When the day dawned at 8.45 this morning, nothing happened; it stayed as black as night. The reason, of course, is that the Atlantic had decided to drop on us again. I wonder if this happens in last year’s version of ‘the new Tuscany'. Or in ‘old Tuscany’ itself.

No politician loses his grip on reality quicker than a nationalist demagogue. The latest madness to come out of Catalunia is a proposal that immigrants should earn full social security entitlements on the basis of points gained for various personal developments. Figuring prominently would be the need to learn Catalan. But nul points for Spanish, of course.

In the UK, the pursuit of a risk-free society has led to the madness of a Health and Safety Gestapo. Happily, Spain is nowhere near this state of affairs. But one does occasionally regret a certain lack of seriousness. Having bought some hedge-cutters yesterday, I then reduced the shop assistant to a state of utter consternation by asking where the safety glasses might be.

Galicia Facts

The average height of the Galician male is now 1.74 metres, the same as for Spain as a whole. This compares with1.68/1.69 in 1975 and 1.62/1.63 in 1920. For Americans and Brits of my generation, these are roughly 5’9”, 5’7” and 5’5”.

According to a local newspaper, ‘Galicia and Wales [Pais de Gales] have more in common than their name, their culture, their cuisine and their ‘idiosyncrasies’. Hence the establishment of a Centre of Galician Studies in Bangor, North Wales. This will 'make available courses on Galician language, contemporary narrative and politics for students of Hispanic Studies. It will also promote the Galician language and culture through a series of joint projects with the Department of Welsh Studies at the University. In particular, the Centre will launch a Writers in Residence Scheme for new Galician writers, who will be invited to stay in the region and participate in seminars, workshops and round tables with local academics, students, translators and writers'. What they won’t be doing, of course, is looking for any similarities between the Welsh and Galician languages, as they are non-existent.