Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain

Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.   

- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'*

The Bloody Virus 

• Are you ready to be confused/worried?

- Coronavirus confinement measures may have saved 3.1 million lives across 11 European countries, including 450,000 in Spain.

- A biostatistician at Valencia University says: “These figures should be viewed skeptically. They are probably an overestimate.”

- No country is close to herd immunity. The WHO says the global pandemic is getting worse, not better. Their Europe chief said this week he fears a more deadly second wave this winter.

- The American South is already in a second wave.

- More than half of people tested in Italy's coronavirus epicentre of Bergamo have antibodies. Testing reveals that 57% of people in Bergamo and the surrounding province have come into contact with the virus

Life in Spain

• We will be living the 'new normal' from either 22 or 29 June, depending on which phase we're currently in. And this won't be as bad as we first thought, it says here. There'll be stringent security and hygiene measures but no confinement. And these will end when the virus is considered beaten. As in New Zealand, I guess. 
• One of the (many) nasty effects of Covid-19 is that it has induced a severe recession on us that is decimating Spain’s middle class. Who are about to hit with new taxes, that you might or might not be able to avoid, if you follow the advice given here.  
• If a spike is going to happen in summer here in Spain, it'ill surely be in sea-side resorts. I'm told that everywhere in nearby Sanxenxo - The Marbella of Galicia - is fully booked. Almost certainly by Madrileños fleeing their furnace.
• Meanwhile, I have to wonder about compliance with the government's regulations on mask-wearing. In the place I take my morning coffee, I'm surrounded by mask-less, wine-drinking seniors who aren't remotely 2m apart. Or possibly even 1. And none of them is wearing a mask. As with most people on O Burgo bridge yesterday. Though in this case - given it was a road bridge until recently  - it's wide enough to make it easy for everyone to be 2m from all other pedestrians. 
• I neglected to post María's Comeback Chronicle yesterday, so here's Days 29 and 30.
• I'm guessing the camino de Santiago will be open for business by July 1 but an article in the local press yesterday suggests there's pessimism about numbers until 2021's Holy/Jacobean Year. When it was originally felt there'd be more than 120,000 'pilgrims' passing through Pontevedra city. Against 5,000 only 10 years ago. Personally, I wouldn't mind it being well below 120,000. Though my friend building a new 'pilgrims'' albergue in Veggie Square would surely take a different view. Currently, he's not displeased that construction - as ever - is way behind schedule. 

The UK

• This is not England, claims Richard North here. And it's not run by a government for which he hasn't got the slightest admiration. His son expands on the theme in the article cited. At least reader Perry will agree, if no one else does.

The USA

• Donald Trump Defends OAN and Calls Out Geezergate.

The Way of the World

• Apart from hedge funds, Deliveroo, wine or beer merchants and makers of PPE, the biggest business beneficiary of pandemic has been Netflix, its regularly replenished stocks of glossy dram series ideal for lockdown.

Finally . . .

• As feared, it looks like I'm killing the 2 holly tree seedlings. Or one of them at least. I wish I knew how. Too much water? Too little water? Wrong location??

* A terrible book, by the way. Don't be tempted to buy it, unless you're a very religious Protestant.