Well, today is the first day of Pontevedra's Big Week, or Semana Grande. Of course, we've had street events and even bullfights for a several weeks now but this is when things really get serious. So, if you don't like large, drunken crowds and specifically don't want to run the risk of being stained with wine, tonight is the night to stay away Pontevedra. Even though the Mago de Oz [Wizard of Oz] are playing in the main square. Or possibly because.

Across the river here in Poio, the private club, El Casino, tonight holds its annual Peregrina ball. This is a rather more sedate, less raucous affair and the highlight will be the 'coming out' of what used to be called 'debs' in the UK, when such events still took place there. The Spanish term for this ceremony seems to be La puesta a larga. Which might be literally translated as 'The putting at large'. No wonder they used to prefer 'coming out' in Britain.

A survey from La Caixa savings bank reveals that Pontevedra has a bar for every 104 people, or twice as many as there are pharmacies. Putting this more widely, each of Galicia's 315 councils has 84 bars, against a national average of 43. When it comes to bank branches, we have 8 per council, compared with a national average of 5. Which suggests a lot of money in a poor region. Can it all be down to tourism? Or could it possibly be the Colombian connection? Proving the truth of Bacon's adage that 'Money is like muck; no good unless you spread it.'

I had thought to mention a couple of days ago that there was little in the news at the moment - in local newspapers at least - except reports on fiestas, road accidents and plans for new roads and roundabouts. But that was before today's edition of the Diario de Pontevedra presented us with a special Fiesta Section running to - and I kid you not - 80 pages. I did say things start to get serious today.

And, finally, a special treat - Click here for a 2 minute airborne trip around Pontevedra. If you look hard enough, you'll briefly glimpse the famous Savoy Café, just SW of the [unrefurbished] Peregrina chapel. And I am under one of the awnings in the café to the side of the main square. But that's not all . If you really concentrate, you can see my country cottage in the hills behind the city. Honest.