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

Here’s a bit on the looming (hopeless) vote of no confidence in the current government.

So, which is the Spanish city which faded but is now making a surprisingly glamorous comeback. I thought it might be Valencia but it turns out to be . . . Torremolinos. Which is having a long-awaited renaissance.

The men/patriarchy certainly took their time on this . . .

Today is both Fathers’ Day here in Spain and Mothers’ Day in the UK. The latter falls on the 4th Sunday in Lent but, though the former might also be a moving feast, I don’t think it’s tied to any particular Sunday. I can’t recall this happening before.

Pv city’s flea market is held in the street, down near the river, which hosts our superb seafood market. I’ve noted before that nearly all the shops in it are boarded up. So, I was surprised to read that it was once the bustling retail centre of the old quarter. How times have changed. As they do.

The UK

Here’s one columnist’s ideas on how to fix ‘broken Britain’. As good as anyone else’s, I guess. And probably better than any I could come up with.

Germany

Stubborn Germany is weakening Europe’s most powerful economy: The country’s big bet on the petrol engine is doomed to fail, says this columnist.

Russia

An insight into the people and the leaders of this huge, important – and very sad – country. Perhaps it could do with a bit of Chinese-style capitalism. And might now be on the way to getting it.

Ukraine

Reader Perry has kindly supplied this video on the complex history of this suffering country.

Quote of The Day

English philosopher John Gray, back in 2007 – i e. pre-Crimea and Ukraine but post Iraq and Afghanistan: Liberal internationalists declared history had entered a new stage in which pre-emptive war would be used to construct a new world order where democracy and peace thrived. The result of these delusions is what we see today: a world of rising authoritarian regimes and collapsed states no one knows how to govern.

The Way of the World/Social Media

Social media compounded SVB’s collapse. So, was this the first Twitter-fuelled bank run?This week’s crises – and their resulting responses – are unique in having been accelerated by a frenzy of social media chatter that has fuelled the panic. . . . Experts are suggesting that, in the social media age, the psychological behaviour behind a bank run – mass fear from depositors of losing their savings – may be amplified and go viral quicker than bank officers and regulators can successfully respond. Just what the world needed – herd instinct born of irrational fears

It is now said that regulators, policymakers and bankers are being forced to look at the role that social media may have played in the current upheaval and work out what they can possibly do to stay ahead of the rumours. But, as the media and politicians have found such is the reach of social media that regaining control of the message is not easy. The banking system is not the only sector having to come to terms with the new reality created by the explosion in internet-based communications.

BUT . . . The conventional wisdom in banking is that there is no right way to respond when clients are pulling their money. Social media, therefore, may simply be pushing at an open door, expediting something that was going to happen anyway, rather than triggering it.

English

For the philologists among you . . .Why is English so difficult? Exploring the historical events responsible for the notorious inconsistencies found in English.

Spanish

Yeda: Jeddah. I had to think.

Did you know?

Ever wondered why the Spanish civil guards wear that funny hat?  Well wonder no more . . .

Finally . . .

My lonely daff continues to refuse to bloom, though the bud is a tad more yellow than yesterday. Research suggests I didn’t plant the bulbs deep enough when I move them last year.

A public service announcement for men and transmen . . . The real way to impress women. Possibly not transwomen. .

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.