Reflections on Galicia
'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'
Pete Bernfeld
Tue 12 Aug 2008 17:20
having sprinted through northern Portugal, and think about the trip so
far, which is mainly Galicia.
This time, I had a very leisurely time through the Rias and visited more
places than I did last trip (13 years ago). Interestingly, I visited all
the places I went last time so I could see what's changed and what's the
same, plus I visited a lot of new places.
On the whole the weather was pretty good, most days shorts & tee shirt
weather. There has been a lot of development in the Rias, both aquatic and
land-based. Many holiday apartment blocks have sprung up and apparently
major new roads have been built. Virtually all the land-based visitors
were Spanish, the area is a major holiday area. There seemed to be an air
of increased prosperity, not just in the larger towns but generally.
Everybody was friendly and tolerant of my attempts at Spanish (or should
that be 'Spanglish'?), even in places like Combarro that were obviously
'tourist traps'. Even, dare I say it, the fishermen seemed friendlier and
less inclined to come very close at high speed than they were previously.
There were not so many larger fishing boats in evidence, so I guess they
have their fishing quotas too.
There were a lot more Spanish-flagged boats than previously and many more
marinas. Most of the marinas had plenty of available space, although their
prices were only slightly less than the UK. Why anybody would want to go
into a marina when anchoring is free and for the most part trouble-free I
don't know. Almost all the Spanish boats went into marinas, a bit like
south coast sailors in the UK I suppose. I wonder what will happen if
there really is a general economic downturn?
The only disappointment I had was Bayona. The town has really expanded
(although the old town remains untouched) and is full of hustle & bustle.
It was about the only town that had lengthy 'siestas' when most of the
shops were shut and I have to say that the people were perhaps not as
friendly as in other places (some were, of course). I personally had no
dealings with either of the marinas but a British yacht that did was made
to feel very unwelcome. They were anchored, but wanted to use the
bar/restaurant and other facilities but were basically told to 'go away'.
That included not allowing them to buy fuel....amazing! The 'Yate club'
always has been a bit 'hifalutin' but I was really surprised at the other
establishment.
Shopping was not brilliant, but certainly adequate. Eating out could get
expensive, rapidly, if you didn't keep a firm eye on what you were
ordering. personally I'm not a great fan of Spanish cooking, so I was
happy to mainly eat on board. Total costs for July were 275 euros, really
cheap. To be realistic, I probably used another 130 euros worth of fuel,
but still good.
All in all, I enjoyed the Rias more than I anticipated. True I had time to
kill so I really dawdled and I had a very frugal time, partly because I
wanted to see how little it was possible to get by on and still have a
reasonable time and partly because I knew that the social side would pick
up when Moonshiner caught up with me.
To finish on a high note, I've just had an email from Broadblue who have
arranged to have my control cable to the gearbox replaced under warranty.
Hope you're all having a good time, wherever you are.