Since 2008, writes co-guest editor Scott Shanahan at ‘Words Without Borders,’ translation from Spain’s Galician language has doubled.

While translator and co-guest editor Scott Shanahan at Words Without Borders‘ magazine this month works well in his introductory essay to stress that Galician is neither a dialect nor a transcription of Spanish or Portuguese, the Galician region in northwestern Spain is better known this year for its decree that the coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine is compulsory for all 2.7 million inhabitants.

Fines for non-compliance are reported to range from €1,000 to €60,000 (US$1,193 to $71,589), The Local reported late last month, and Spain on Sunday (March 14) marked the first anniversary of its original state of emergency declared for the pandemic’s assault.

Galicia is much better known, of course, as the end point in the Camino de Santiago at the cathedral, a World Heritage Site in the region’s capital, Santiago de Compostela.

Shanahan writes of the term morriña as being frequently translated as homesickness but likelier closer to something like estrangement. “From what Galicians feel estranged is a question with no single answer,” he writes, “but the pursuit of something like one has become a deep well of Galician literature, past and present.

Read more here