And, Lo, has caught the Sultan’s Turret in a Noose of Light
Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable
– Christopher Howse: ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’
Cosas d España/Galiza
This has been a week for insulting leading EU politicians:-
1. The chap responsible for the fishing ban was called – by an angry Gallego – an ignorant peasant/rustic/country-dweller who knows nothing about fish,
and
2. The EU president was referred to as a failed German defence minister, the product of a wealthy elite who was shoehorned into the EU’s top job without a single vote cast.
The foto I posted of the odd stalls yesterday was taken in Plaza de Teucro, named after the (mythical) Greek founder of Pv city. On the right is a bar called Banana. When open, they have 2 illuminated statues of naked Greek women outside. Or, rather, they did have. Last Friday night, the last 3 drinkers ran off with one of them, valued at €3,000.
Bizarrely, virtually everyone I passed last night walking out of the city was speaking English. I guess they could all be here for the urban talk-fest. There’s 450 ‘experts’ from 41 countries.
A chap down South, accused of public indecency, turned up a the court stark naked. Some sort of protest, I guess.
More interestingly/relevantly . . . An electric car caught fire in Vigo a couple of days ago. The cause is thought to be a short circuit in a battery. Apparently something that happens from time to time . . . Worrying.
The UK
This is a fascinating article on the British obsession with the USA and a stupid belief that the UK is much the same as that vibrant country. Says the author: It is a kind of patriotism, I suppose, to mistake your nation for a superpower. I was pleased to see his rejection of the ludicrous view that Brits – especially Brexiteers – dream of restoring their lost empire.
English
My thanks to reader David for these examples of English-stretching, from the US I guess.
Brain Stretching: A coffee break, says David
Personal Brainer: The person who leads the brainsStretching exercises.
Fascist: Someone has said that this word is now so devalued that it is now means only: ’Someone who doesn’t agree with me’. I noted this in Spain about 20 years ago.
Finally . . . .
I am a 3rd of the way down to Madrid, where my daughter is not expecting me today. I hope she doesn’t have a heart attack. The rain and fog chose to return today, after several months’ absence. Which is aa tad annoying. But at least I don’t have sun in my eyes.
To amuse . . .
For new readers: If you’ve landed here looking for info on Galicia or Pontevedra, try here. If you’re passing through Pontevedra on the Camino, you’ll find a guide to the city there.
Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain 
Regardless of anyone’s definition of Fascism. It is on the rise in Europe and elsewhere. It comes in different flavours and rears its ugly head alongside its cousin Grievance. We should all be alarmed by it. After all, the Italian people just elected Mussolina. We ‘the people’ have a short memory, history doesn’t! D.
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“I was pleased to see his rejection of the ludicrous view that Brits – especially Brexiteers – dream of restoring their lost empire.” I have never ever heard anyone say that. And if I have it is was surely just meant as a simplification, a shortcut to express something much more subtle, which is that Britain – or some people in Britain -have been struggling for decades to adjust to the grim reality (grim for them) of seemingly unending decline. And that is what is behind Brexit (at least for the minority of messianic radical brexiteers that populate the pages of the Telegraph and the Daily Mail): a view that Britain is better off on its own because of its brilliant past (the Blitz, the Bill of Rights and the Spinning Jenny all in one). For the vast majority, who voted for Brexit, it was all about xenophobia and desperation at their own poverty – poverty which fuelled the xenophobia. Brexit, as we all can see now, will make them even poorer.
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Not sure who you mean when you say you’ve never heard that. I’ve heard Spaniards say it about Brits and British ‘Remainers’ say it about Brexiteers.
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