Galicia in the UK Guardian newspaper

[Jeff Crawley]

While still dodging doing my garden (the hayfever is bad this year) I was pleasantly surprised to see an article in my weekend paper featuring Galicia.

The paper version (the online one has been shortened) starts with:

Have we hit peak Camino de Santiago? Almost. according to a copy of the El Correo Gallego newspaper I found lying in a bar in the harbour town of Muxia in northwest Spain: a record 301,036 walkers completed the pilgrim trail last year - 98.6% capacity, said a professor (he doesn't say professor of what).

The article then goes on to extol the beauty and cuisine of Galicia - who knew? Why have we not been told there is a life off the Camino?

Much funnier is the online version which can be found here.

There are some horrifying comments BTL from somebody called *toadyblegh who warns that Galicia is a dangerous place to visit overrun by drug dealers and people trying to kill cyclists:

"Visitors should be advised that locals in Galicia can be quite aggressive towards outsiders. As an example https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/06/20/inenglish/1529489789_531176.html

It’s not really a safe place to take your family. There’s also a lot of drug violence and criminality because the region is a major transshipment point for cocaine."

and

"Spain may be safe(ish) but Galicia is mental. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galician_mafia
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/bna9dw/spain-is-a-paradise-for-latin-american-drug-cartels
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wo...usa-The-entry-point-of-cocaine-to-Europe.html

You may as well take your children to Bolivia or Mexico. It’s the heart of one of the most dangerous drug mafias in the world. It’s crazy and irresponsible to encourage people to take their children there knowing that they could be murdered at any moment."

The Telegraph article is 10 years old and the Telegraph is very Conservative. It appears *toadyblegh is currently in Spain but has lost his mind/meds. You are advised to steer clear if you see a Telegraph toting Englishman

 

[Annette london]

While still dodging doing my garden (the hayfever is bad this year) I was pleasantly surprised to see an article in my weekend paper featuring Galicia.

The paper version (the online one has been shortened) starts with:

Have we hit peak Camino de Santiago? Almost. according to a copy of the El Correo Gallego newspaper I found lying in a bar in the harbour town of Muxia in northwest Spain: a record 301,036 walkers completed the pilgrim trail last year - 98.6% capacity, said a professor (he doesn't say professor of what).

The article then goes on to extol the beauty and cuisine of Galicia - who knew? Why have we not been told there is a life off the Camino?

Much funnier is the online version which can be found here.

There are some horrifying comments BTL from somebody called *toadyblegh who warns that Galicia is a dangerous place to visit overrun by drug dealers and people trying to kill cyclists:

"Visitors should be advised that locals in Galicia can be quite aggressive towards outsiders. As an example https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/06/20/inenglish/1529489789_531176.html

It’s not really a safe place to take your family. There’s also a lot of drug violence and criminality because the region is a major transshipment point for cocaine."

and

"Spain may be safe(ish) but Galicia is mental. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galician_mafia
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/bna9dw/spain-is-a-paradise-for-latin-american-drug-cartels
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wo...usa-The-entry-point-of-cocaine-to-Europe.html

You may as well take your children to Bolivia or Mexico. It’s the heart of one of the most dangerous drug mafias in the world. It’s crazy and irresponsible to encourage people to take their children there knowing that they could be murdered at any moment."

The Telegraph article is 10 years old and the Telegraph is very Conservative. It appears *toadyblegh is currently in Spain but has lost his mind/meds. You are advised to steer clear if you see a Telegraph toting Englishman

Thanks for that Jeff,
It was so funny
Some of the comments were hilarious
So many of Toadyblegh comments were removed though ......would love to have seen them!!!
I can imagine the replies

As I would never ever buy the Guardian!!!
I could have so easily have missed this!!!!
So thank you
Best wishes
Annette

 

[Deleted member 43780]

Jeff,

Oh my, having grown up in Galicia (Ferrol) and Seville, (( go to Ferrol and elsewhere in Galicia every year )), I guess I must have been sleeping to have missed out on all of that. WOW

Hopefully, no one will read such trash and believe it.

Actually do hope they read and believe it so we can keep beautiful Galicia to ourselves!

So, yep, it is completely taken over by druggies and drug lords, killers, and other sorts. You will be killed the moment you step out onto the street. Especially walkers and those of bicycles. They are targeted the most!

People up there are very cold and rude. So don't approach them in a nice, polite, manner.

Stay away. Stick to the French route. It is much safer.

 

[Kanga]

As I walked into Santiago on the Via de la Plata route, I was thinking about how Galicia has changed over the last twenty years, and wondering about all the large, well built, well maintained houses with beautifully manicured gardens, and late model cars in the drive. As they are close to Santiago I thought it might have something to do with the increasing numbers of visitors, but now I know better ....

 

[Glenshiro]

I first visited Santiago de Compostella in 1989. I witnessed women doing the laundry in a communal trough in the middle of the street in a small village only a few miles outside the city. SdC itself was a provincial backwater with a magnificent, if slightly neglected, cathedral, and pilgrims were very few and far between. It was obviously poor compared with, say Barcelona or Valencia.

I returned a few years ago, and I agree with Kanga that it has changed immensely. Although some of this is undoubtedly drug money, a major change has been the attitude of the Spanish government. In Franco's day, the Galician language, like other regional languages, was outlawed (strange, as Franco was a Gallego himself) and investment in the provinces (not just Galicia) was almost non-existent. Galicia did not benefit from the tourist boom enjoyed by the Mediterranean Costas, but SdC is now a major university city and the region as a whole does well out of fishing, agriculture and tourism as well as some industry. (There is a Citroen plant at Vigo.) Spain's accession to the European Union, with its emphasis on regional and marginal assistance, in 1986 undoubtedly helped to boost the local economy. And, of course, the Camino is now a considerable source of income.

It is certainly as safe as any where in Spain, and probably safer than Barcelona or Madrid.

 

[Deleted member 43780]

I first visited Santiago de Compostella in 1989. I witnessed women doing the laundry in a communal trough in the middle of the street in a small village only a few miles outside the city. SdC itself was a provincial backwater with a magnificent, if slightly neglected, cathedral, and pilgrims were very few and far between. It was obviously poor compared with, say Barcelona or Valencia.

I returned a few years ago, and I agree with Kanga that it has changed immensely. Although some of this is undoubtedly drug money, a major change has been the attitude of the Spanish government. In Franco's day, the Galician language, like other regional languages, was outlawed (strange, as Franco was a Gallego himself) and investment in the provinces (not just Galicia) was almost non-existent. Galicia did not benefit from the tourist boom enjoyed by the Mediterranean Costas, but SdC is now a major university city and the region as a whole does well out of fishing, agriculture and tourism as well as some industry. (There is a Citroen plant at Vigo.) Spain's accession to the European Union, with its emphasis on regional and marginal assistance, in 1986 undoubtedly helped to boost the local economy. And, of course, the Camino is now a considerable source of income.

It is certainly as safe as any where in Spain, and probably safer than Barcelona or Madrid.

Glen, very good post. Best description read in a long time. Thanks.

When I lived in Galicia (Ferrol) in the early 1950s it was a totally different place compared to what you saw in 1989 and to what people see today.

The big tourist boom on the Med coast was Franco's "experiment" in the late 50s to get tourist money. He had hoped to keep the tourist boom on the coast. I could tell you other things he hoped would go and stay there, but better be PC and not say.