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

An interesting article on the fines imposed under the horrendous Model 720 law of 2012, declared illegal, in part, by Brussels last year – 10 years on. So, will I now get back the €1.500 I paid for a late submission for the 2012 year*, at a time when almost no one was aware of this new reporting requirement? Which was poorly understood by Spain’s gestores and asesores and widely ignored by many foreigners living here, even though they became the main – low hanging fruit – target for the Hacienda, despite the law being originally designed to hit cheating Spaniards. The worst affected, of course, were those expats with high-value houses back home who felt it wiser to leave Spain rather than risk staying here. What a saga!

* With interest? Ha ha.

I read that: Last year, over 11,300 deaths in Spain can be put down to the excessive summer heat. And again I pondered why such a stat is never accompanied by the facts that weather-derived deaths have massively reduced around the world in recent times and that global warming will reduce deaths from low temperatures. Just an observation; not a conclusion about anything.

Following on from the list of the Top Ten best countries in the world – where Spain didn’t figure – here’s a list of the 10 best places in which to be a digital nomad, with Spain only being bested by Mexico. Again, it needs to be noted that the voters were (North) Americans. Or Yankees, I guess. To exclude Canadians:-

1. Mexico [Not far from the USA, of course]
2. Spain
3. Panama
4. Malaysia
5. Taiwan
6. Thailand
7. Costa Rica
8. Philippines
9. Bahrain
10. Portugal [Why so much behind Spain, I wonder. US ignorance of the country?]

As for the ‘bottom-ranked destinations for [US] expats’ these include Kuwait, Norway, Turkey, South Korea and Germany. Details here.

Many congratulation to Lenox Napier on the 500^th edition of his invaluable Business Over Tapas

The EU

The Parliament has passed a ‘nature preservation law’ which its opponents claim will have some pretty devastating economic consequences. Click here.

I get some very odd things in my Spain feeds. Here’s one of the oddest, predicting that – as foretold in the Bible – a United States of Europe will be formed within the next 3 years and the Vatican will be destroyed. Enjoy the madness of it. If you’re not a Christian Fundamentalist who believes such nonsense.

(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero

It’s natural that with a challenge as huge as Net Zero, there are optimists and pessimists. Not to mention nutters such as those of Just Stop Oil. In full-on optimistic mode, here’s AEP with an article headed: Limitless ‘white’ * hydrogen under our feet may soon shatter all energy assumptions. Recent findings, he says, raise awkward questions about the eye-watering subsidies going into green variants (from electrolysis) and blue variants (natural gas with carbon capture). 

*As opposed to (expensive) ‘green hydrogen’.

The Way of the World

The world of fashion can always be relied on to take things to the extreme. So it is with transgenderism. Here’s a foto from my old Hamburg friend, taken at the Berlin fashion show this week:

But, no bra?

Talking of clothes . . . I see a lot of oddly-dressed ‘pilgrims’ among the 130,000 who now walk through Pv city every year. But few can beat the male middle-eastern(?) couple I saw yesterday. Both wore bright red leather trousers, a black leather waistcoat, and a black T-shirt adorned with the same slogans. And both sported chains around their trousers. And a black leather cap. And what used to be called ‘bovver boots’. Quasi-twins, effectively. I think I can be forgiven for concluding they were advertising their sexual orientation. Not quite sure why, though.

English

Per cent: I confess to being irritated/distracted by differing ways this is represented, sometimes in the same article. I prefer % but here are some, conflicting, style guides:-

• The UK government: Use per cent not percent. Percentage is one word. Always use % with a number.
• The Guardian: Use % in both headlines and copy. [Hooray!]
• The Telegraph: Use per cent: Use pc only in headlines and % only in tables. In City page copy, pc is acceptable. [Boo!]

Richard North always uses percent, which no one seems to approve of. Certainly not the British government.

Spanish

Tu onomástica: Your saint’s day. Equals gifts, to go alongside your birthday, Xmas and Los Reyes. Who said Spaniards spoil their kids?

Gallego

This is an announcement in the toilet of one of my favourite watering holes:-

I take the lovely Galician word amodiño to be the equivalent of al modo pequeño – or ‘gently’ – but Paideleo or María will correct me, if I’m wrong. Nice to see that someone has changed the Spanish for ‘the’ to the Galician equivalent, so as to be consistent, I guess.

Finally . . .

To amuse . .

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 – updated a bit in early July 2023.