81 souls and 1000 sheep


 Every so often you need a village to have somewhere for all the tractor drivers to go to the bar and do whatever else they do when not attending to the really big fields all around.  Mezquita de Jarque is such a place. We are 1250 metres above sea level.  Currently 81 people live here.  From 1860 to 1960 it was 300-350.  It is a familiar story.



Guarding the entrance to the town, on a lonely hill top, is the Ermita de la Virgen de la Rosa. Above the doorway of this single naved solid lump of a building is the date 1758. Beyond lies the village.  The mayor is Herminio Ruffino Sancho Iñiguez of the PSOE.  Given they have five councillors, that’s one per 16 people, and less, per adult, I wonder if they are like so many English Parish Councils, just the poor souls who can be persuaded to volunteer.    Herminio, according to his profile, has been mayor since 2007, briefly served as a Member of the Argonese Parlimaent and was born in 1966.  https://www.congreso.es/ca/busqueda-de-diputados?p_p_id=diputadomodule&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&_diputadomodule_mostrarFicha=true&codParlamentario=157&idLegislatura=XIII&mostrarAgenda=false  Apparently he owns a farm and has 1000 sheep.  https://www.vozpopuli.com/espana/herminio-rufino-sancho-diputado-socialista-que-ha-dicoh-si-investidura-fijoo.html   The village website is a bit sparse and needs someone keen to work on it.



The town has a bar.  El Horno looks to have what is required; a table, a bar.  It opens from 8.45am to midnight seven days a week.  It gets 4.3 stars.  Two months ago Gorka said ‘We made a couple of tapas and they were very good. Javi attended us, very friendly and attentive at all times. Great price and perfect location.’   Roberto liked the oxtails. Jotaele was very impressed ‘We are a group of bikers who go out for lunch every Sunday, today we had to do it at Bar el Horno in Mezquita de Jorque, the lunch was fabulous, we hadn't had such a good lunch for days, the lady was very friendly, and the price was very good, we will return more often, thank you’



The church of San Lorenzo Martir is at the other end of the village. It appears to be of 17th century origin.



Look, I can tell by all the reproachful looks I’m getting I have missed something out.  Yes, four days ago was  Galician Literature Day and I missed it out and it, just, a little bit older than I am and it was four days ago.  Funnily enough the English wiki page seems to have more on it than the Spanish version.  The Galaician one has less writing but pictures of all the people who it is dedicated to.  Usually it is one per year.  This year it has been dedicated to the women who kept the oral traditions of the language alive through song.  https://academia.gal/-/as-letras-galegas-2025-na-rede-da-tradicion-a-vangarda



With a song in our hearts we will move on to another day.

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