried to get on their site to check days and times of travel, but as yet without success. However, if you want flights, then I suggest you take a look now. Ryanair are supposedly launching many 2011 summer routes with some “very cheap” initial “early book” tickets

Summary of Ryanair flight details for 2011 (to 2013)

Flights between Stansted (London) and Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain)

Flights commence 27 March 2011 and continue to 31 December 2011

Flight days will be Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday (i.e. 4 flights per week)

Ryanair flights for 2011 (provisional)

2011-01-10T21:14:00.001Z

I will try and post any information about the Ryanair-Galician Xunta situation as soon I become aware of it.

Taking my information from the regional newspapers etc, here is what “appears” to be the current state of play.

It looks like a general agreement has been reached between Ryaniar and the Galician Xunta for Ryanair to continue flying into and out of Galicia. However there are still some problems that need resolving and the result of this is that the current schedule will terminate today. I.e. There will be no more Ryanair flights to Galicia until the outstanding issues have been resolved on both sides (more on these below).

At the moment is seem likely that Ryanair will (if things “do” go according to plan) recommence their schedule some time around 28 March 2011. This date is however a long way from being cast in stone.

The main outstanding issues are:

The Xunta paying Ryanair the originally demanded subsidy (or whatever part of it has had a negotiated agreement made upon it).

Ryanir refunding the illegal 25 Euro charge made against passengers who paid for their flights on credit card. Interestingly, this is a demand of the Galician parliament that can only be applied to those who bought their tickets in Galicia. The rest of us will not benefit from this unless the British and other national governments decide to look after the best interests of their electorate and apply the law. (Very unlikely!!!!)

So when and if these problems are resolved in practice, as apposed to by verbal agreement, Ryanair will start flying again. Hopefully by the end of March or the beginning of April.

A film about Galicia plus flight info

2011-01-06T15:25:00.001Z

So, to my surprise it appears that Ryanair will be flying to Galicia again this summer. A deal has now been negotiated, at least to and from Stansted (London).

Last year a big fuss was made by the Galician Xunta about giving Spanish budget airline Vueling a UK route from the region after Ryanair decided not to waste their time talking to Xunta about a “renegotiation”. That was of course all back in October/November 2010 and things have changed.

Given the fact that Vueling is a reincarnation of Clickair and that Clickair replaced Iberia (who own them), it would now seem that the “old” status quo is been maintained, i.e. the latest incarnation of Iberia and Ryanair both servicing Galicia from the UK.

That said, for those of us not fortunate enough to be within easy travelling distance of a London airport, nothing has really changed. No flights from Liverpool or any other northern English (or Scottish) airport.

A 2011 boost for Galicia’s tourist trade

Last year Galicia had its usual ten yearly tourist boost by enjoying a religious Jubilee year, i.e. lots of pilgrims.

This year another bonus could be on the way in the form of a film by Martin Sheen and his son Emilio Estevez (Estevez apparently being Sheen’s real surname).

Martin Sheen’s father was a Galician, so the project was one inspired by more than Hollywood and money and Sheen has expressed a wish that the movie will increase tourist interest in the region. Based around the Way of St. James pilgrimage you can find out more about the film here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1328844/Martin-Sheens-The-Way-hopes-boost-tourism-northern-Spain.html.

Ryanair to Galicia from the UK - Update

2010-12-29T11:16:00.000Z

It looks like Ryanair will continue to fly from Stansted to Santiago de Compostela in 2011 according to Galician newspapers yesterday. It would appear that some kind of agreement has been reached, More news later.

Flights - no new news

2010-12-08T14:05:00.002Z

Unfortunately I have nothing new to add in respect of the “Ryanair – Vueling” situation and what will happen next. Ryanair seem to have closed the door on the situation (not surprisingly) and the repercussions will no doubt make it unlikely that any reputable non Spanish carrier will consider flights to Galicia in the foreseeable future.

The impact of all of this will of course be seen in the already struggling Galician tourist industry as, what is a non competitive monopoly, will see flight prices soar to post 2005 levels.

For our part we have already written off the thought of flying to Galicia and, with the O Porto (Portugal) to Pontevedra “toll road con” in place, flying into Portugal is no longer an option either.

It will be interesting to see if Galicia still goes on making claims for EU funding to support its tourist industry, even though it is trying to destroy it from the inside.

So the snow in Britain also hit the north of Spain.

Most of Galicia, and not just Ourense, has been hit by the heavy falls and main routes in to and out of Santiago de Compostela have been affected. Some of the more rural and less trafficked routes have been isolated, demonstrating to those who have never visited this region that Galicia is well and truly a northern territory.

I have been very busy for over a month now and, as a result, my posting of mini town guides has been interrupted. I will recommence this, either later this month or in the new year of 2011.

Naturally any new news regarding flights out of Galicia will be a priority post.

Vueling in - Ryanair out!

2010-11-03T23:09:00.001Z

So the Xunta have offered the Ryanair routes to Vueling!

I have never even heard of this supposed “low cost” airline and I doubt that many other flyers have and, if they have, it is not a name that easily falls off the tongue.

The problem now is a simple one. The Xunta, along with the various “so called” international airports it controls, will have lost all credibility with not only Ryanair, but every other “significant” carrier.

In a world where more and more destinations are vying for cheap flights and the business that they bring, Galicia has established itself as a region that serious airlines will not wish to waste their time with.

Every business, whatever its nature, wants to establish long term partnerships with the other entities with which it has to cooperate. Galicia has now made it clear that commercial considerations, the interests of visiting fare paying passengers and it own tourism industry do not weigh heavily in these negotiations. Would you want to deal with them?

Furthermore, it is limiting overseas carriers to a single “favoured” company - why not have several.

Jet2 considered Galicia as a destination 4 or 5 years ago, Easyjet have also looked at these routes, and Ryanair “were” interested in continuing. So why such a ludicrous attitude! It beggars belief.

Galicia and Ryanair

2010-11-02T12:29:00.000Z

As is always the case with anything in Galicia in which politicians get involved, the stalemate between Ryanair and the Xunta has now been superseded by infighting between the various political and provincial factions in the region. As ever, this will bring the real issue to a halt and it will probably not be revisited again until long after Ryanair have moved on. Indeed, Ryaniar are already announcing new routes and schedule changes, so it would seem that the “Galicia issue” is something that they have already dismissed and moved away from.

Despite this, the Xunta will no doubt continue its air traffic debates as proposals are put together for a Galicia-wide air and airport traffic policy that, like everything else in Galician politics, will never see the light of day.

Ultimately this is yet another missed opportunity for this politically and economically “oblivious” regional government. I really believe that if the EU were to give them a billion euro hand out on the condition that they accept it within 7 days, the infighting over who should “officially” receive the money would result in them forfeiting it.

The maddening thing is that the tiny amount of money requested by Ryanair would bring tens of millions of euros into the region. This “tourist” cash would benefit hotels, bars, shops, tourist attractions and even the airports themselves.

Elsewhere in Spain and other parts of Europe, the regional governments and councils are almost bidding against each other to get budget airlines to use their airports, yet in Galicia they alienate them. The even more surprising thing is that a great number of the Galician population go along with this.

Astoundingly (according to a regional newspaper), even those whose livelihood is dependant upon tourism seem to think that paying a foreign airline to bring them customers and generate revenue for their businesses is a bad thing.

Ultimately, in cultural and lifestyle terms Galicia has long wanted to distance itself from the rest of Spain. It claims a Celtic ancestry, it has a green and temperate climate and now it is isolating its air borders from the rest of the world too. But who is the beneficiary of this kind of action?

Ryanair and Galicia

2010-10-28T19:52:00.001Z

Following on from the comments at the foot of the last post, here is the latest state of play with Ryanair flights to Galicia for 2011.

At present they are suspended and below is a very brief summary of the current stand-off situation between all parties.

A meeting was held yesterday by a committee comprising of representatives of the Xunta and the 3 Galician airports. Ryanair were invited to this meeting, but declined to attend and have taken the action referred to above.

The meeting was not resolved (and is continuing) as there is a rift between the attending parties for the following reasons.

1. La Coruna council are prepared to pay Ryanair 3 million euros to use them as a Galician base. However the other airports and the Xunta object to this.

2. There is disagreement as to whether more than one airport should be used.

3. There is disagreement as to whether or not more than one carrier should be allowed.

4. There is disagreement over paying a subsidy.

In short the committee cannot agree on anything and whatever one proposes another seems intent on blocking. In the meantime it would seem likely that Ryanair will have already taken their bat and ball home and for once (possibly the first time ever) I can see their point.

"Coach trip" in Galicia

2010-10-25T10:46:00.001Z

Whether or not this is good news for Galicia I do not know, but the TV show “Coach Trip” finished recording a new series recently in which, to my knowledge, at least two stops were made in Galicia.

The first was la Coruna and the second was Santiago de Compostela and, as ever, they were looking for interesting things for their passengers to do. I will keep those activities quiet for now, but they will obviously be revealed when the show goes out.

As for when it does go out, I have not got a clue as dates were not mentioned in my communications with them.

My hope would be that the passengers in question were capable of appreciating the charm, culture and uniqueness of Galicia, but based on my (very) occasional watching of this show I have my doubts.

I see that in his blog, Colin Davies has made mention of the insane toll road charges that anyone travelling through northern Portugal to Galicia will now face whilst in Portugal.

The impact of this madness on Oporto airport will, I am sure, be very detrimental. However, whether Colin’s hope and mine of increased business to the three Galicia airports proves to be a reverberating result is questionable. I think that having a few routes in and out of these sparsely used airports would be a good start, but there are no signs of this happening in the foreseeable future.

What confuses me is the fact that my local airport, Leeds-Bradford, has seen both Ryanair and Easyjet announce new routes for next year whilst the main L-B carrier, Jet2, are asking passengers for suggestions as to new destinations.

I know for a fact that about 5 years ago Jet2 were considering a north of England flight to one of the Galician airports, so what has put them and everyone else off?

It clearly cannot be Jet2’s own passenger number research or they would never have mentioned Galicia to start off with. You are therefore forced to conclude that the Galician airport authorities and probably the Xunta remain the primary obstacle. It would not surprise me if turgalicia also had a hand in things as promoting the region “outside of the region” is something that they seem to have an aversion to.

In any event this will no doubt go down as another missed “tourist promotion” opportunity for the region and one that the hoteliers, bar and restaurant owners would gladly have benefited from.

Monterrei Castle

2010-10-12T11:05:00.002Z

After a couple of weeks absence I am back to giving some summary ideas about places to visit in the north of Spain. This particular one is a hill top castle in the land-locked province of Galicia.

Monterrei Castle can be found in Ourense and the big disadvantage to this attraction is the time and travelling distance that most visitors to Galicia will have to run up in order to reach it.

Since most foreign tourist stay in Santiago de Compostela, la Coruna or Pontevedra, the south west of Ourense can take some hours to get to and that is compounded by the fact that you have an equal travelling time to return to your base destination.

For those who are prepared to make the journey, this castle is one that is spectacular from a distance, but one that equally becomes less impressive as you get nearer. Having said that, the same is true of many castles around the world.

Monterrei Castle first becomes visible when you are some distance away and its hill top location must have made it close to impenetrable in the days when it was still active. The biggest features of this castle are its massive walls, rather that what is found within them. For more details you can take a look at this page http://www.galiciaguide.com/Monterrei.html.

As with many Galician castles there is not (or at least was not when we were there) any visitor centre of note. Nor has much been done to renovate, restore or spruce up this piece of heritage. The plus side to this is that you will be one of very very few visitors which gives the place an unusual feel and I suspect that not too much has happened in the years since its active use ceased.

The views from the castle are also good and there is even the occasional old cannon (although in disrepair) pointing out into the distance.

Visiting this castle, as a special day out, is probably not the best use of your time, however if you are intending to spend some time in this part of Galicia then it is worth seeing. It is shown on most maps and the route is fairly straight forward.

Galicia's airports

2010-09-27T11:24:00.001Z

I read in Colin Davies’ blog that the Xunta of Galicia would like to extend the Jubilee year into 2011 and, not surprisingly, have been told by the Vatican that they cannot.

All told it is fascinating that the desire for more tourism would prompt such an idea in a region that has all but lost the support of the budget airlines required to get the same tourists into the area.

Why does the Xunta not make a concerted effort to get Ryanair, EasyJet, Jet2 or one of the other budget carriers to fly regular scheduled flights into Santiago from different destinations around Europe. Santiago’s “international” airport is all but dead.
Just 2 years ago it took 3 flights per week via Ryanair from Liverpool and back and a further three from the East Midlands. Now only the London Stansted route remains (and on a diminished schedule). It begs the question, what is the point of an international airport if it has next-to-no international flights. La Coruna fairs no better and Vigo is even worse.

Having said all of that, perhaps the explanation is in the request for the Jubilee extension. The Camino is of course a walk and both the French and Portuguese Ways start in countries where flight access is readily available. Maybe the Xunta’s new idea is to do away with flights into Galicia altogether and let visitors walk in from France or Portugal. I do however feel that this approach is doomed for failure.

Finally, and to my absolute amazement, my wife’s parents returned to England a week and a bit ago and declared that the weather in Galicia had been very good this summer. This is high praise indeed as we have previously enjoyed the same good weather as they have only to have them describe the summer as wet and miserable most of the time. It just shows that this year the summer months must have been exceptional.

Next time I will try to get back to another mini guide covering some worthwhile location in Galicia, until then, take a look at the links to other sites and blogs on the left.

Ribadavia

2010-09-07T09:38:00.000Z

Continuing my brief and spasmodic overviews of some of Galicia’s towns and villages, here is one of the best – Ribadavia.

Ribadavia is in the province of Ourense (or Orense if you prefer) and it takes a bit of getting to if you are in one of the more touristy parts of la Coruna or even southern Pontevedra.

Ribadavia is an inland town, but a fairly large one. It is a wine centre and its old town, which is almost totally intact, is arguably the best in the region of Galicia.

At the entrance to the medieval quarter there is the ruin of an old castle and this sets the tone for what is to come. The highlight of the town is probably its main square which is fully enclosed by three and four storey high buildings with colonnaded first floor levels. The tourist office is in this square as are a number of café bars, some shops and a tiny church.

To one side of the town there is a river and scenic countryside abounds in this part of Ourense. Ribadavia has a Jewish quarter and a few other historic connections that make it interesting on all levels.

If you are thinking of visiting this part of Galicia you can find out more about this town at http://www.galiciaguide.com/Ribadavia.html. It has a population of about 6,000 people and there are main highways leading to it.

A good summer

2010-09-03T11:59:00.001Z

The excellent weather in Galicia has continued and even my mother-in-law told my wife yesterday that the weather was good this summer. This from someone who normally says it is too cold, too hot, too wet, or too something or other. In other words it must be one of the best summers on record.

For our part we have been excluded from it for the first time in almost a decade. Various circumstances have meant that a trip to Galicia has not been on the cards this year and a later excursion has now been derailed because my wife has just started a one day a week 15 week course that goes on till late November or early December.

Ferry and flights

The possible ferry cancellations that I mentioned in an earlier post (some months ago) do not seem to have taken place and one ferry company has increased the number of sailings this year.

On the air transport side things are not so good and the three Galician “so called” international airports have added no further UK to Galicia flights this year. None are planned for next year and these three airports between them, i.e. Santiago, la Coruna and Vigo carry only a fraction of the passengers of O porto in Portugal (your next best flight option).

I know that on almost all of our incoming and outgoing flights to Santiago we have hardly seen another plane and the airport seems semi deserted. How this makes economic business sense for the airport or region is beyond the reasoning of anyone with half a brain.

A new link

2010-08-29T13:58:00.001Z

I have added an extra link in the column down the left which will provide and incite and an interesting read for those wishing to find out more about life in Galicia. The url is http://antheaknowsbest.blogspot.com and the blog itself is not dissimilar to that of Colin Davies, of whom the writer is an acquaintance.

Amazingly I managed to plug a couple of companies (to which I have no real connection) in the last post without getting any comments from “trolls”. Perhaps they have figured out that I never publish or respond to their provocative statements, so have desisted from writing them.

I will add some further “mini town guide tasters” again from next week, but an injured finger has made typing awkward over the last couple of weeks – hence the lack of posts.

And, with the injury as an excuse, I will excuse myself now.

Property in Galicia

2010-08-27T18:16:00.000Z

It is a while since I mentioned the property market in northern Spain and this is mainly because I have no personal interest in it at this moment. However, as many people do look at overseas’ property, and some consider Galicia and Asturias, here is some brief info.

House prices have fallen to a degree, but certainly not to the extent that they have in southern Spain - and the reasons for this you can find by reading some of my previous posts.

Most people who buy into Galicia tend to go for the old farm house style properties called rural houses and these often require refurbishment. That said there are many new and modern homes for sale across the region with some of the more expensive and better fitted being in the Pontevedra province. The reason for this being that this area sees most of the beach based summer tourism from other parts of Spain. These are the people who tend to buy this kind of house in this kind of area and the result is a good deal of new build.

In northern la Coruna and Lugo you will find a lot of ruins in what are now depopulated zones. These homes can come with good sized plots of land, but they are often in the middle of nowhere and were once small holdings or farms. They can be good value, but whilst isolation may seem appealing on a 2 week holiday it can be very different if you live there all year long.

If you want to explore or buy into the Galician property market, take a look at a company and site like this one http://www.galiciaholiday.com where there are English speaking owners who can explain everything fully. Also make sure that you use an English speaking solicitor (e.g. http://www.galiciapropertylawyers.net) so that everything is both explained and protected on your behalf. Trying to go it alone is fraught with hazards and many people have paid a high price for trying to take short cuts or fumble their way through a Spanish property sale.

Incidentally “land grab” does not exist in Galicia, so you will not find the regional government forcing a compulsory purchase order on you in the way that some other Spanish councils do.

Padron

2010-08-26T09:43:00.001Z

Continuing my collection of Galician town tasters I will mention Padron this time. You can find more about this small Galician town at www.galiciaguide.com/Padron-galicia-recommend.html and the pages that lead from it.

Padron is one of the most significant towns in Galicia and its districts (and Roman name) have significance with St. James and his arrival in Galicia. It is in la Coruna province.

During his life St. James himself preached on a hilly outcrop just a few minutes walk outside of modern Padron and you can visit, as many pilgrims do, the spot where he delivered his sermons. There is also a hole in some stone which it is said was caused by him bringing down his staff as a demonstration of power.

Two other features of Padron include the “pedron” stone to which the disciple’s boat was moored when his decapitated body was returned to Galicia after his murder and the church in which it is held. There is a replica “pedron” stone next to the river close to the church to indicate how it might have looked in its day.

Aside from its associations with St. James, Padron is well known as being the home of the famous Spanish poet Rosalia de Castro. Today her former home is a museum celebrating her life and works and it is well worth a visit. The cost is minimal and parking across Padron is free.

I will close with a link to this http://www.ihspanishinmadrid.com website which will be of interest to anyone wishing to learn Spanish in Madrid.

Aviles & Muros

2010-08-12T14:45:00.000Z

This is another quick double mention of both a town in Galicia and another in Asturias.

The one in Asturias, which is a city, is called Aviles and I think that it is the best of the region’s three main cities. (The others being Gijon and the capital Oviedo.) You can find out more about it from the index menu at the top right of this page www.asturiasguide.com/Aviles-old-town-3.html.

Muros on the other hand is a much smaller coastal town in Galicia in the la Coruna province. It is pretty touristy in summer and has a great promenade, a small marina and lots of tapas style bars where you can get something to eat and drink. You can also walk up some steep steps to the top of the town where you will get some really good views looking across the ria.

Muros is definitely a place to visit for a few hours and it is on a very picturesque coastal road that runs from “the coast of death” and beyond (in the north) all the way down to (and past) Pontevedra in the south. If you drive this route on a nice sunny day I think that you will find the scenery, beaches and former fishing villages that you pass hard to beat anywhere. You can see a few photos of Muros here: http://www.galiciaguide.com/Muros4.html.

Aviles on the other hand is somewhere where you can easily spend a couple of days. It has a beautiful colourful old town with lots to see and it is not a million miles away from the Picos de Europa mountains. The one drawback that we found to Aviles was the price of food and drink. Everything seems to be more pricey than other parts of the region and indeed Galicia.

That is all for now, somewhere else next time.

Camino de Santiago

2010-08-09T11:44:00.000Z

A friend of mine recently did part of the Camino starting somewhere near Tui and continuing on foot to Santiago de Compostela. If you want to read his (very) interesting and amusing day by day tale of this journey you will find it at http://www.colindavies.net/Camino.htm.

There are also a couple of appendices with lots of information about the places and buildings that he (and his companions) passed through (and by) and it should prove interesting and motivating to anyone who is considering a similar challenge.

If you want to know more about the cathedral at the pilgrimage’s destination your best source will be http://www.galiciaguide.com/Santiago-cathedral.html and the various pages that connect off from it.

This year has been a holy year for the Camino’s many pilgrims and as such it has been unusually busy. Next year will however be less hectic for those who want the Camino experience, but without the ballyhoo of the Jubilee.

Amieva and Vimianzo

2010-08-04T14:57:00.000Z

My 361st post will be a brief double synopsis of two towns, one in Galicia and the other in Asturias.

I will start with Amieva which really is a little known place in Asturias.

Around one hundred years ago is was fairly prosperous and had farms, both agricultural and livestock, and it produced a lot of cheese (for which Asturias is famed). Since then its population has seen a rapid descent as subsequent generations have turned their backs on the outdoor life in favour of city life.

Today Amieva has a population of about 800 and the trend continues to see a fall. Even so, it is has a beautiful location situated close to the Picos de Europa mountains and its scenery is stunning. If you do get the chance to go to Amivea you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are one of very few non locals who will have been there. You can get a little bit more background on this town here - http://www.asturiasguide.com/Amieva.html.

Back in Galicia, I will give a quick run down of Vimianzo and you can explore it more fully by going here http://www.galiciaguide.com/Vimianzo.html. We visited Vimianzo once to see a castle which doubles as a living museum to local crafts that you can see being “kept alive” by the few who still posses the necessary skills.

Getting to Vimianzo is fairly straightforward and it is not a million miles away from Finisterre with its port and lighthouse.

Other than the castle there is not too much more to see, but the castle is impressive both internally and externally and you can easily spend a couple of hours there. It can also make up a good drive if you want to see the coast and some of the inland areas of Galicia by stopping at both Finisterre and Vimianzo in the same trip.

Things to see in Barcelona

2010-07-28T14:22:00.000Z

Leaving Galicia aside for a moment and reverting back to Barcelona (as mentioned in a previous post), there is more to see than just Gaudi and his buildings. You will be able to get plenty of visitor ideas at http://www.barcelonaweekendbreak.net/sightseeing.html where there is a list of places to visit both inside and outside of the city.

Barcelona really is a great place and the only things that you need to be weary of are pick-pockets of which there are many. This is a city that is culturally rich, but which many overseas holiday makers miss out on because they spend all of their time on or close to the beach.

If you go there, don’t just spend time sunbathing or walking up and down las Ramblas. Go into the old town, check out the marina and the shops and centres around it and take a trip to one of the small and relatively untouched towns in the vicinity. Even if you do not have a car there are buses that are quick, clean and efficient and they make getting around easy.

Check out Barcelona’s parks, you can get a skyway to one of them and take advantage of the fact that this is a fishing port with lots of fresh fish and seafood. Dining in Barcelona is invariably very good as long as you avoid the highly priced and equally overrated restaurants in the main tourist districts.

Next time something about one of Galicia’s many towns and, if you did not know (and you are in the UK), the TV series “Coach Trip” has been filming in la Coruna and Santiago de Compostela. They were in the former on Saturday and the latter on Monday. I do not know when this series will be shown, but it appears to be very popular with some.

Pontevedra

2010-07-20T10:16:00.000Z

As I continue to give some snapshots of places in Galicia I will move to Pontevedra, a beautiful city in the south of the region with a large old town. It is also the name of the province of which this city is the capital.

There is plenty of information available about Pontevedra and you can start at pages like http://colindavies.net, which is a very personal guide to this town by an Englishman who now lives there, and http://www.galiciaguide.com/Pontevedra-index.html which is the portal page to an extensive guide to the city and everything in it.

Pontevedra is on the coast and it has a history connected with the sea. This leads to the original town being built around an estuary river and, although the city is now much bigger, it is this original district that tourists spend much of their time in.

The old town has museums and a number of interesting buildings and churches, but for me its most appealing feature is a number of very attractive plazas that are interlinked by various streets and alleys. These plazas range in size from the very small to the very large.

Some of these squares have a focal point in their centre, but many were once the areas where loading and unloading of goods and supplies took place for the local businesses. Today however they have developed into beautiful municipal areas and most have at least one bar or café facing them. This has led to many becoming nothing short of open air dinning facilities and they are invariably populated by tables, chairs and those enjoying a drink or some tapas.

When I mention streets and alleys I should also point out that the old town is now pretty much pedestrian only, so the paved and cobbled streets are generally devoid of cars (baring those making deliveries).

Pontevedra is a good place to eat, not surprisingly with all of the tapas bars, and you can enjoy a range of different dishes including the ever popular calamares and pulpo. It is also a very different and atmospheric place at night where all of the aforementioned squares and bars become very busy and noisy – but in a good way.

Finally, here are a couple of more radical links that I spotted as having directed previous visitors to me. This one, http://www.sophieconran.com, is from a site about cookery, the home and how to make the most of it, and this one, http://www.thebikerguide.co.uk, is a biker community site that covers everything about bikes, ideas for days out etc. I wish that I still had my bike.

Vigo

2010-07-12T15:27:00.002Z

Continuing, as I said I would, to give some tips on places to visit in Galicia, here is a little bit about Vigo.

Vigo is actually a frequently left out place on the itinerary of Galicia’s visitors and that is quite unfair. I think it is mainly because it has a big reputation as the commercial centre of the region and it has a massive port. This port is not always the most attractive of places, but it is not intended to be.

That said Vigo has an ever improving old town. I say “ever improving” because the medieval district has been under significant renovation over the last few years and it is starting to become another jewel in Galicia’s crown. Just a couple of months ago my mother was there for the day and, having previously visited la Coruna and Santiago de Compostela, found it far from disappointing.

The old town runs upwards from what was once the original fishing port. It is interesting to walk around and it has bars and cafes around it. With the marina just below, it keeps two of the areas most appealing sights close together. On our visits to Vigo there has always been plenty of bilingual tourist support on hand too. You can even get a sightseeing bus from the marina front.

Vigo has a couple more things going for it. One is some very good beaches with plenty of parking and the other is its location.

Even if you don’t intend to spend forever in Vigo you have Pontevedra and pretty towns like Cambados and Sanxenxo within easy travelling distance. Additionally, because Vigo is on the main toll motorway route it will only take just over an hour to reach Santiago. You can even head south and be in Portugal in a fraction of that time.

Vigo also has the best weather in Galicia if you like the sun. It enjoys a micro climate that sees its summer temperatures considerably elevated from those of places like Pontevedra and la Coruna which gives it extra appeal for fans of the beach.

To find out more take a look at http://www.galiciaguide.com/Vigo-index.html and the other dozen or so pages that cover this city.

Barcelona - some highlights

2010-07-06T17:10:00.001Z

I know that I stated that I would be concentrating on writing about somewhere in Galicia for the next few posts (and I fully intend to). However, I am deviating from that at the first hurdle to briefly promote the city of Barcelona.

The reason is simply that it is a great city and, although often visited by the British as a beach destination, it has a wealth of culture and history that is manifested in its buildings, monuments and some fantastic parks.

At the top of the list are the amazing buildings designed by Antonio Gaudi and I am not talking about the odd looking Sagrada Familia (the Gaudi cathedral), but rather the beautiful and flowing buildings like Casa Mila and Casa Batllo. These buildings have to be seen to be believed and they are the highlight of this great city. What kind of mind could conceive structures like these?

The other great attraction of Barcelona is its plentiful and diverse supply of tapas bars that even rival those of the Basque region. There are so many and their menus are so extensive that you can eat several different dishes each day over the course of two weeks without fear of duplication. Ultimately there must be thousands of different dishes across the city.

So, if you are interested, here is a link to a site about Barcelona in general - http://www.barcelonaweekendbreak.net.
And this second url will take you to a main menu page that offers descriptions and photos of some of Gaudi’s many great works - http://www.barcelonaweekendbreak.net/Barcelona-Gaudi.html. Naturally there is much more to see including the busy las Ramblas (a good place to if you like lots of activity) and there is a cable car that takes you up to a park with scenic views.

Other things to see - The large market will open your eyes and the beach side complexes and huge aquarium will keep shoppers and families happy.

The nightlife is good for all ages and covers every kind of dance club through to flamenco dance shows.

A Pobra do Caraminal & Santa Cruz

2010-06-22T09:46:00.001Z

Since my postings of late have been fairly sparse, I am going to start making regular posts again, each covering (or referring to) a particular town or visitor attraction in Galicia. I will also include a link to more info for each place/attraction covered.

So, today I will start with A Pobra do Caraminal which is one of my favourite places in the region. It is in the ria de Arousa and has several tourist features.

To start with it has a harbour for the proper fishing boats and this is always interesting if they are bringing in a catch or repairing the nets. Adjacent to this there is a much more exclusive marina with plenty of exotic boats for those who like to see the better things in life.

A promenade runs the full length of the town with the marina and harbour to one end and the town’s beach over the low wall at the other. There is also loads of parking (most free) which makes getting parked up and finding your car easy – especially if you park in the large car park which sits between the town and the see front.

Another big plus for A Pobra is the alameda (see and read more at http://www.galiciaguide.com/Pobra-do-caraminal-galicia-alameda.html) which is a mix of a large paved area for concerts and fiestas plus a tree shaded garden area. It is one of the nicest in Galicia.

Quite some way north from A Pobra is the large city of la Coruna and close to it is a great castle called Santa Cruz (see http://www.galiciaguide.com/Santa-cruz-2.html).

You get to this castle on a high foot bridge as the castle sits on its own little island and protects its bay. Very close to the castle are some nice bars and restaurants and you can wonder around the castle for an hour or more quite easily. You also get good views out to see and back to the mainland (i.e. the town of Santa Cruz) – some 100 or so yards away.

Santa Cruz will make a great half day out for anyone based in la Coruna or Ferrol and it will be a good stop-off point for anyone driving down this part of the coast.

Muxia (in Galicia, Spain)

2010-06-18T17:56:00.001Z

Here is a bit of info about Muxia.

Muxia

Muxia is a great little town on the North West coast of Spain and it is in fact the most westerly point of mainland Europe.

The town has a beautiful rounded bay with a beach to one end and some impressive rock formations to the other. The town has some medieval areas and great views both out to sea and up landwards to the north.

Although not very well known outside of Spain, Muxia (the one in Galicia) is a popular seasonal holiday destination for the Spanish and in the national holiday month of August this town is flooded with people.

In terms of things to see and do, Muxia has a good location from which to visit many other coastal towns, most of which were former fishing villages. It has a very good beach with an attractive backdrop of greenery and the town has a number of small family run hotels that are economic to stay in. It has plenty of bars and tapas bars too.

The one thing that you would probably need if you plan to stay in Muxia is a car because, although you can happily relax in Muxia, you will require transport if you want to see the wider area – and this is what you should want to do.

Muxia is pretty close to the impressive city of la Coruna and you could drive inland and north to Lugo, or simply head for the regional capital city of Santiago de Compostela. Ultimately there is plenty to see.

If you want a bit more information about Muxia then you can look at this
http://www.galiciaguide.com/Muxia.html page about the town. There are a couple of photos and a bit more detail about what there is to see.

The best times to visit would be summer, but preferably outside of the busy August month.

No Galicia this year

2010-06-08T19:31:00.001Z

I miss-posted this to another blog by mistake yesterday, so here it is in the right place.

My posts have been very sparse of late and that is probably because it seems unlikely that I will be going to Galicia this year. If that is indeed the case, it will be only the second year in the last decade during which I will not have visited Galicia.

For 8 of the last 9 years I have spent around one month per year their, sometimes in a single break, but more usually spread across 3 separate trips. During the three years that Ryanair operated the Liverpool to Santiago de Compostela route we took a week in April or May, two weeks plus covering July/August and a further week in September/October.

Regrettably the Ryanair days, or at least those flying from northern destinations, are now gone and unlikely to return.

I base this upon the fact that, as a Holy year, 2010 has more visitors to Galicia (and specifically Santiago) than any regular year. Consequently, if any airline wanted to add a route to this destination, 2010 would have been the financially prudent year to do so.

Having said all of that we may yet manage to get there, however the cheap ferry to Calais followed by a two day drive down through France and then west across northern Spain is probably our only option. In truth, I think it very unlikely that we will end up taking this option.

I see that regular Galician blogger Colin Davies, who lives in Pontevedra, has just completed a Camino. I believe that he and several friends walked from Tui to Santiago Cathedral and did the trip in around a week. You can find out more at his blog http://colindavies.blogspot.com.

For information about all aspects of Galicia from how to get there to what to see and do when you arrive, see http://www.galiciaguide.com which should be a pretty comprehensive guide to the region.

Ferry from Wales to Galicia

2010-05-04T19:54:00.001Z

For anyone who is interested in ferry travel to Galicia from the UK, but who has not looked at the comments in the previous post, here is a link (with thanks to Ferrolano)
about a possible ferry to Ferrol (Galicia) from Wales:

http://ferrytime.co.uk/blog/pembrokeshire-spain-ferry-milfordhaven-wales-ferrol-galicia/

If you want to see what the different travel options from the UK to Galicia are, then check out these pages which will give you some good starting points. They primarily cover flights and airlines, but they will save you some time and effort in finding out who flies where.

http://www.galiciaguide.com/Galiciaferry.html
http://www.galiciaguide.com/Galicia-flights-2009.html

As a word of caution, this year is a special holy year in Santiago de Compostela, so prices are up and availability is down. You can find out more about the Holy year (Jacobeo 2010) on this page and the pages that lead from it:

http://www.galiciaguide.com/Santiago-index.html

Ferry and yellow!

2010-04-26T09:05:00.000Z

I don’t get too many genuine comments made to this blog, however when I do I try to publish them.

That said I appear to have failed with a comment made last week regarding a possible ferry to northern Spain from Wales. So to the sender of that message I apologise if it is not appearing on the blog. I did hit the “publish” button, but it seems to have vanished even so.

As for the possibility of a ferry route from another part of the UK, it is a new one on me – I will have to check it out. But then again I was speaking to a friend last night who told me that, with reference to the Santander crossing that was supposedly to be cancelled later this year, they have so much traffic that they have laid on a second ferry for the route. It all confuses me, but then again that is not too difficult!

That said, this year is a Jubilee year in Santiago de Compostela and that results in a massive number of walkers and pilgrims heading out to Galicia and the various towns and cities from which one of the Camino routes can be accessed. As a result, the Santander double-up may be explained by this once in every ten years (or so) event.

Other than that I can only add that tourist interest in Galicia is higher than at this time last year. However, it is still well down on the previous two or three years when the Ryanair flights were in greater abundance and departing from more airports.

Finally, for anyone looking at visiting Galicia over the next three or four weeks, I can assure you that, weather permitting, this is the best time to visit. Every hill, meadow, mountain side and the rest is ablaze with yellow from the wild brooms bushes and the large yellow daisy-like flowers that pop up everywhere. It really is quite spectacular.

Getting to Galicia in 2010

2010-04-13T08:41:00.000Z

The promotion of Northern Spain appears to have come to an almost complete halt here in the UK. Three or four years ago holiday programmes, property programmes and general interest TV shows were having a field day with Galicia, Asturias and the Basque Country - but now they are not mentioned.

Whether this is simply down to the problems with the economy and the difficulties that many Southern Spanish property owners are having I do not know. In any event some promotion of the region is long overdue and desperately in need.

I have mentioned over the last year the expense and difficulty in getting to Galicia from the UK if you live in the north of this country. The Ryanair Liverpool to Santiago de Compostela flight was cancelled (with no suggestion that it will be reinstated) and further bad news is now on the horizon for those wishing to drive to the north of Spain.

This news comes in the form of the intended cancellation (I believe in September 2010) of the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander.

This ferry route saved the need to drive down through France, some 600 miles, before reaching Spain’s north eastern most tip. In doing so it opened up northern Spain to those wishing to take their car and explore the area on four wheels.

The termination of this option, if it goes ahead as planned, will be yet another nail in the tourist coffin of Galicia and one that will undoubtedly reduce British visitor to the region still further. This at a time when tourism related businesses in the area are already facing a struggle.

Is there any good news?

Well actually yes. If you can get yourself to Galicia it will be just as unspoilt as ever and even more devoid of none Galicians than it has been for several years. For the typical Northern Spain tourist this makes it an even better option than before.

Weather and estate agents

2010-03-30T14:03:00.000Z

Rain has been constant across most of Galicia since the end of 2009. Friends who are based there permanently tell me that they have just about had enough of it, but as they are about to depart for a vacation in Florida they can expect some sun soon.

As ever I have been monitoring internet visitor traffic to Galicia and there has been a definite rise over the last month or so. There have been numerous up and downs since the beginning of the year, but from late February onwards there has been an increase.

A good long term weather projection for this year would also help, but global warming seems to be doing a good job of global cooling and the politically motivated weather forecasters do not want to let go of their obsession.

One thing that I touched on some time ago was the plight of estate agents in Galicia and of course in Spain generally. There has been a massive decrease in their numbers. Many have gone to the wall, whilst others have decided to shut up shop until things improve. Amazingly, despite this there has been no real reduction in property values in Galicia! I guess that sellers out there are prepared to weather the storm, wait for things to get better, and then hike their prices up again.

Publications covering Galicia

2010-03-02T16:59:00.001Z

I have decided that I will no longer contribute to magazines and e-magazines featuring Galicia. I have written copy, done a few interviews and contributed to numerous online and hard copy publications over the years. At one time I enjoyed it and the motivation was usually nothing more than the chance to promote the region and get a link back to my website. Additionally, up to three or four years ago the publishers that I dealt with seemed honest and as good as their word.

That said, on the last couple of occasions on which I have done this I have been unhappy with the result.

This month a fully illustrated article that I wrote was published with a dead link on the online version of the magazine. It may seem trivial, but when you spend a not inconsiderable amount of time writing the “thing” on the agreement of a backlink, and the link is then inoperative, it is very annoying.

It seems that when you give something for nothing (in monetary terms), rather than being treated correctly, you are taken advantage of. On this occasion the excuse was that it was now “too late to do anything about the error”.

Away from Galicia, but still with the north of Spain, there must have been a newspaper supplement or magazine featuring Asturias on Sunday. I saw a massive increase in traffic from about 9.00am all through the day. I could not spot any TV show covering the area, so I must conclude that there was a publication of sorts that came out that day.

I know that both Asturias and Galicia have seen severe winds over the last few days, but I have yet to speak/email friends who live there about it. No doubt I will find out the extent of any problems over the next couple of days.

A place to stay in Galicia

2010-02-09T14:15:00.002Z

I am not usually a big fan of promoting other Galicia related websites unless there is an obvious reason to do so, however I was recently contacted by the webmaster of this site http://www.lifeingalicia.com/ who also happens to have a very nice house for rent.

If you visit the site you can see a video of the house which appears to be in a very attractive setting with all of the rustic features that most people look for in a Galician holiday home. If you are interested, then visit the site using the link above and see for yourself. They have contact details on the site.

Staying with the theme of visiting Galicia, I just did a quick comparison of my visitor statistics for January 2010 compared to 2009. At the moment levels are almost exactly 10% down, but there has been a pick up over the last 2 weeks.

For anyone thinking about visiting this region what this means is that the beautiful scenery, quaint towns and stunning cities like Santiago de Compostela will be uncluttered, un-touristy and exactly what the typical Galician tourist will be hoping for.

If you are interested in an organised tour of Galicia, then contact toursofgalicia.net (Galicia Mystic Tours) where the owners and operators Rose Marie and Vicente will be able to put together a fantastic tour guided schedule for you. They will take parties of virtually any size from 2 to 200.

Publicity for Galicia

2010-01-20T15:49:00.000Z

Following on from the last post, an online travel magazine is intending to run a feature on Galicia in the month of February. Once I know a little bit more about it (including the date of availability) I will publish the details here.

At present all I know is that they are getting some outside content to go with any internal content that they may be producing themselves.

Details to follow.

Weather and visiting Galicia in 2010

2010-01-11T15:09:00.001Z

The weather across Galicia has been generally poor over the last few days, although without the severe snow that has hit much of northern Europe. That said, it may yet be on its way!

Temperature wise, cities like Pontevedra are seeing lows that are getting close to freezing right now although daytime temperatures are getting into or close to double figures (Celsius).

Ourense on the other hand is seeing sub zero lows that have a risk of snow although at the moment the trend is a rise in night time temperatures over the forthcoming week.

Up in the north, Lugo has also seen some cold nights with today forecast to have a low of minus 3 degrees (C). Again however the next week shows a gradual increase to something more pleasant.

As with much of northern Europe, cloudy winter days tend to be warmer than their equivalent and much cooler bright and sunny days.

Flights and routes – no change

As far as Ryanair is concerned it would appear that there will be no resumption of the Liverpool (or indeed the East Midlands) UK flights from 2008. No announcement has been made and, given the advanced booking periods that most airlines offer, it would seem unlikely that any new Galicia related schedules will be released now. All bad news for those wishing to visit who are not within easy travelling distance of London.

For details of flight routes to the likes of Santiago de Compostela and la Coruna you can visit this page, http://www.galiciaguide.com/Galicia-flights-2009.html which, although listing the flight routes for 2009, should still work for 2010.

If you want some holiday related information about the various places to visit in Galicia then you can try any of the following “start” pages which will give you a good picture of what Galicia and its numerous towns have to offer:

http://www.galiciaguide.com/Santiago-index.html
http://www.galiciaguide.com/Pontevedra-index.html
http://www.galiciaguide.com/Lugo-index.html

If you like the sound of Galicia and are also interested in other regions with a similar climate, scenery and lifestyle, then take a look at Asturias too. You will be able to get a feel for this region at:

http://www.asturiasguide.com/ and
http://www.visitasturias.co.uk/

Enjoy!

Galicia 2009

2010-01-05T11:01:00.002Z

I can now look back over 2009 in terms of website interest in Galicia and it makes pretty disappointing reading.

Visitor numbers were, by the end of the year, down by almost 50% and the first few days of 2010 show that theme continuing.

To what extent this relates to the recession, the cancelling of Ryanair flights and a general lack of tourist promotion of this area I do not know. However the facts speak for themselves and they spell out, in direct terms, that Galicia is far less popular now than it was in 2007.

I have written many times that the region does not promote itself adequately and, with so many other new tourist zone competitors now free from the former Eastern block, Galicia has competition that it never had before.

Unfortunately, I do not see things changing and that is bad news for a region that now has a diminishing farming and fishing economy, but a wealth of potential tourist activity.

I think that the problems really started when the BNG got into regional government 4 or 5 years ago and completely changed the direction of turgalicia – the regional tourist board. Amazingly all the outside promotion stopped and everything focussed on promoting Galicia to galicians in Galicia.

This sounds amazing to any rational human being, but the complex political agendas of the Spanish regional parties mean that nothing outside their boundaries matters – even if it has a negative effect on the regional or national economy.

Will things change and will the situation be reversed?

I doubt it very much. The north of Spain bears little resemblance to the south in terms of climate, scenery, culture or politics. Indeed, the fact that Galicia is getting far fewer tourists will be seen as a bonus for many of the regions inhabitants and even some of those who work in the tourism industry. Again you have to know the area, the politics and the people to understand how that makes sense, but somehow to many it does. In fact if I remember I will give an example, in relation to the regional language, of something that was said by my wife’s parents recently which demonstrates the insanity of regionalism perfectly.

Galician tourism!

2009-12-04T13:49:00.001Z

I have seen visitor numbers to my Galicia themed pages fall to an all time low of late.

The recession, a reduction in flight schedules and the uncertainty that looks set to continue into the New Year are all contributing factors, but I also have to wonder if Galicia might have missed the tourism boat – and if this error is self inflicted.

Four or five years ago Galicia offered a fairly unique holidaying experience. It was Spain, but not in the widely perceived sense and its climate, natural beauty and unique culture all bonded together to make a great “alternative” holiday escape destination.

Those last few years though have not seen Galicia promoted as a tourist destination.

The official organisation responsible for this, TurGalicia, is a political porn that is used primarily as one of a number of tools used to further regionalism - Something that is called nationalism in Galicia.

This regionalism argues that Galicia is in fact a nation in its own right and that its language, gallego, should be set above the conventional Spanish spoken elsewhere.

This debate is something that goes on a great length and with much animosity on many other blogs and forums and I have no intention of getting into that here.

However, one bi-product of this language promotion is that nearly all of the funding for turgalicia.es goes into thousands of “Galicia advancing” pages, but nearly all in gallego (i.e. not Spanish or any other language).

Since tourism is about bringing people and, more importantly money, from outside of your region and country this seems to defeat the object of the exercise. Turgalicia’s pages in English are limited to say the least, but their pages in Spanish are amazingly not much better.

How then can tourism in this area be adequately promoted when the very organisation responsible for it chooses to promote internally rather than to a greater audience.

Over the last 4 years we have seen a dramatic decrease in summer visitors to Galicia. We have also started to see bars and cafes actually close down because the owners no longer feel that the rewards (if any) justify the desperately long hours that they work.

Unfortunately it is hard to see any of this changing, even though the regional government is no longer one with a regionalist policy.

Tourist leaflets in other languages that were common place 5 years ago are now a rarity. It seems that fewer tourist offices cater for overseas visitors and the promotion of historic and cultural visitor attractions seems to be reducing.

So, what will next year bring for Galician tourism?

My guess is fewer visitors than this year along with a further reduction in the tourism industry and at a time when most other European regions are seeing the complete reverse.

Lithuania

2009-11-20T18:50:00.002Z

Here is a link to a site about Lithuania - http://whatsuplithuania.blogspot.com/. I think that I went to college (many years ago) with someone whose father came from there. Use this link to find out more about it.

Rosalia de Castro

2009-11-19T12:27:00.001Z

Rosalia de Castro was a famous Spanish poet from Galicia who had an extraordinary life and whose work remains popular to this day. There is a museum in the town of Padron that is dedicated to her and which uses the house in which she lived for the displays etc.

If you want to know more about her you can check out this page www.galiciaguide.com/Padron-galicia-castro.html, at the bottom of which you will find a link that goes to a separate site about her. That site has translations of her poetry and information about her life and works.

The weather in Galicia has been mixed of late, but with many dull and cloudy days, so the last month has not been a time to vacation there.

Flights to Galicia

2009-11-11T15:37:00.000Z

I have posted very little on this blog over the last 2 to 3 months, mainly because time has not permitted. But in addition to that I have had little in the way of useful or interesting information to post.

At present I am waiting to see how things pan out with the new Ryanair hub at Leeds Bradford airport.

At present there is no sign of a flight schedule to anywhere in Galicia, but with the termination of the Liverpool flight last October, and the rapid demise of the east midlands route a year earlier, it would seem a possibility that Ryanair might be looking at Leeds Bradford to either Santiago de Compostela or la Coruna airport at some time in the future.

In any event there is no news as yet, however more new flights are promised. My guess would be that any route taking in Galicia from this airport would be announced this side of 2010 to give ticket sales a chance. That said, it looks unlikely for the foreseeable future.

If any "flight" news appears I will post it here.

Our rental car in Galicia

2009-09-29T12:49:00.001Z

I think that this will be my last blog about our July/August trip to Noia and this one relates to our hire car.

Usually we get something along the lines of a Peugeot 207, but prices were so high this year that we went for the most basic car that was on offer and the result was a Fiat Panda.

Frankly I do not know what to say about this car. On the one hand it was without doubt the worst car that I have driven since my first ever car – a 1980’s something Morris Marina. But on the other hand I discovered on our return to the UK that these things only cost about £6K.

The big issue that I had with the Panda was that it was very narrow, but also very high, and every time that we went around any kind of bend or corner at more than 20mph it felt like it was going to roll over. This in turn meant that we simply did not do any of the driving and exploring in Galicia that we usually do.

In short we did less miles in this car in 23 days than we usually do in one of our one week long visits to the region. The impact of this on our vacation was quite significant as it pretty much tied us down to Noia and the surrounding area. Ultimately it went some way towards spoiling the holiday.

On the upside I do have to admit that, as a “town car”, the Panda is pretty good. Because it is short and narrow, but with a high driving position, it makes parking, tight manoeuvring and general city driving easy. It also has massive head space for someone over 6ft. That said it is not the car for anyone who wants to venture into the country or, God forbid, drive on a motorway. I would also hate to drive this car in high wind. Maybe it would blow over, or maybe it would just blow to pieces, either way, I hope that I do not have to drive one again.

So the moral of this entry is, if you want to do plenty of driving whilst on holiday do not go for the most basic and price conscious hire car!

I just hope that I take my own advice next time.

Good neighbours

2009-09-14T18:33:00.001Z

When we stay in Noia we are either based in an apartment next to the alameda, or a house that looks down on the town from the district of el Couto.

The latter is my favourite and, over the last couple of years, we have confined all of our visits there.

There are a number of reasons why I like this location and one of the main ones is the people who live in the houses opposite and close by. All have known my wife since she was a baby and all make us feel welcome during our visits. So much so that it is hard to leave the house and walk down to the town without being engaged in conversation by someone. That being a good thing of course.

Another big bonus of staying in this area is the amazing hospitality that you get to enjoy and here are two examples, both from the same lady.

Within a day of arriving we were being offered a home made empanada of any filling to be made just for us at any time that we wanted it.

What we actually suggested was that, rather than taking an empanada away with us, we eat it with the family at a time to suit them. So the following day was arranged and pork was the filling.

When we arrived the following day the empanada was ready, but we were ultimately unable to eat more than a thin slice as courses of fried and grilled squid, pimientos de pardon and king prawns preceded it. A massive Tiramisu was the dessert.

About 3 or 4 days later and, after expressing an interest in a traditional Galician stew, we got back to the house from the beach to find a note on the kitchen table.

It basically said, I have made you the stew that you wanted to try, it is on the stove and, if it has cooled down by the time that you get back, just heat it up.

Naturally it was delicious and we came home with the recipe.

Regrettably that kind of thing no longer happens here, or at least in my bit of here, so it is great to turn the clock back and experience proper neighbourhood spirit.

Giving a plug to a wholly unconnected topic, here is a site called http://www.rollergaragedoor.net/door-types.html which will tell you all about the different types of aforementioned doors.

No water!

2009-09-04T10:45:00.000Z

Going back to my rough list of things to write about, I am reminded that during our July and August break in Galicia we had some big problems with the water supply.

It started a couple of days after we arrived. We had already spotted that the main road into the town was being dug up and that the drains and main water supply were clearly visible. That, you would think, would make it difficult to break them, but then again when is a road ever dug up without some kind of catastrophe.

The next thing that we knew was that the taps were dry, the toilet would not flush and, having spoken to some neighbours, we quickly discovered that the whole central area of the town was in the same state, i.e. no water.

Water did arrive about 24 to 30 hours later, but for the following 2 to 3 days it was a dirty brown and suitable for nothing but the toilet.

Here however is where Galicia comes into its own with springs (fountains) everywhere that have fresh natural water pouring out of them.

For us it was a case of walking 20 metres to the nearest spring and filling up bottles, buckets and anything else that we could lay our hands on.

Having a shower was unfortunately out of bounds for about 3 days, so washing with cold water was something of an awakening.

The day after a full clean water supply resumed we woke up to know electricity and initially thought, “here we go gain”, however it was just one of the fuses that had tripped, so we were back in action in minutes.

I have not added any links for a while, so here is one about different types of garage door (http://rollergaragedoor.net) which “may” be of interest – but only if you are about to replace the said item.

Next post will be about one of the other items relating to our Galicia/Noia trip.

The taste of food!

2009-09-02T21:09:00.002Z

Each time that I visit Galicia I never fail to be amazed at the taste of fresh food, be it meat or vegetables.

As you get older you start to think that perhaps your senses are less acute and that the reason why chicken has no taste and peaches taste of water is because your senses are dulled.

This is not however the case and, in Galicia, eating anything from a peach to some chicken served as tapas with some drinks literally makes my mouth water. It really makes you realise that in the UK everything is sterile, treated with chemicals and probably fed with them too.

The biggest example that I can give is that having eaten the aforementioned chicken (wings) I could not stop licking my fingers. This is something that I never do and not only because the food never warrants it, but because I consider it a disgusting practice. Even so I could not stop myself from doing so.

Prawns (or shrimp if you are from the USA/Canada) are really tasty and they do not feel like water-filled lumps of cardboard. They are meaty, chewy and full of flavour. In fact when we eat them, which we do a lot, we never use a dip or a sauce, we simply sauté them in oil with garlic and that is it.

Pork, beef, and every kind of shellfish also have tastes that I remember from being a kid. It seems that food still has a taste and a texture and it also has colour too. Chicken is a yellow colour and egg yokes are orange. Peaches are large and juicy, but not watery and onions are sweet rather than acrid the way that they are in the UK.

The big question therefore has to be – what are we doing or not doing with our produce and livestock in Britain? Lamb always seems to taste pretty good and pork is generally OK, but that is about it.

One of Noia's oldest citizens

2009-08-26T14:41:00.001Z

I said that I would mention an elderly lady in Noia and so I will do so right now.

Her name is Sra Carmen de Cruz and I believe that she is 94. She was a friend of my wife’s grandmother who passed away just 2 weeks ago at age 96 and may well be the oldest living person in the town. Despite this she has all of her faculties and we have got to know her over a number of years as we walk past her house on route to the centre of town.

Initially she used to say hello to us, and then one day she asked my wife a question about her connection with the town and from that day to this we have had conversations with her every day.

One thing that is very perceptive of her is that she only ever talks to us for 5 or 6 minutes. At that stage in the conversation she wishes us a good day and says that she hopes to see us again soon.

This is a lesson that many could learn from because it means that we, for our part, always look forward to seeing her. Firstly because she is a nice lady, and secondly, because she is not one of those people who grabs hold of you and will not let you go. You always know that you can have a conversation with her without getting caught up.

I do have a photo of my wife with Sra Carmen, but I would not wish to post it without her consent.

Banesto Bank, Noia, Spain

2009-08-17T14:51:00.000Z

A number of problems have arisen since our return to the UK starting with my wife having to go back to Noia within the week for a funeral, and my computer being temporarily trashed by, would you believe it, an automatic microsoft update. It took me almost a day to find a way of getting into safe mode and running a system restore. God help any novice with the same problem.

Anyway, I set out a number of topics that I would deal with following our July/August trip and this is the first one - Banesto bank.

I opened an account with these people around 9 or 10 months ago and I was impresses with the meticulous approach to detail that they had and their apparent professionalism during the process.

10 months on they have convinced me that my initial impressions were totally wrong.

I started the account with a 100 euro deposit with the intention of making bank transfers as and when it suited me to boast the balance.

The first problem arose when it turned out that the online login details that I had been given were incomplete and this continued as it proved totally impossible to pay any money into the account.

Banesto were not however detoured by my lack of depositing action and they managed to make 4 separate charges against my totally unused account in less than 8 months.

One charge, the initial annual fee I had been informed about, however I was told quite categorically that there were no other charges. Put simply, an outright lie.

So in August I closed the account. No question was asked by the bank as to why, however both of the employees who dealt with me were decidedly rude. And, you guessed it, there was also a fee of about 18 euros to close the account.

Consequently the result was that, about 10 months after opening an account that had not been set up properly, that I was unable to access and that I could not deposit into, my initial deposit of 100 euros became around 14 euros.

Needless to say this is not a bank that I would recommend.

Next few posts

2009-08-10T12:12:00.002Z

I sometimes struggle for relevant posts, but after some time in Galicia I have a number of topics that I intend to cover. So (to make sure that I have something to refer to and help me remember them) here they are.

Banesto bank – A good way to see 100 euros disappear.

An amazing old lady (94) in Noia.

How food (i.e. meat, veg and fruit) taste different.

Terrible July and early August weather

Losing the water supply and road works – an employment plan!

Getting home to a ready meal (put in the house whilst we were out by a neighbour).

Our new favourite tapas bar in Noia and tapas ideas

Fiat Panda

Probably something on local wines too.

For now however, I am busy catching up on things that were not adressed over the last 3 weeks - the negative kick back of a holiday.

The vacation itself saw pretty awful weather, so sorry to anyone else who visited Galicia over the same period as a result of reading my seemingly "promotional" accounts of the the place.

Car rental, weather and economy

2009-07-13T13:03:00.002Z

I was looking at current car rental options out of Santiago airport over the weekend and discovered that it was only possible to hire a car form europcar for the rest of this month and next.

Every other company said “no cars available” and even europcar had a 3 week rental charge of over £1,300 and that was without excess, extra driver etc.

It seems that everything in Galicia is conspiring to detour tourists from abroad. No doubt this lack of rental car opportunities relates to the cancelling of Ryanair’s Liverpool flights. I would hate to be a hotel owner in Galicia right now.

I have also got feedback that the house market is still exceptionally quiet in the region and that there is no sign of this situation abating. This is of no great surprise as the same is true of the rest of Spain – only there the prices have dropped significantly.

Current doom and gloom forecasts suggest that it will be well into next year before the Spanish recession shows visible signs of disappearing.

Finally, as it is just a few days until we return to Galicia for a few weeks this may be my last post for a while. I dislike using cybercafés for anything that requires a password and, although I will be logging on from time to time, I suspect that this blog will be rested whilst I am away.

The weather forecast in the region still remains less than appealing, but as in most locations it is not always reliable. I certainly hope not!

Noia weather and car rental in Galicia

2009-07-10T12:45:00.000Z

Today’s weather in Noia is good with warm temperatures and plenty of sun. The seven day outlook is not however so good with temperatures dropping, cloud moving in and ultimately rain falling. Indeed, next Thursday has storms forecast which is not exactly what we had hoped for, particularly given that we arrive the following day.

I did experience a storm in Noia last April which was pretty scary in an apartment block where you tend to doubt the enforcement of Spanish building regulations. I fully expected the building to collapse (only because the noise from the shutters was so high) and I hardly slept a wink all night.

The following morning numerous boats had been destroyed or washed up on beaches, however our friends who previously lived in Florida and were accustomed to storms described it as a breeze. I guess that everything in life is relative.

Having checked our flight and car rental details I now see that we have been allocated (by Holidayautos) a rental firm that I have not previously encountered and that we are to meet this “mob” in the airport car park for pick-up. This will certainly be the last time that we use Holidayautos or fall for such an arrangement again. I am already resigned to the fact that they will attempt to dupe us and, if that is the case, we will leave without the vehicle and resolve things once back home.

My advice to anyone renting a car in Galicia is to use Hertz, Alamo, Record or another well known national or international name. The local companies are nearly all cowboys and will not supply you with the contracted car without some kind of catch. I may however be proven wrong in which case I will apologise in due course and give the name of the company in question.

Weather in Noia

2009-06-19T09:21:00.000Z

I was just looking at the weather for this weekend and I decided to checkout how things looked in Santiago/Noia. So this is their four day forecast.

Saturday – sunny and 25 degrees C
Sunday – sunny and 29 degrees C
Monday – sunny and 33 degrees C
Tuesday – sunny and 24 degrees C

It certainly looks like Galicia is the place to be over the next few days and I just hope that this kind of outlook greets us in a months time when we are there.

I have mentioned a number of times the “up and down” visitor figures/stats for my Galicia related sites and I have also contrasted them with another northern Spain guide that I run about Asturias.

Right now the Asturias site is as busy as it has ever been with more visitors and page views than ever. Interesting that the same is not quite true when it comes to Galicia.

It remains a contrast that I can only explain with the discontinuation of some of the UK to Galicia Ryanair flights, but maybe there is some other hidden reason that I know nothing about.

The other interesting thing is that I have received 3 enquiries about property in the Galicia region over the last week or two. This again seems at odds with some of the other things that are going on. Personally, I do not think that this is the best time in the world to buy property anywhere, but then again I am not in a position to do so.

The weekend

2009-06-16T13:34:00.000Z

I did indeed move past my 1,000,000th visitor to GG last week and now look forward to the next million. At present visitor rates it should be reached much more quickly. I also achieved a couple of other website milestones during the course of the same few days, but I will not bore anyone with them here.

The weekend at my in-laws proved very enjoyable and was made even more so by the unexpected presence of my wife’s youngest brother who is never short of a conversation and who has an extensive (but interestingly delivered) knowledge of gadgets, IT and many other interesting subjects.

The weekend was also enhanced by the dining which featured one of my favourites, a chicken and rice dish with prawns, squid and many other flavourings.

On the downside, my wife’s father’s excessively flowering garden did set my hayfever off for the first time this year.

The drive up and down the M1 was also interesting as our car seemed to attract a lot of attention, though fortunately in a positive way.

We are now only about a month away from our Galicia trip and I am still struggling for enthusiasm – I know not why!

Possibly because two sets of friends that we have over there are perhaps not having the best of times, but also because the holiday period seems to have been reached so quickly this year. Hopefully I will enjoy it once we are over there.

The property market!

2009-06-12T11:16:00.001Z

We will spend this weekend in North London visiting my wife’s parents before they head off to Galicia in about 10 days. I believe that they will be there till around October, so we will be seeing them again in July.

Finally we have some blue sky today and the same should be true in Noia where a hot sunny day is forecast. I hope that it proves to be the start of a long warm summer, but that may be asking too much.

I have noticed that this year has seen no mention of any northern Spanish territory on holiday programs or the many “buy a home abroad” shows that made numerous mentions of Galicia and Asturias last year.

All told this is quite surprising given the collapse of the southern Spanish property market and the relative robustness of the estate sector in the north. Then again these programs are never based on common sense or the best interests of the “would be” buyers who in most cases want nothing more than their 15 minute of TV fame.

Talking of the real estate market in Galicia I see that some estate agents there are resorting to sending out email circulars with their latest properties promoted on them. I doubt that this is a good idea as people soon become irritated by this and block the sender. A further downside to this is that google can recognise this response and may even bar the guilty email accounts.

I have also had communiqués from some southern Spanish solicitors wishing to promote there services in the north of Spain. This just reinforces how bad the property market now is in the over developed and highly overpriced south.

One million

2009-06-09T08:59:00.000Z

All being well, today should be a big day for my Galicia site as it will hit one million visitors.

The site started back in 2004 on a different domain and was transferred to its current home the next year. Since then the visitor levels have continually improved and I have seen the statcounter record visitors from many countries that I previously did not even realise existed.

Unfortunate therefore that this mini milestone happens at a time when Galicia has slumped somewhat in tourist activity, but this is true of many destinations right now.

On a different note, I sometimes mention Galician wine and I see that finally Albarino is universally available in supermarkets in the north of England, namely, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury etc. About time.

Unfortunately I was unable (because I do not like him) to watch Roger Federer win at Roland Garros, however his win is a significant achievement and means that, since Rod Laver, only he and Agassi have captured all four slams.

I do however expect Rafa to join that club in September when, if he is healthy again, he should pick up the US Open and complete the set.

We are still several weeks away from visiting Galicia this year and, as yet, I must confess to having no great desire to get there! Why I do not know, but this has been a strange year and I am struggling (like many) to get enthusiastic about anything. Hopefully something will kick-in as we get closer to the date and getting back together with friends.

Pratts

2009-06-04T22:11:00.002Z

Some time ago I had a brief, but highly irritating discourse with a pratt at wikipedia.

Wikipedia is not the fountain of knowledge as many assume, nor is any of their information validated, proof read, or indeed based on any kind of research or investigation into a source. It is simply an open access forum posing as an information resource. In short a fraud by any other name.

Back to my story – At around this time, some 2 years ago, I noticed that one of my pages had been largely copied by this mob so, as an existing account holder, I credited my stolen work rather than insist that they remove it.

To cut a long story short, All links to my site were removed by “an editor” (as also I am pleased to say was the plagiarised content), and so I thought that was an end to it.

Some time later however I spotted a statcounter link to one of my pages from the aforementioned site and a dialogue from the same pratt editor to (what I assume to be) another editor. In short it said that my site was a lightweight tourist guide with no factual content, that I was a spammer, and that no links to my site should be added!! (If you are he (Jamie whatever), then lets meet up some time. I don’t hide behind words and emails!)

2 years later I now see that new links have been added and that my “spam site” is now listed a source of reference used by this wonderful site.

What a bunch of arrogant, ill mannered, uneducated and hypocritical wan***s the editors at wikipedia are. And, like all such people, they hide behind a cloak of anonymity.