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

The July general elections . . . Feijoo’s PP prospects, per the People’s Paper – The Guardian.

Under ‘Europe’ below, I (re?)cite another Guardian article on what the Left needs to do to gain power. It refers to splits, so I guess this cartoon from today’s VdG is relevant. Sumar and Podemos both stand to split the left-wing PSOE vote. Some say that a desire to galvanise precious unity is one of PM Sanchez’s reasons for his risky decision to call a snap election. Apart, that is. from his need to save his own skin, both within and without the PSOE party.

So, there’s to be a new night-train in Europe – from Brussels to Berlin – reflecting increased interest in this form of travel on the Continent. In contrast, things have gone the opposite way in Spain – thanks, perhaps, to a combination of Covid, new high-speed routes and cost-cutting, I used to get – end enjoy – the night-train from Pv city to Madrid and back but this is no longer available. I can still make an overnight trip but this would involve getting off at Santiago de Compostela – north of Pv – staying the night there, catching an early train and then changing again at Ourense for a Madrid-bound train. Arriving one minute short of 16 hours after I’d left Pv city. An e-bike would possibly get me there quicker . . .

Somewhere else to avoid: Tarifa: A hippy surf town that’s going upmarket.

I doubt this guide to ordering food in Spain will be needed by many readers but por si acaso . .

The UK

A nice gallery of fotos taken in Liverpool – actually Merseyside and beyond – over the last 50 years.

Ireland

Anyone interested in knowing how important Ireland was to the UK in the late 19th and early 20th century could do worse than to listen to history to a short series of podcasts, of which this is the first. You can get them on Goldhanger Podcasts as well.

Europe

Another Guardian columnist worries here about the rise of the Right in Europe, stressing that only unity on the Left will stop it. Fat chance for people who all think they’re more pure than any other group operating under this label. He’s on safer ground with the need for a clear, principled agenda

Russia v Ukraine

Can you believe . . . A deepfake Vladimir Putin speech declaring martial law and general mobilisation in response to Ukrainian attacks was broadcast on Russian TV and radio. The hack appeared to be timed to what Russian military observers described as the beginning of Ukraine’s much-anticipated counter-offensive.

Quote of The Day

Happy, well-adjusted people tend not to write poems. Being happy and well-adjusted, they don’t feel the need. And if they do have a go, they soon find that they have nothing to write about. Instead of deploring the personal failings of artists, writers and poets, we should if anything be grateful for them. 

The Way of the World

‘Are u OK?’ is one of the most often used phrases on social media. Sometimes it’s a faux attempt at care for an online stranger. Most often it’s dripping in sarcasm, as an insinuation someone is delusional. ‘Are you OK?’ steals from a therapist’s opening gambit – inviting reflective dialogue- but asked of a TV audience it only asks the question with no interest in the answer.

Another female columnist: The nicer an individual’s telly persona – the more deeply invested they are in being thought adorable by the maximum amount of people, the more guileless their expressions, the readier their smile, the more practised their public displays of compassion, the softer their voices, their opinions . . . the likelier it is you’re dealing with a wrong ‘un.

Gallego

That ubiquitous word carallo/carajo. Here seen on a mug, with one of the numerous phrases using it, which means ‘penis’. In this case: Mandar ao carallo. Used, I think, to express surprise/astonishment. But possibly something far worse.

BTW . . . The Galician Royal Academy now provides Google translations on-line which are even worse than those of Spanish. Especially around carallo.

English

Garbology [garbage + ology]: Some wit’s term for the self-help language of Instagram. The same wit gives us this list of ‘therapy jargon’:-

• Gaslighting
• Setting boundaries
• Triggering
• Red flag
• Manifesting
• Living in your truth
• Being your most authentic self
• Lovebombing
• I hear you
• Healing your inner child

Think Gwyneth Paltrow and Meghan Markle, I guess. And Holly Willoughby, if you live in the UK. All millionaires on the back of it.

[For UK TV viewers . . The best criticism of Willoughby’s therapy-speak – of several I’ve read since her Monday performance on TV – is this one. Some lovely phrases.]

Did you know?

Indian stairwells are a thing of incredible beauty, which I didn’t know until last night. Proof here.

Finally . . .

Some folk are trying to make us see moths in a new light.* First there was the suggestion that butterflies are really just moths which decided to fly during daylight. And now it’s claimed that: Moths should be as highly valued as bees because they play a larger role in pollinating plants than was originally though they several species of plants not previously known to be pollinated by them, including redcurrants and strawberries.

• Pun unintended.

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.