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

Post-election Politics

• The VdG sums up the current political mess with: Feijoo and Sánchez [the PP and PSOE leaders] continue to treat the route to the investiture as a period of attrition. Sanchez, it seems, is giving the PP leader the chance to succeed – more likely fail – at forming a coalition government, before doing so himself. Rubbing it in, in other words, by proving that the PP has no friends except the discredited far-right Vox party.
• BTW, with friends like that . . The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, went on the attack on Sunday in the wake of his group’s poor showing at the general election. He blamed the ‘disengagement’ of voters on the right on the approach of the PP leader. Among the causes for the election loss, according to Abascal, was Feijoo’s decision not to take part in a televised debate last week, as well as his announcement of how he would distribute ministries among his politicians were he to win. Abascal also accused Feijoo of having ‘whitewashed’ the Socialists during the campaign. Abascal also railed at the media, which he said had ‘demonised’ his party and ‘manipulated’ the polls.  A poor loser? Who appears to have turned off Spanish voters.
• This, I guess, is Vox’s idea of humour: Said the party’s spokesperson in Congress “If Mr Feijoo finds 5 or 6 good members of the Socialist Party and manages to convince them to vote for him to avoid a government of national destruction, Vox will not stand in the way,” Desperation.
• The PM, Pedro Sánchez, is (over?)lauded by The Guardian here, for his strategic and tactical genius.

Also interesting from that journal . . . Soaring temperatures may signal the decline of summer holidays to the Mediterranean. Tourists are choosing milder destinations such as Ireland and Denmark because of the heat-wave over southern Europe. More here.

Well . . . A grey day looms here, with the 9am temperature at only 17, but expected to hit 25 by midday. Maybe. Where’s that (A)GW when you need it?

Spain does have cooler resorts, of course. Perhaps we’ll see more EasyJet and Ryanair flights to northern airports, meaning I won’t have to trek down to Oporto every time one of my relatives visits me, flying from Liverpool or Manchester. Back in the early 2000s, Ryanair had flights from the former to SdC but ended them after a few years, when none of the 3 small Galician airports was prepared to indulge in Mr O’Leary’s game of playing them off against each other. So, being the man he is, he picked up his bat and left the field.

Talking of flying to Spain and going to stay with friends or relatives? Are you up on the possibly compulsory-for-Brits Carta de Invitación? Here’s something cited by Lenox Napier of Business Over Tapas this week. He might have understood it better than I have . . . It seems that it’s not yet a legal requirement for non-EU citizens but you might still be asked for it, if you’re a Brit anyway. I blame Brexit . . .

The UK

There’s a furore in the UK over banks closing accounts for political/ideological reasons. Or ‘woke’ reasons, if you prefer. The banks argue that they’re under an obligation imposed by regulators and parliament to combat money-laundering and monitor those customers deemed to pose a risk. Especially PEPs, or “politically exposed persons” . So the well-known Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again. This story will surely run and run, with more and more ‘secret’ bank documents being revealed to a shocked/disgusted public. Meanwhile, NatWest bank faces a very tough time indeed. Sell your shares now. . .

Some, of course, see this as the banks paying for indulging in (fashionable)’woke capitalism’, going with the zeitgeist and forgetting their real purpose. The pendulum will now swing back. Straying into The Way of the World territory, here’s a relevant article, headed: The backlash against ‘woke’ capitalism threatens to upend politics. A lucrative new industry has formed around ‘liberal’ values, but it can only end in tears for big business

France

The doleful impact of TV . . . Paris, says this writer, is full of young women dining alone. Because . . . The Netflix show Emily in Paris has attracted a new type of visitor, by tapping into female narcissism. The desire to walk in beauty, to imagine (and photograph) yourself in a cute outfit, eating a colourful macaron on the prettiest street. And, above all, manless.

Quote of the Day

I was ruminating on the purpose of life when Death appeared from the shadows and said: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Darkness. The point of life is death. Enjoy it until you get to that point, as you surely will.“

The Way of the World

Just how much damage can the Saudis do to world sport? This question is prompted, of course, by the news that they’ve offered £259m for PSG’s Kylian Mbappé.

Modern sex education, in the UK and possibly elsewhere . . .This warped experiment in schools is creating an entire generation afraid of sex. Sexuality is so delicate and easily damaged – especially when people are still developing. Why are schools gambling with it?

Finally . . .

Not just one of those days . . It’s one of those weeks. And it’s only Thursday morning . . .

• Both coffee grinders have burnt out*
• As has my hand-held blender*
• A fuse for several things in the house refused to be un-tripped for quite some time*
• The burner in the boiler ceased working yesterday – a public holiday here in Galicia
• The security light on the back porch refuses to come on at night but does do so during the day, and worst of all . . .
• Yesterday morning my credit card declined to work both at the supermarket check-out and at a nearby bank, meaning I had to go home and get my daughter’s card.

* Connected faults?

I was actually pleasantly surprised last evening when the (new) lawnmower worked. The old one burned out a month ago, of course, when I tried to cut the lawn that greeted me after 2 months in Madrid.

Finally, Finally . . .

HT to Lenox Napier for this fascinating number from the Tempus Quartet – La Sandunga (The Day of the Dead) on YouTube here.

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.