Cosas de España/Galiza

Something here on the controversial government plans to get rid of – or at least soften – the anachronistic law on sedition.

One of those Spanish festivals involving a terrified bull. Allegedly legal.

Reading a UK headline  – Food prices outpace inflation on favourite brands – I recalled that last week I’d noted that a Mars bar in Pv city had increased from 70 centimos to €1.00, while the size had reduced from 51g to 50. Of course, this is still well below the price at petrol stations and on Renfe trains.

Which reminds me . . . A litre of oil for my car sells at €8.50 in Froiz supermarket but at €22.0[sic] in the only petrol station near to Pv town centre. Fleecing? Or just capitalism at work?

The UK 

Oh, dear. Says The Times: Gonorrhoea is on the rise as over-65s swipe right. Pensioners are driving a surge in demand for sexual health services linked to online dating. Hope the antibiotics still work.

USA

Donald Trump is a serial loser who is not fit to run for the White House again, a senior Republican said yesterday on the eve of Trump’s expected announcement he will seek re-election in 2024. “The only winning done since Donald Trump has been president is for Donald Trump,” said the former New Jersey governor who challenged Trump in the 2016 Republican primary. Some people take more time than others to arrive at the obvious.

Russia

The West has declared total victory over a humiliated Putin far too soon. The G20 will show that the idea the whole world is united against Russia is little more than a delusion. See the article here. Quite a bit on geo-political realities therein.

The Way of the World

The changing world . . . Six years after scoring a hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup, the only man to do so, Geoff Hurst was signing on the dole. He wasn’t embarrassed about it, seeing himself as just another man “out of work”. This was the most gobsmacking thing of all — his lack of expectation. Contrast, say, Ronaldo, a wonderfully gifted player but . . .

Just seen . . . Hurst said that in the early 1970s he applied for work at other clubs, but often got “no response”. Amazing. And incredibly rude. My mouth gaped as he told of having to work as a cold-calling life insurance salesman for Abbey Life, knocking on doors opened by surprised housewives. Imagine Cristiano Ronaldo doing that. Quite.

Did You Know?

Ethiopia – ex Abyssinia – is the only African country never to be colonised, even by the Italians.

Finally . . . 

This gave me a flashback to my primary school days . . . I really cannot take any more news about how this winter is going to be. It feels like being at school and told to hold your hands out, palms down. A particularly sadistic teacher would then come and rap us on the knuckles with a ruler. The thin edge of the ruler, to be exact. As I got older, this was replaced by the cane. And then, at a Christian Brothers grammar school, a leather strap containing whalebone. Yes, I was well-punished, as an unruly pupil. And son at home. Those were the days.

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.

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