Dawn

Dawn

Monday, August 22, 2005

At Vigo airport there’s a special parking facility just across from the terminal. The first 10 minutes are free but thereafter you have to be Croesus to afford the rates. Today, the access lane to this was occupied by 23 taxis, making things difficult for those trying to enter and impossible for those keen to exit before the 10 minutes is exceeded. I couldn’t make out whether this was a protest, an act of Spanish pragmatism or the first example I’ve seen of group individualismo.

Forest fires continue to rage throughout Galicia, with a total of 35 registered yesterday. The media insists that 90% of these are deliberate, an assertion backed by the arrest of 277 pyromaniacs throughout Spain so far this year. Things may ease off after tomorrow, when my younger daughter arrives. As I feared, rain is forecast for her stay.

It seems we get a better class of tourist in Galicia. True, we only get 3% of the country’s total but they each spend 28% more than the average. Of course, this could just be a reflection of the high prices charged for the shellfish, seafood and Albariño wine in which the region specialises.

That said, this year’s Albariño grape harvest is predicted to be a bumper one, fractionally down on 2004’s record. So it’s second chance for the producers of the end product to lower their prices and increase the volume of sales, outside Spain especially. Are we holding our breath? No, we aren’t.

Finally, I’m indebted to my friend Andrew for this photo of a sign which shows the cost of a new road down to the centimo level. As I’ve said before, in a country where precision is accorded slightly less importance than elsewhere, this quest for absolute accuracy is all the more impressive, if somewhat lacking in credibility.

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