On the first morning the weather was cold and grey but crucially it wasn’t raining and as I inspected the sky from the window of the room I could see that the cool conditions clearly suited the pilgrim walkers who were setting out one by one along the Comino de la Costa, a northern route of the Way of St. James, on their way to Santiago de Compostela.
After breakfast we put on our warmest clothing combinations and set off for a drive along the northern coast of Asturias, the Costa Verde.
Have Bag, Will Travel 
Got to start working on the husband to get me to this part of Spain, Andrew. I know I would love it, and he probably would too. He just needs convincing. 🙂
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It is a delightful part of Spain Jo and I am sure you would both enjoy it.
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Engaging piece, Andrew. Great aerial photo of Luarca at the top of it.
I want to zero-in on this that you wrote:
“As we watched the boats at rest I compared this to the industry in the UK where fishermen are always complaining about how difficult it is to make a living on the sea and to emphasise the point the rod and line anglers all around the port were all effortlessly dragging out more fish than an average Padstow fishing trawler”.
I am sure that is right. But it is interesting that the same grounds fished by Cornish trawlers, are also fished by SPANISH ones. They clearly think it worth their while. Catching “British” fish is a huge industry to them. They register their trawlers under British flags – Cornwall’s biggest fishing port of Newlyn now has nearly as many Spanish-owned trawlers, as British – and thus are eligible for a big chunk of the British quota. As I understand it, they don’t land all their fish in Britain: those species that are not popular in Britain are transferred at sea to a factory ship, and are shipped back to Spain.
So in other words, the little British guy in Padstow is up against a superbly organised, veritable MACHINE. We should not be too hard on him.
I cannot help wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot though. Would the Spanish fishermen accept things with the equanimity of us Brits? Oh is it that what I call “equanimity”, is in fact “abject despair”?
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/searescue/article1062537.ece
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Love, love, LOVE the pictures of boats and buildings. That curvy engineering sends a shiver up my spine. I’d have to close my eyes before I’d set a toenail on that steel wonder. Too close to heaven and… 🙂
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