January jaunts.

[Bierzo Baggie]

Managed a quick one on Thursday. Usual route around the canal. This involves first running the length of our street which I’ve recently been told that the locals call either “the donkey track” or “the gypsy track”. Didn’t see any donkey but gypsies outnumber “payos” (non-gypsies) at this end of town.
Cold, frosty but sunny; 29 minutes.

It’s funny. Bierzo’s pretty good in the sense of everybody getting along. Racism’s not really an issue here (it is in other parts of Spain). There’s a big community from the Cape Verde islands which has an Afro-Caribbean type culture (world music fans check out Cesarea Evora; mournful Portuguese vocals…brilliant stuff!). The Cape Verde crew started coming over in the 80s to work in the coal mines. They seem to be perfectly integrated in the community and nowadays you’re starting to see a fair few mixed race couples amongst the kids. One of our best local runners is Pablo, a second generation Cape Verde lad and then there’s Valdo from nearby Villablino who’s playing in La Liga for high fliers Osasuna (and was injured by nasty little Roberto Carlos the other day incidentally). Ponferrada’s last carnival queen was a Cape Verde girl.

But the gypsies always remain on the periphery, as they have done for generations.