Spanish views from a small town

Today is the sad anniversary of the train accident at Angrois, entering Santiago. Seven years ago, on a misty eve of the Apostle St. James, a train came around a sharp curve at almost two hundred kilometers per hour, where the limit was eighty. It derailed, car piled upon car, and eighty people died, a hundred forty four were injured. That night, the revellers awaiting the fireworks in front of St. James cathedral were told there would be no fireworks and no joy. Neighbors climbed down to the train tracks and tried to help people out of the wreckage. Others brought blankets and coffee to comfort stricken passengers. Ambulances came and went continuously, and firefighters and local police crawled through the crumpled cars, searching for survivors.  It was one of the worst accidents in Spanish rail history. The worst happened back in January, 1944, in Torre del Bierzo, where a mail and passenger train collided head on with a locomotive inside a tunnel, and another cargo train ram...

Yesterday, a Guardia Civil patrol car was stopping cars in A Estrada, on the lookout for a gang of housebreakers that had been working in the surrounding area. They had a car pulled over, one of the officers was standing by the stopped car, the other inside the patrol car checking the papers of the pulled-over driver. Suddenly, a small van came careening towards them, took a glancing hit off the officer standing outside, and slammed into the patrol car.  At first glance, it seemed like a story of revenge and opportunity. How many times haven't many of us who drive and have been stopped by Tráfico dreamed of gunning down one of the green and white cars? But, apparently, the woman who was driving had suddenly lost control of her van and crashed. She did have an anxiety attack, so perhaps it was just an accident. But there have been others that weren't. Like in Gondomar a couple of years ago. One winter evening, a driver was stopped after seeing a flash behind him. The flash ...