Spanish views from a small town

It's another grey morning. The clouds are supposed to part this afternoon, and the skies are supposed to improve this week, though temperatures are not expected to exceed a maximum of 26ºC/78ºF on any day. And the regional forecast page, Meteogalica, predicts an increase in the chance of rain by next weekend, and the lowering of temperatures. Again. At this rate, we'll get our summer in October. Today is the patron saint of Spain, and the day we celebrate our region. It's the day of the apostle Saint James the Great, supposedly buried at the cathedral in Santiago. He has various names in Spanish, from Jaime to Diego to Jacobo to Xácome to Jaume to Iago. And all those versions come from the original Ya'akov, latinized to Iacobus.  He became the patron saint of the unifying "Spanish" armies (Spain as a country did not exist at this time, merely small kingdoms, such as Asturias, or León.) during the Reconquest, when, at the Battle of Clavijo, he appeared to the A...

The European agency in charge of the vaccines has declared that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe to use. That means that next week people will continue to be called up to receive it. Yes, the recent cases of thromboses were probably related to the vaccine. But the number that occurred, compared to the number of vaccines administered, is not worrying. Every vaccine, every medication, has some possible side effects, some very serious. It's a question of monitoring oneself, knowing when to go to the doctor, and just living. The probabilities of dying or suffering disabilities are much higher from Covid than from the vaccine. Everything we do in life has risk; the vaccine is less risky than the illness. This holiday weekend (today is St. Joseph's Day - a holiday and Father's Day), and on Holy Week, we will be able to wander around our own region, but not between regions. So, in Galicia, we can go on holiday to Ourense, but not to Ponferrada, just over the border in Castilla-León...

Today is Constitution Day, the day the latest constitution was ratified in 1978. It's a holiday, one of many this month. The day after tomorrow is also a holiday, though I don't know why it still is, in a lay state like Spain is supposed to be. December 8th is the day of the Immaculate Conception. Later on this month, besides Christmas D ay, the 24th is a half day because everything closes early for families to eat Christmas Eve dinner together. The 31st is another half day for people to sit around the table together again.  I suppose when Spain made the change to a monarchical representative democracy (it's a mouthful, but it describes our government), there was a need to stop and celebrate it every year. It just so happened that the latest constitution was ratified on December 6th. I wish it had been ratified on August 6th, then we'd have another holiday in the summer. Spain, though not generally known for its liberal thinking, has had quite a few constitutions, ...

Today is the celebration of St. James the Greater, apostle and brother to St. John the Evangelist; patron saint of Spain and the reason for the existence of the city of Santiago de Compostela. We take saints seriously here. It's a holiday in the region of Galicia and our "national" holiday in which we celebrate our region and its history and culture. (Every region has its "national" holiday, generally on the day of a saint special to the region.) Unfortunately for the general public, this year it falls on a Saturday so those who don't work on Saturday have no extra day off this summer.  St. James is attributed with having preached the gospel in Spain and northern Portugal. While he was in Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza) the Virgin Mary apparently appeared to him upon a pillar and told him to go back to Judea. He did and was subsequently martyred. With one stone we have the birth of two legends. One is of the Virgin of the Pillar ( Virgen del Pilar ), venerated i...