A confusion of deer and packages

 It is a bit of a day of straight lines and rolling roads.  After all the excitement of yesterday I think we might need some restful views.

We are passing La Torrecilla. It is an agrochemical supplier and maybe we need some of this to level us. Someone has posted a starry sky and a deer but they don’t say why.   Not one else does so we may never know what is going on.

We end the day in Poblete. Its wiki English play carries the warning ‘This article relies largely or entirely on a single source’  This is the entire British coverage.  Poblete is a municipality in Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. As of 2021 it has a population of 2,746.’ Of the other 36 languages the Spanish has these tit bits.##

As of 2025 2998 people lived here. You’d think they could have offered a young couple a few euros to move in to make the maths simpler. Our friend the GSH Dictionary reported the following in the mid nineteenth century.

‘It has 95 earthen houses ; a parish church (Santa Maria Magdalena), with a curacy of entry and ordinary provision; a school endowed with 2,200 reales from public funds, which is attended by 20 boys; another private school for girls in which 12 are educated and the cemetery on the outskirts: it is supplied with drinking water from the wells of the houses. Products : durum wheat, wheat, rye, barley, and legumes; mules and cattle are kept, and fish are raised in the river. Industry and commerce : a flour mill in Albalá and a grocery store. Population : 105 households, 525 inhabitants. The town council of this town was created in March 1843, having been dependent until that time on Ciudad Real, as its mayor. 

As villages go this is a place which has embraced the 21st century.  The population bumbled around between 500 and 600 from 1857 to 1940, toyed with the idea of 700ish in the 1940s to 1960s, declined a little and shot up after 2000 - presumably as a result of improving transport.

The A41 sweeps round the town, the N-420 goes through the middle.  The Plaza de la Constitución contains the town hall. It scores an impressive 4.4 stars, good for a municipal building.  Jose was an unhappy exception a year ago.  He wr
eople say why they are miffed or moved to happiness but three years ago Jose said ‘Mercedes is amazing, always willing to help, we have a fantastic City Council ‘  https://www.poblete.es/  

We are passing Pan Real.  It gets 4.2 stars and 543 reviews.  Santi was happy. ‘Everything was delicious. The service was wonderful. It's a bit pricey, but the quality is worth it.’   Javier was in pizza heaven.  ‘The best pizzas in the whole area! If Ramón makes it, then it's absolutely spectacular, haha! Fast, friendly service with all the charm you could imagine! Highly recommended! ‘

Let us end the day in the library. The Biblioteca Publica Municipal de Poblete has eight reviews.  Rosa was grumpy in a ‘I’m going to get it all off my chest’ sort of a way.  ‘Let's see if you change the damn opening hours. Between the days you're closed and the new summer schedule, you don't know when to come, it's always closed! Damn, to pick up a package, how inefficient to take the Citypaq out onto the street. Oh my God! ‘  You want the reply, don’t you. ‘Dear Rosa, we apologize for any inconvenience caused, but the Citypaq service is not managed by the Library; it is the responsibility of Correos (the Spanish postal service). We do our best to keep our opening hours up to date. Best regards. ‘

Eight years ago Alexmtb said ‘It's always very quiet and they have many books to read for all ages’.  I think we can go with that.