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

Politics: Well, the big losers in yesterday’s regional and municipal election were the far-left Podemos party and the far-left mayor of Barcelona. The right-of-centre PP made quite a lot of gains and the far-right Vox party made some. The portents for the next general election seem better for the PP party than the PSOE.

The FT: Spain’s conservative PP party inflicted a resounding defeat on the ruling PSOE socialist party in local and regional elections but, despite its big gains, the PP will need the support of the hard-right Vox party to govern in many areas. The results suggest PSOE prime minister he will face an uphill struggle to hold off emboldened conservatives in a general election due in December. . . With Vox securing 7.2% of the municipal vote, the results also raised the spectre of a PP-Vox national coalition if the right prevails in the general election. That would make it the first hard-right party in the central government since Spain’s return to democracy more than 40 years ago.

The Times:

• Madrid saw a resounding victory in Madrid will bolster the national standing of Isable Ayus, the regional PP leader. Her popularity rocketed when she thwarted the central government’s pandemic lockdown, opening businesses with a slogan of “communism or freedom”.
• In Barcelona, the city’s left-wing mayor, Ada Colau, was relegated to third place after Xavier Trias, of the centre-right Catalan pro-independence party Junts, finished first and Jaume Collboni, of the Catalan branch of the PSOE, came second.

The Guardian here cites the – apparently effective – playing of the terrorism card by the right wing parties.

Talking of the far-right, Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas has reminded us of the existence of Opus Dei, citing an article from Hojas del Debate: Writes Lenox: ‘Who rules the roost?’ The article pulls no punches about a powerful behind-the-scenes religious group. ‘The Opus Dei is a secret organization. Its members must maintain discipline and obedience to the leadership of the sect. The ideology is extreme right. Many of its members hold key positions in the state apparatus and in the most prominent companies and multinationals in the country, as well as in the media,’ I’d only add that I know personally that even Catholics regard Opus Dei as a fascist organisation.

Experts say that climate change and a cruel drought are putting production of this Spain’s best jamón at risk.

I went to see Atlético Madrid (‘Atleti’) play Villareal last night, in a rather magnificent stadium built only a few years ago as part of a failed bid by Madrid to host the Olympics:

The match, though enjoyable, was much less important to me than the one being played in Liverpool between Everton and Bournemouth. If they didn’t win, Everton would be relegated from the Premier League for the fist time in almost 70 years. Happily, they did win but this foto of the celebration of a vital goal got me asking how many black players were in the 2 sides on the pitch in front of me:-

As far as I could tell, it was just one in each team, which rather contrasted with the Everton side. I guess this wouldn’t have occurred to me but for the re-emergence of the issue of racism in Spanish football in the last week or so. Of course, there were several South American players in both teams but, unless they’re Brazilian, these aren’t regarded as negros/negritos. Either in Spain or elsewhere.

En passant . . . There were 25-30 security folk ringing the pitch, seated facing the fans. See the above foto. It struck me that this must rank as one of the world’s most boring jobs. And you don’t even get to see any of the match.

Russia v Ukraine

In the face of apparent setbacks, the Russian ambassador to the UK says that they haven’t really been trying yet and that there’s a lot more nasty things they can do.Which might or might not be true. Short of a nuclear strike, I mean. Listening to him, you’d think it was Russia being invaded, not Ukraine.

The Way of the World

I was surprised to hear from Google this morning that they’d put a trigger warning about ‘sensitive content’ in front of one of my posts. I was even more surprised to see the post was published 11 years ago . . . You can see it here, if you really want to. I’m not at all clear on why this was necessary. But, if it was as the result of human action, I feel rather sorry for the person involved. If it was AI, I guess it’s another indication of how wrong it can get things,

Spanish

Algodón de Azúcar:-

• British: Cotton wool; Candyfloss [Rather odd, as Brits don’t use ‘candy’*]
• US: Cotton candy

*That said, there are bars of twisted ‘sugar candy’, as I recall from my childhood. Or maybe these were called ‘barley sugar’. Reader Perry will know. Whatever, not great for your teeth . . .

Finally . . .

I sent a friend an e.card yesterday morning and very shortly after received a deluge a spam emails. A coincidence? I think not. But is there any point changing the card company? As opposed to the email address I use for the current one.

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.