Friday 11 August 2017

Montijo - Pinhal Nova - Setubal.

That was one of the most bizarre hikes I have ever done. Melilla to Nadar excepted (nothing can be stranger than that within 20KM).

This is neither suburbia, city, nor countryside. Plots of what may appear as madness to someone who grew up on the very strictly controlled planning laws of a very Conservative Welsh Borders.

Goats. Sheep. Pigs. Spanish oaks. Mega bathroom retail warehouse. Car dealers. Pharmaceutical research centres. Fruit orchards and vegetable fields. Meat packing factories. Old little houses with their own allotments. General no-mans land turned dirt tracks. Scrap yards. Stupidly expensive new mansions and even more stupid residential gated places. All this blown constantly by a relentless, decomposing, salty Atlantic wind. Military aircraft constantly overhead... Chaotic as fuck at first glance. Anarchistic even.

But, I guess if the goat guy does his thing, the cork depot person does their thing, the pharma co manager does their thing, the bathroom place keeps selling bathrooms, the little independent smallholders keep themselves to themselves, factories are just factories. It just seems to work. The apparent mess is not relevant to everyday life here. Even the rubbish (a lot of rubbish) and the huge stray dogs seem happy enough here. Somehow, there is a very gentle harmony in all this craziness.

I suppose if everyone is going in through the out door it doesn't really matter.


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