Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
- Christopher Howse: 'A Pilgrim in Spain'
Covid
Germany: For one reason and another, at 8%, the vaccination rate is well below the (poor) EU average of 12%. Not surprising then, that in the face of a 3rd wave of several variants, another national lockdown is imminent. Things probably wont be helped by the thousands returning home after an Easter break in Madrid or the Balearic Islands.
The EU: Meanwhile, this is the Times' take on the current situation. I've no idea if it's an exaggeration or not: Europe has slipped further into vaccine chaos after France continued to question the safety of the AZ jab and Germany said that EU delays meant there were not enough doses to avert a 3rd wave. The German health minister has said that vaccine shortfalls have left lockdowns as the only defence against a new wave sweeping across Europe. “We are in the 3rd wave, the numbers are rising, and the proportion of mutations is large", he added. “There is not yet enough vaccine in Europe to stop the 3rd wave through vaccination alone. Even if the deliveries from EU orders now come reliably, it will still take several weeks until the risk groups are fully vaccinated. Only then can we also talk about the broader opening of society. So we will still need a lot of staying power.”
Spain: One wonders how many of the French and German trippers have brought the latest variants with them and what impact this will have on the infection rate here.
The UK: Who'd bet against increased restriction on EU visitors?
Cosas de España
If, like me, you don't follow Spanish politics very closely, this article will be useful as an update after a 'tumultuous week'. It's depressing to note that the PP president of the Madrid region is perfectly happy to have a pact with the far-right Vox party to stay in power.
Hmm. According to a new documentary, Franco stole nuclear weapons secrets from his American allies as he pushed Spain to develop its own arsenal, according to research showing how close the fascist dictator came to getting the bomb. His regime used the Palomares incident in 1966, when a US plane dropped four hydrogen bombs in a refuelling accident over the Mediterranean, to gather fragments of the weapons to further the 'Islero Project'. I guess he failed.
Lenox Napier gives us an entertaining picture of his latest hometown here. It doesn't exactly stimulate me to make the trip to see him I've been planning for whenever. But, on the other hand, it was never going to be touristy trip. And I can visit nearby Almería city. And I've always wanted to see the miles and miles of plastic sheeting down there.
Sangría: I'm not sure I haven't already posted this guidance from the admirable Mac75 on how to make this.
Cousas de Galiza
Some answers to Easter-time questions from the Diario de Pontevedra. Pick your own inconsistencies:-
Q. Can I go from Pontevedra to La Coruña?
A. Yes
Q. Can I go outside Galicia?
A. No
Q. I'm in Madrid, can I go to my holiday home in Galicia?
A. No
Q. Can I go back home to Galicia from my uni outside the region?
A. Yes
Q. Can I go to my parents' house if I don't live with them?
A. No
Q. Can my partner visit me in my home?
A: Yes, if you live in different houses.
Q. Are there more exceptions?
A. Yes. Anyone who lives alone can visit any other person who lives alone.
Q. Can I have my friends come to eat in my village property or in a garden
A. No, not if it's a private house.
Q. Can people who don't live together hire a rural guest-house?
A. Yes. But only 4 people inside it.
Q. We are 6 friends. Can we drink together in a bar?
A. Inside only 4. On a terrace 6 is OK.
Q. Can 6 of us meet in the street or go on a picnic'
A. Yes. It's outside
Q. Will there be processions?
A. No.
Maria's Tsunami: Days 46&47. With a pertinent comment on the Madrid scene.
The UK
Just in case you subscribe to the myth that the Magna Carta of 1217 was the foundation of Britain's parliamentary democracy, here's something about a 1258 development which is said to be a much better candidate for this honour. Most interestingly, they were the first government documents published in English after the Norman invasion of 1066 - the beginning of the end of French as the country's official language. Though not its (Latinate) influence on English vocabulary, of course,
The Way of the World
An experience of the UK's outrageously expensive but far-less-than-perfect Test & Trace system: My father was taken into hospital last week and found to be Covid positive. Two days later the landline rang; it was Test and Trace to inform him he'd tested positive. Which he kind of knew but still. The caller then politely asked if it was OK to refer to my octogenarian dad as “he”, or was another pronoun preferred? Every teenager I have retold this to has been mightily impressed. Dear dog.
A woke chap's view of our obligation. Why it’s time to join Generation Woke
Spanish
Here's a shortish list of Spanish proverbs, with their (alleged) English equivalents. You'll have to add the accents to the Spanish versions.
Finally . . .
Useful to have this confirmed but it's possibly oldish news . . . Electric hand dryers have officially been shown to leave poorly washed hands dirtier than old-fashioned paper towels.