Portomarin Bridge Closure

naplesdon

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Paul Garland has posted a notice on Facebook that the Portomarin Bridge will be close on 1 April for seismic stress testing. Pilgrims can cross the Mino on the lower Roman bridge but without their backpacks. The packs will be subject to a security scanner and passed over the river on a zip-wire. The Concello de Portomarin has already apologized for any disruptions and delays to foot traffic this might cause
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.

davejsy

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Paul Garland has posted a notice on Facebook that the Portomarin Bridge will be close on 1 April for seismic stress testing. Pilgrims can cross the Mino on the lower Roman bridge but without their backpacks. The packs will be subject to a security scanner and passed over the river on a zip-wire. The Concello de Portomarin has already apologized for any disruptions and delays to foot traffic this might cause
Is it possible for the pilgrims to also utilise the zip-wire 🙏
 
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Mar 18, 2012
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Paul Garland has posted a notice on Facebook that the Portomarin Bridge will be close on 1 April for seismic stress testing. Pilgrims can cross the Mino on the lower Roman bridge but without their backpacks. The packs will be subject to a security scanner and passed over the river on a zip-wire. The Concello de Portomarin has already apologized for any disruptions and delays to foot traffic this might cause
Scary. My heart goes out to pilgrims with a fear of falling off bridges because there are no security barriers on either side of the Roman bridge. I know because I've walked on it.

Maybe better spend an extra night in Sarria or stop for the day in one of the villages before Portmarín until the day of the seismic stress testing of the Portomarín bridge has ended?

Portomarin Seismic Test Day.jpg
With thanks to Paul Garland on FB.
 

donalomahony

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"Camino from 2013 to 2019" paused for now...
Paul Garland has posted a notice on Facebook that the Portomarin Bridge will be close on 1 April for seismic stress testing. Pilgrims can cross the Mino on the lower Roman bridge but without their backpacks. The packs will be subject to a security scanner and passed over the river on a zip-wire. The Concello de Portomarin has already apologized for any disruptions and delays to foot traffic this might cause
Boom, 💥
 
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Bradypus

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Too many and too often!
But only for us foreigners. Today is not special for the locals, they would not "get it", afaik for them it is a day in December. The 28th I think. 🤓☺️
Apparently there is a Galician tradition for 1 April too. Unless this article is also an elaborate joke. Wheels within wheels?.... :cool:

 
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Apparently there is a Galician tradition for 1 April too. Unless this article is also an elaborate joke. Wheels within wheels?.... :cool:
I didn't know that! Apparently, it is an older tradition that seems to have died out, being replaced by the national Spanish tradition. They are apparently trying to revive it in Galicia. So it is not an Anglo-saxon/French/other European import. At least not a recent one! I love the name: "Day when donkeys go to where they don't have to go."
 
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.

Pelegrin

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I didn't know that! Apparently, it is an older tradition that seems to have died out, being replaced by the national Spanish tradition. They are apparently trying to revive it in Galicia. So it is not an Anglo-saxon/French/other European import. At least not a recent one! I love the name: "Day when donkeys go to where they don't have to go."
I didn't know that either.
 
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Pelegrin

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Portomarin is the very location for today:
- It is not a harbour, despite the name of "porto".
- It is even not seaside, while called "marin".
- Its several centuries old church has been built on 1962...
In Galician, "Porto" is also a place on a river where people and cattle can cross walking on the water. In English is ford ( Oxford) and in German is " furt" (Frankfurt) where Frank I think is "free". Obviously the translation of Frankfurt into Italian "Francoforte" is wrong.
 
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Bert45

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Sometime ago BBC did a very convincing report about the failure of the Spaghetti crop in Italy.
They said it was caused by a late frost.
It was Panorama and it was 1957. In those days you could get spaghetti in packets that were about 2 feet long, maybe a bit longer, wrapped in blue paper. But for the joke, they must have softened the pasta in the middle to hang each length over a branch of the tree. Now spaghetti only seems to be available in packs about 1 foot long.
 
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dick bird

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In those days you could get spaghetti in packets that were about 2 feet long, maybe a bit longer, wrapped in blue paper.
Or in a turquoise coloured can marked ´57 varieties´ with an orangey coloured gloop that may once have had an encounter with a tomato. We usually had it on toast. Our cat thought it was Kit-e-kat because the tin was the same colour. The spoof was all the more convincing because it was narrated by Richard Dimbleby, a voice so august and respected he was almost royalty. They don´t make them like that any more.
 
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Maybe better spend an extra night in Sarria or stop for the day in one of the villages before Portmarín until the day of the seismic stress testing of the Portomarín bridge has ended?
I had been tempted to add “Or would this be a foolish thing to do?” but I didn’t because I thought it would have been too much of a clue that the seismic stress testing day of Portomarín was a 1st of April joke.
a day in December. The 28th I think
The traditional day in Spain for jokes of the 1st of April kind is the 28th of December, the Dia de los Inocentes.
The featured menu del dia today is poisson d'avril
“Poisson d’avril” means “April fish” in English and is the French name for 1st of April jokes.

Until next year when we can say again “April, April!” which is the German way of saying “Do you know what date it is today?” 😊
 
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MariaSP

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I didn't know that! Apparently, it is an older tradition that seems to have died out, being replaced by the national Spanish tradition. They are apparently trying to revive it in Galicia. So it is not an Anglo-saxon/French/other European import. At least not a recent one! I love the name: "Day when donkeys go to where they don't have to go."
I'm Galician and I never heard about this until recently. As a child, I very much looked forward to December 28 and spent the previous weeks planning all sorts of pranks 😂
 
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Pelegrin

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In Galician, "Porto" is also a place on a river where people and cattle can cross walking on the water. In English is ford ( Oxford) and in German is " furt" (Frankfurt) where Frank I think is "free". Obviously the translation of Frankfurt into Italian "Francoforte" is wrong.
Following with this ( sorry) the Italian cofusion with furt /forte was also in Spain with Portomarin/ Puertomarin that was the official name before democracy. Puerto in Spanish doesn' t never mean ford, which is " vado" in Spanish. In Italian is " guado".
 
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MariaSP

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So you never put a donkey on your back? (From the article in gallego cited above). 🤣
Not that I'm aware of. The idea is to stick a paper donkey on someone else's back. On December 28 we stick a little paper person. I'm sure I tried to do that as a child. Just people, no donkeys 🤷🏻‍♀️
 

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