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

In case you need it, this is said to be the inside story on the abdication of the disgraced Spanish king, Juan Carlos, 9 years ago – brought down by a fatal weakness for money and women. Not the first nor the last.

After almost 10 years in Spain, a Norwegian lady reviews how she and her partner have changed. I can relate.

Queen Letizia was as (unsmilingly) gorgeous as ever at the coronation yesterday, though there were reservations about the size of her hat, with some wag suggesting it was doubling as an umbrella:-

UK

Well, that coronation is finally over. This is a less-than-totally-respectful review of it. As ever, Boris Johnson looked a complete mess. Possibly deliberately. TVE, by the way, seems to have done a good job of it for the Spanish public.

This is a characteristic TV review from The Times columnist, Camilla Long, who claims it reminded her of a porn set . . . Lots of people in weird costumes, reciting lines they don’t appear to understand, while everyone gasps and focuses on one poor performer wearing a truly torrid set of objects. All in all, making for a pretty loopy picture of “modern Britain”.

Finally on this, someone called Andrea Rizzi – an Italian? – has this article in El País today, headlined: Brexit bedlam leaves Charles III’s UK searching for the body and soul that go beneath the crown. Will we ever arrive at the point where Brexit isn´t blamed for everything that’s wrong/bad about today’s Britain? As if nothing was badly done before 2016.

But moving on and looking ahead . . . Tragically, the next General Election [in 2024] will be a contest between 2 flavours of bland. Instead of 2 competing visions, 2 clashing ideologies, with Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak we have 2 types of technocrat, competing to be the nation’s bank manager.  In ‘The battle of the nonentities’. All the fault of Brexit, of course.

Quote of The Day

Uri Geller: I made a fortune bending spoons – now I live in a tiny apartment with Ikea furniture. Anyone care?

English

A survey has found that young people of Generation Z [born 1996 onwards, I think] don’t understand the antiquated phrases bandied about by older colleagues. These include, “taking the bull by the horns”, “flogging a dead horse” and “throwing in the towel”. I can’t imagine they care a jot.

Did you know?

These were invented to stop dust gathering in the corner of stairs. I can’t recall ever seeing one:-

Finally . . .

A little bit of Ukraine in Liverpool, with a nice citation of Kate Fox’s excellent – and highly amusing – book Watching the English.

Classic Les Dawson: –

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.