Definitely the last word on the Miss Spain contest – Given that almost every one of the young women was an Identikit Hispanic beauty - of almost the same dark features, height and measurements - it was exceptionally hard to choose between them. However, before I went to bed, I decided that Miss Lleida did, in fact, stand out from the crowd. So it was a bit of a surprise to read the next day that she’d come second, behind a contestant whose only real distinction seemed to be that she was slightly below the average. The Spanish rumour mill, always working overtime, later theorised that this had been because the judges’ panel had included several ex-beauties whose TV careers depended on not being too threatened by newcomers. As if!

This is, of course, Holy Week and in Spain it is marked by religious processions throughout the country, some of them even more spectacular than the others. I won’t be thanked for saying this but they always put me in mind of the Islamic processions I’ve seen in the Middle East. Especially the penitential ones. One wonders why.

Here in Pontevedra there were mechanical problems on Tuesday with the carriage bearing the statue of The Blessed Virgin of Hope. In brief, its attempts to get out of the church into the street were, well, hopeless. Another divine practical joke, like this week’s rains.