Awake, for morning in the bowl of night has flung the stone that puts the stars to flight.

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 de España/Galiza

A study among 900 Spanish women carried out by the Federacion de Mujeres Jovenes has come up with the claim that 75% of women using Tinder have been pressured to have sex and, far worse, 22% have experienced a violent sexual assault during their encounters. Can things really be so bad? I suppose it’d be useful to know the definitions used. But, even so, the second finding is truly shocking

Understandably, not everyone is happy about Spanish plans to farm octopus, a creature as intelligent as dolphins, it’s said. And would you eat farmed dolphin.

More on that narcosubmarine which emerged from the waves.

Some ratings this morning . .

• Spanish cuisine is at number 3 in the world, it says here. But I do wonder how much one can trust a survey which puts English cuisine at 29 and Thai cuisine at 30. And has all Asian contenders well down the list.
• Galicia – with 83.9 years – comes 12th in the EU region longevity stakes. At the top is Ticino in Switzerland, with 85.7 years. Madrid, Navarra, Castile y León, Cantabria and País Vasco all do a bit better than Galicia.
• Galicia’s income per capita in 2021 puts it above 5 mainland regions and, so, 12th (again) in the national table. It might well be higher if narcorenta* were declared . . .
• A propos . . . Galicia has lost its top spot as the main port of entry for cocaine. A variety of international criminal cabals now favour Rotterdam and Hamburg. Even though it might be tougher to disgorge narcosubmarines in these latter ports . . .

Global cocaine supply hits record levels: UN drug agency

* I might have just invented this word.

Now, this might be rather more useful info . . .

Most common tourist traps in Spain and how to avoid them

More on Asnot here . . . Clearly. The most British thing one cans do is to sport a big hat – the more flowery, the better. Video here.

BTW . . . It’s not the only spoof festival we have in Galicia. Later in the year there’ll be the Festival de Cans

Portada

The UK

In the UK, at least: The drive to install heat pumps as the country’s main source of domestic heating is turning into the greatest eco fiasco of the decade. Britain, a country blessedly free of the ravages of war, has an exceptionally old housing stock compared to most major economies, with almost two fifths of our private homes built before 1945. . . . Bosch UK thinks “hydrogen, or in the interim hydrogen-ready boilers” are the real solution. More here.

Germany

The army appears not to be as efficient as one might expect. The detail is devilish.

The EU

A British historian who – like me – is none too fond of the EU superstate concept, claims it’s lost its moral compass. Thanks to French ambitions, largely. That does rather assume it once had one beyond La Gloire for France.And containment of (once/twice) bellicose Germany.

The USA

The United States is a nation of communitarians ruled by an oligarchy of libertarians. Affluent, college-educated voters and the donors in both parties are skewing American politics to the Left on social issues and to the Right on economics. This has left a substantial part of the American public unrepresented in our two-party system . . . It says here.

(A)GW

Interestingly, the Roman Warm Period is said to have assisted the Italians in expanding (and feeding) their empire. So, not all bad news. Perhaps AGW will help Mr Putin . . .

Says a professor of ‘forecasting and innovation’: The green elites are living in dreamland. Their ‘green industrial revolution’ is simply never going to happen. Time and again, the reality of these green industries is distinctly underwhelming. Yet this has done nothing to dampen the wild green rhetoric of our political class. Which is not to say there isn’t a problem which needs addressing, sensibly.

The green elites are living in dreamland

The Way of the World

Well, we can’t day we haven’t been warned . . . Don’t be fooled. The SVB collapse is just the start. And although this crisis may not be as bad as 2007-08, Biden’s bank bailout shows what a risk to the global system it already poses.

Did you know?

In the UK, I read, it’s not illegal to take photos in a shop but as it is private property they are within their rights to ask you to stop or ask you to leave if you refuse to stop.

Finally . . .

The infectiously exuberant RnB singer, Lizzo, has earned plaudit after plaudit since erupting onto the scene with her debut album Lizzobangers in 2013. (eg ‘Vocals to rival Aretha Franklin’s’). She now has 4 Grammys and 3 UK top 10 singles to her name, along with near constant Billboard dominance in the US. Well, I listened to the lady’s greatest hits here and failed to detect Aretha Frankin in any of them. But, then, AR didn’t do rap. I suspect.

This has prompted a confession . . . In the same way that I tend to disregard the views of anyone ‘young’ on what constitutes great music, I’ve learnt treat with suspicion the comment of anyone over 50 that something is ‘hilariously funny’. But I will give Netflix’s Agent Elvis at try. Even though it’s said to be Tarantino-esque. It might not be hard to exceed my expectations.

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.