With a name like that, who could resist a visit on a cool grey day? Beautiful countryside going up into cactus covered hills and Sta Catarina is pretty enough – at least the centre. Actually it’s a bit like an unripe nut; when you get to the centre there ain’t much there. Except a church….

And on the outskirts there’s an agricultural cooperative with a huge ugly building reminiscent of the industrial north.

There’s a bowling club, a school, health centre, shop, a very large crematorium and several Santa Claus hanging from balconies as if there’s been a mass suicide. Well, it must be a depressing time for the old fella – nobody can afford to buy any presents. After all, Portugal is struggling like the other European economies. Maybe they’ve sold all the inhabitants here for the slave trade – there’s hardly a sole to be seen…