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

As I understand it, if I put more than a relatively small sum into my bank account, this will reported to the Tax Office. So, I was surprised to read that a Guardia Civil General – caught up in a wider corruption case – was found to have put almost €47,000 into his account. Either he’s very ignorant/stupid or he thought he had some sort of protection, Or, of course, he knew the banks don’t comply with the law.

It’s frequently said – correctly – that tipping isn’t a Spanish thing, compared with up to 25% in the USA. This causes problems in both directions, though (amply paid) Spanish waiters can be forgiven for not rejecting misplaced US largess. But it’s a very different matter in the US as regards attitudes towards Spanish practices. Also understandable. I recall a nasty incident in Venice when, on the first night there, I didn’t add the expected 15% to the 10% automatically added to the bill.

Interesting to see that Blabla will shortly be introducing a bus service from Paris to Oporto, stopping in Bilbao, San Sebastian, Santander and – more relevantly – La Coruña and Vigo. And at prices below those of current bus options. But no indication yet that it will stop at Oporto airport.

Quite a VdG headline: The ‘butcher of Valdemoro’ blames his girlfriend. Claims that the death of a young woman dismembered in his house was an accident.

The Spanish approach to roundabouts is one of my regular moans but the foto in this article provides evidence of something I’ve yet to see. The infractions are reported to be the result of despistes – mistakes/absent-mindedness – but I do wonder.

The law of unintended consequences . . . I live near 2 permanent gypsy settlements and I used to show visitors where the drug trafficking took place near these, in a small industrial park. But the police clamped down on this, meaning that, as reported by the DdP, multiple dealing points have now opened up in Pv city. You can’t keep a bad man down, as they don’t say.

(A)GW

One of the main claims is ‘Fossil Future’ is that the Net Zero objectives owe more to an anti-human, earth-worshipping philosophy/morality than to practical politics/economics, with the effect of worsening the lives of many millions, if not billions. A similar attitude is displayed in this article from Richard North. Is it possible to prove them wrong?

On this theme, there’s also this article on the ‘cult of the apocalypse’, in which Green campaigners are accused of not ‘following the science’ but, rather, ‘promoting a Biblical ‘fantasy.’

The Way of the World

Oxfam’s war on words is a disaster zone. The charity’s new inclusive language guide is muddled ideological nonsense that gravely undermines its mission statement, says this columnist.

Spanish

Reader Paideleo tells me that the correct phrase for ‘Blowing the whistle’/’Letting the cat out of the bag’ or Whistleblowing’ is Tirar DE la manta.

Hope this is correct . . . A buenas horas, mangas verdes! Too little, too late!

Finally . . .

My solitary daff . . . Finally made it, 3 weeks after my sister’s daffs in Liverpool:-

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.