The way the wind is blowing

The official Catalan flag is just red and yellow stripes. This version, with a single star on a blue ground, is the symbol of the Catalan independence movement -- curiously, invented in Cuba in the early 20th century. Catalans have long been proud of their identity, but I've never seen so many of these flags flying from balconies and rooftops before. There was a huge demonstration in Barcelona on 11 September, Catalan independence day: it was estimated that 1.5 million people turned up.

As we were driving through La Bisbal last night, I saw a daubed slogan that read "Independence or death". Frankly, I think that's ridiculous. Catalans are not exactly an endangered minority. They aren't being imprisoned or tortured. Nor are they being denied democratic rights or the right to speak their language. Let's keep a sense of proportion here.

This flag was fluttering from the castle in Begur today. Begur is a nice town, which we hope to see more of ... watch this space. Although the satnav (known as Nora, short for "Just ignore 'er") eventually did us proud yesterday evening, we spent a lot of time cursing her today. I was heard to call her a stupid cow several times as she attempted to send us down farm tracks, the wrong way down one-way streets, into pedestrian-only zones, and across fields. We always have these problems in Spain -- the GPS mapping seems to be spectacularly bad here for some reason.

In the evening, we went for a stroll on the seafront in Llafranc, for old times' sake. This was the first place we ever stayed in Spain, back in 2001, and we spent a few happy evenings in the tapas bar on the seafront watching the (very limited) world go by. Sadly the tapas bar was closed this evening, so we had a jug of sangria in another bar instead, followed by some ice cream.

I really like this part of the Costa Brava. Of course, it's geared towards tourists, but nothing is overdone. There are no tower blocks, night clubs, amusement parks, or English pubs. The biggest hotel in Llafranc probably has about 40 rooms. The town has a little curving bay, a sandy beach, and a short sea front lined with modest hotels and bars. There's nothing to do there except go on boat trips, dive, lie on the beach, go for walks, and eat and drink. My sort of holiday.