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

What nationalism can do . . . A nurse is being investigated in Cataluña, a Spanish region– for querying the exclusive use of Catalan in hospitals, I think. She’s only being questioned in Catalan, meaning a translator has to be used. Hardly likely to endear Catalans to other `Spaniards but maybe the perpetrators don’t care. Or even want this.

The European parliament has told the EU Commission that there should be an AVE high-speed train between Vigo and Oporto by 2030, notwithstanding French resistance to this. Probably won’t make a blind bit of difference.

The folk who deliver food to your door on motor bikes, scooters, mopeds, e-bikes and even skates are los riders. And there’s a recent Riders’ Law (La Ley de Riders) which attempted to regularise the previous ‘jungle’ in which they worked. In Pv city, there are more than 100 of these, of which 97% are Latinos. Needless to say, they are exploited by being employed, falsely, as self-employed, a practice which the Hacienda has been trying to crack down on by taking companies to court. One rider has said that a good day means 28 deliverers. Four an hour?

This is what strawberry-growing looks like down South, where there’s great concern at just how much water is used in this:-

Conditions of work – see Lenox Napier here – are not good. Maybe think about not buying Spanish strawberries. Especially if it’s true that they’re pretty tasteless these days.

Possibly because it helps with a later distribution of assets and interim taxes, common-law spouses (parejas de hecho) can register their relationship in Spain, doubtless using a notary. There are said to be 37,000 of these in Pv province alone.

Sadly, not very surprising to read that the 19 year old driver of the car in which 4 of his friends were killed early last Sunday was over the alcohol limit. It possibly would have been better for him not to have survived.

The UK

It was a bad day for the bookies in Liverpool yesterday when the favourite won the Grand National.

As expected, protesters delayed the start by trying to get over fences and onto the course. These were from Animal Rising, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion and until recently called Animal Rebellion. One of the group’s spokeswomen, Claudia Penna Rojas, says of herself: I am a passionate aspiring Stage Manager from Chile. I am incredibly committed to working to move the theatre industry towards greener, sustainable practices. I am a member of Animal Rebellion and passionately believe that we must do all that we can to tackle the animal and climate emergency, and that we cannot change one without the other. There are probably bigger issues to tackle back in Chile.

This is an article on the 2myths I’ve touched on recently – 1. Biden’s Irish-ness, and 2. The UK-US ‘special relationship’. In truth, says the writer, the US does whatever it thinks is best for the US and has never given a monkey’s [bollock] about the ramifications for the UK.

Ireland

It was also a bad day for Irish trainers in Liverpool yesterday, as they’re accustomed to winning the Grand National but the winner was British. Well, Scottish. At least the winning jockey was Irish.

The Way of the World

Very hard to believe – especially as I’ve been to Wrexham – that there are tens of thousands of new Wrexham fans around the world – mainly in the US and Canada – who have become hooked on the fate of the team after watching the Disney and HBO documentary ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, which charts its 2020 takeover by the American actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2020. A relevant video here.

Folk are beginning to fight back against what they see as social justice warrior indoctrination and insanity everywhere these days. Here’s a relevant site.

An example of adverse reaction: Anheuser-Busch decided it might be cool to use the transgender actor and TikTokker Dylan Mulvaney as a “partner” advertising its brand Budweiser Light. The cost has been a $6 billion drop in its market capitalisation amid a huge backlash from beer drinkers.

Spanish

 A new Mexican textbook has caused controversy by blessing the the non-standard use of adding an S to the ending for the second-person past tense of singular verbs*. For example hablastes, instead hablaste and dijistes instead of dijiste. For critics, the sin is twofold. First, the textbook approved a usage that, though widespread, is not the form approved by the RAE and used by most Spanish-speakers. The second was that Mexico’s education authorities, by acting alone, had threatened the unity of the Spanish-speaking world.

A tormenta en un vaso de agua? In reality, there are several versions of the Spanish 2nd person – both singular and plural – around the world and the sky hasn’t yet caved in.

*Quite common in Madrid, I’m told.

Finally . . .

More on that nearby drug lab, if you want it.

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.