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

The Guardian reports here on that restaurant fire, which was actually in Madrid, not Sevilla. And which might not have been a pizza but a steak. Which would make a lot more flambé sense

The Guardian also reports – here – on a strange court judgment. On the surface, this looks very Spanish but it raises several questions, like:-

• Does the company have explicit rules re alcohol?
• Was the guy warned before this, informally and/or formally?
• Most importantly – What exactly does the law state about improper dismissal?

It’s possible that – whatever the law actually is – it needs, like that on rape, to be brought into line with modern views on drink driving. Though much less carelessly than that one. As it is, the court appears not to have given any weight to the possibility he was a drunk driver and a risk to others. But, of course, no proof of this seems to have been offered. In future, the most practical thing a company can do might be to advise the police of the risk and take it from their report. Meanwhile, it looks like there’s a licence to drink as much as you like, whatever your job is. Presupposing the police don’t catch you.

The short visit of the disgraced – but ‘Emeritus’ – ex-king to nearby Sanxenxo for a spot of sailing has been rather buggered up by the bad weather of this last weekend. But at least he could eat and drink with his old mates from the Naval Academy in next-door Marín. Which he’s probably not allow to visit these days.

Some moans . . .

• My daughter and grandson are coming to Pv this weekend and might take the train. Ahead of a May Day holiday next Monday, all of Thursday’s and nearly of Friday’s are full. The only trains with a seat – the first and the last of Friday – cost more than twice as much as mid next week. Renfe has come late to differential pricing but is now making up for lost ground.
• I get the impression cafés in Pv city are ending free wifi access. Two I went to this morning – both of which recently changed hands – seem not to do so any longer.
• My internet bank has a cash-withdrawal arrangement with 3 or 4 banks in Pv city. Until this week, the bank has always borne the cost of the fee charged to me, as well as the one charged to them. If things really have changed, in typical Spanish style, the customers haven’t been told. By British standards, banks here are ‘sneaky’, never giving out info on increased or re-instated fees.

Portugal

Many readers will know of the wonderful pastél de Belém. We’re lucky enough to have a place selling them in Pv city, so I’m familiar with the traditional one and those flavoured with lemon or orange. And I think there’s a whisky version. But I was rather taken aback to see that a company in Braga is now offering natas flavoured with cod, caipirinha, port wine, chocolate, chicken or beef. I think I’ll pass on the fish and meat varieties, not being Portuguese.

Germany

Not everyone thinks it’s as efficient as it’s cracked up to be.

The Way of the World

God knows it’s a real chore but is this really the way to go? . . Thousands of [UK]teachers are paying for artificial intelligence computer software to formulate end-of-year reports. Real Fast Reports creates a “totally personalised and unique” assessment for each pupil, based on bullet points submitted by teachers. It uses AI similar to ChatGPT and says this leads to rich, personalised reports and reduces the chance of mistakes.

Spanish

More from the American blogger chap – Obscene Spanish Expressions. Of which there are a lot.

English

Nowt to do with Spanish but here’s a list of English words alongside their Friesian, Dutch and German equivalents. The Friesians came to East England before the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes but their language impact was weakened by that of the latter invaders/settlers.

Did you know?

Dutch is closer to German than to Friesian. Which is possible why we call it Dutch, not Nederlandese or Hollandese.

Finally . . .

These are flowers planted in one of our roundabout beds. Before someone came along and stole them. ‘A woman in a small black car’, it’s said:-

I’ll be looking out for cheap plants at next Sunday’s flea market . . .

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.

Finally, finally . . . . Another Flashback. Blog of 5 November 2015

Cosas de España/Galiza

The ‘Father of Cataluña’ [ex President Sr Pujol]who’s accused of siphoning off between 40m and 900m euros has said he’s compiled a dossier over the decades which he’ll publish if he’s jailed. And ‘bring down our democracy’ in the process. Welcome to the real Spain below all the modern gloss. Of which there’s quite a lot. [2023: As I said, I think he succeeded in getting the case cosigned to the ’round file’.]

Pv city’s flea market in Plaza de Verdura has effectively been Shanghaied by Romanians and Romanian gypsies. Selling tat even more absolute than that previously on offer. Things reached a head last Sunday, when a bar owned asked 2policemen to help him move traders from the terrace he paid for. Mind your own business, he was told; and then threatened with a denuncia when he remonstrated with the constables. The council has said it plans to move the market out of Veggie Square into an adjoining street, preventing – somehow – the unlicensed newcomers from trading from their blankets on the ground. This show could run and run. Why it’s been allowed to get to this point is anyone’s guess. [2023: The flea market was moved to a nearby street, all the illegal traders were banned and all the real traders had to display licence badges. For a few weeks, or may months. Now, of course, the gypsies comprise more than 50% of the stalls, sometime a lot more.And are still illegal. The repetition of this process has taken longer than I thought it would.]

Our local police are suing the Audasa company for having the effrontery to charge them to use their roll roads.

You heard it first here but now it’s front-page news in our main local paper – boarded-up shops now represent more than 20% of our main shopping street. So it came as no surprise when the head of a major consultancy firm endorsed my view that the recession is not yet over in at least this neck of the woods. Not good news for the governing PP party ahead of the December general elections. [2023: The process has continued and, in the once-expensive street I mentioned the other day, the closures are now more than 50%. As in others.]

Finally . . .

I see the Chinese knock-off of the Airbus has LEAP on the engine casing. This is close to LEAR but it’s probably just a coincidence.