Flats, trees, statues, food.

Well, in our flat-hunting we did finally find the one that said, “THIS IS IT!!!” A seventh floor flat with a superb view over the bay at a price that suits us. So now we have changed our routine pastime from looking at flats on the internet to getting money out of cash machines so that we can get enough together for the deposit on the flat. This is all because we closed our Spanish bank account last year as bank charges were slowly eating away at the money in the account: €15 per year just to manage a debit card that we were hardly using seemed excessive, especially as that was multiplied by two as we had a debit card each. Of course, as a result of that it is difficult for us to obtain an “aval”, a bank guarantee for the flat we now want to rent. And so we have agreed to pay a larger deposit, which brings us back to getting money out of cash machines. Such are the trials of retirees!! 

However, we are on our way to being the tenants of a very nice flat, so all is well. The young lady who showed us the flat on behalf of her mother is a fairly typical product of this region. Venezuelan by birth (and accent) but Galician by family heritage, she has qualifications in architecture but has been unemployed for the past year. Overqualified for jobs in shops, bars and restaurants, which she doesn’t want anyway, she is seriously considering emigrating but recognises that she needs to be able to speak English well if that is going to be a serious option. It’s the story of so many young people here. In the meantime she is turning her artistic abilities into making ladies’ hats and favours but she would really like to break into the British market because such fancy headgear is more commonly worn at weddings in the UK than in Spain. And then there’s even Ascot! So here is a link to her webpage.

On our way back from one of our visits to said flat we noticed that trees had been cut down in one of the streets we were walking through. We expressed our sorrow at this but thought no more of it until last night when I read an account in one of the Galicia newspapers about other places where trees are being cut down. Friends of the Earth and other ecological organisations are protesting about the “arboricidio” which is going on in Calle Enrique Lorenzo here in Vigo. Pedestrianisation here is known as “humanización” and in the process of the “humanización of that street trees have been cut down. The protests have arisen because these were healthy trees and, according to the ecology people, they were NOT causing problems with drains or other “canales de agua”. 

One of the delights of this city is the number of trees which still stand at intervals along many of the streets. It would be a great pity to lose them. 

Ecological organisations have been protesting in other areas as well. The organisation Verdegaia maintains that the Islas Atlánticas, in other words the Islas Cíes, the Isla de Ons and a couple of other islands, are not being properly looked after. They claim that tourism has become more important than protecting the natural heritage. And now, apparently, when you arrive at the Islas Cíes one of the first things you see on stepping onto the quayside are a couple of “ecology police” whose job is to check up that everyone knows how to behave on the island: no litter-dropping, no collecting shells or wild flowers and so on. Others walk the various routes around the island checking that all is well. Last weekend, according to one report I read, an unofficial, illegal, unlicensed disco was closed down in the cafe just by the landing stage. Big brother is watching the island and making sure that peace and quiet is maintained. I just hope they are doing it tactfully. Maybe it’s time for a trip to the islands to see how things are getting along: any excuse to visit that beautiful place. 

Not all is doom and gloom however. Two beaches in nearby Baiona have received praise recently. As well as being awarded Blue Flags for being good, clean beaches they got special praise for taking the initiative to become among the first tobacco-free beaches in the area. No smoking on the sand there! 

 Meanwhile, in the centre of Vigo I have discovered another place with an odd English name. This is a frozen yoghurt vendor called “Be Happy”. Is this a way of making people feel better about eating ice cream? If you eat frozen yoghurt you can claim it’s really good for you. 

Everywhere you see signs that this is summer as well; each district seems to have a stage erected for some local festivity and children’s puppet shows appear to be de rigueur. This is what you can do when you have the climate! 

We don’t mention the Olympics much. Spain doesn’t seem to be doing terribly well while the UK has been doing better than it has for a hundred years. So here’s a little comment on one of the sillier events, synchronised swimming. This cartoon is labelled “synchronised sinking”. I love it. 

Yesterday we did a fairly traditional tour of Vigo with our friend Colin and a house guest of his. Starting down by the A Laxe shopping centre, we made our way up to Puerta del Sol and along to the bottom of Gran Vía where we admired the fishermen pulling on their fishing nets. 

Then we plodded up Gran Vía to Plaza de America to see the crazy horses. Having admired a bit of Vigo statuary we moved on to the Castro to look at the view, discuss a bit of Vigo history and marvel at the rate at which sea mist was moving into the bay. 

After that we felt the need for a very cold beer to refresh us before going back down the hill to have some lunch eventually at El Puerto, one of our favourite eateries. The food was well up to standard but we felt just a little that they had taken advantage of us, serving slightly larger portions than we had really asked for and charging us accordingly. Or course we ate all that they put in front of us – who wouldn’t, when the food is so good? – but all the same it was not quite what we had ordered. 

 

Forewarned is fore-armed and we shall be more careful next time. 

But we had a good time, discussed just about everything under the sun – and there was plenty of sun – and put the world to rights between us. 

This morning the sea mist was still with us in a big way. The monstrous town hall building was invisible from the Castro which just shows that every cloud has a silver lining.