Paulo Coelho St.

"I embarked on the pilgrimage thinking mainly of the personal quest but I discovered the Way is simplicity, contact with the people." - Paulo Coelho

The Brazilian writer was in Santiago this week where he was met by the news that he will have a street named in his honour there. His first published book, 'O Diário dum mago' was about the Way and had the Spanish title 'El peregrino a Compostela'.

Football Round Up

It has not been a great season for Galician football in all honesty. Celta Vigo’s new coach, Alejandro Menéndez, is their fourth of the season. Having given up hope of promotion to La Primera a few weeks ago, the club still needs a few more points to ensure they do not suffer consecutive relegations. Celta are just above fellow Galicians, Racing Ferrol, who have enjoyed a better second half to the season. If Racing stay up it will be a satisfactory achievement considering they were promoted last season.

Deportivo La Coruña have been in excellent form recently after a disastrous start to the season. Read my thoughts on the main reasons for the turnaround at Goal.com.

Did You Know?

Image by Barry Kay, Set Designer

Galicia and the neighbouring region of Castilla y León produce 20% of Spain's wind energy but consume only 8% of the total.

Jousting with Giants

The Long Way Round

On 1 April, two Cantabrians set out from Torun, Poland, on a trek that they hope will take them to Santiago de Compostela. Eduardo Benájes (58) and Jesús Molleda(62), expect their walk will take three months to complete.

Their route passes through Germany and France to Roncevalles on the French-Spanish border. When they arrive in Spain, they plan to opt for the Northern Way, across the Basque Country, Cantabria and Asturias. The two hardy souls have been awarded €1,000 by the Cantabrian culture department. However, they estimate their journey will cost fifteen times that amount.

La Via Regia or Regal Way, is an old medieval route connecting Eastern Europe with Paris before it heads south for Santiago. It was an old commercial route used by merchants in the Middle Ages, passing through key German cities like Leipzig and Frankfurt. This is also known in Germany as the Salt Route. Another way begins in Kiev, some 5,000 miles from Santiago de Compostela.

Rising in the Dark

As I have to get up earlier these days, I wasn't too happy when the clocks went forward. Geographically, it would make sense for Galicia to be on the same time as the UK and Portugal, but of course we are an hour ahead. According to an article in La Voz there is 40 minutes difference in the daylight hours between Catalonia in the east and Galicia in the west. I ask myself why we need to have daylight until 9pm at the end of March, while we have to get up in the dark just before 8am.

Santiago Syndrome

Psychiatrist, Jesús de la Gárdara, has studied 38 cases of "Santiago Syndrome" in the last 7 years. All the sufferers have 3 characteristics in common: they are affected by strong mystic feelings, fatigue from so much walking, and they have a history of psychiatric conditions.

70% of those who suffer from this syndrome which strikes while walking to Santiago are males. The average age of the sufferer is 40.

Symptoms include: psychiatric episodes, delirium and intense emotional disorders of a manic nature accompanied by paranoia.

The victims spent 10 days in a psychiatric unit in Burgos and only 4 of them continued with the walk. The rest went home.

Translated form an article in La Voz de Galicia, 27 Sep. 2007

The Hercules Legend

As most people know, Hercules, son of Zeus, was a nasty character who killed his wife and children and was punished by the oracle of Delphi. King Eurystheus set Hercules the task of tracking down Gerion.

Hercules used the same boat for his journey that the Sun had used on his travels. However, the Sun did not want to hand over the boat but decided it was for the best after a salvo of arrows from Hercules. On his voyage he had to threaten the Ocean who tried to sink his boat.

According to one version of the legend, Hercules came ashore in Galicia. After killing Eurition and his dog on Ons Island, where Gerion had taken refuge, the son of Zeus set out again in pursuit of the giant. Gerion arrived first at Punta Hermina. He raised his boat on his shoulders and climbed to a clifftop where he hid under the vessel to rest. But Hercules was smart and guessed his hideout.

The two giants had a fight to the death which lasted three days and three nights. Hercules decapitated his enemy and buried his head in the ground. This image appears in Coruña’s coat of arms with the skull and crossbones of Gerion. Hercules lit a bonfire as a sacrifice to Zeus. The bonfire was the original “lighthouse”, which would later become the Tower of Hercules. Legend claims that Hercules built the tower himself using the same stones he used for Gerion’s tomb.

In thanks, King Eurystheus ordered resettlement of the zone. One theory is that the city was called Cruña after the city’s first female inhabitant.