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 (right-of-centre) VdG today: A Secret Date: The acting President, Pedro Sánchez, continues to insist that the investiture will go ahead and is asking the PP to accept defeat. The Socialist, who seems to want to enjoy his holidays in Lanzarote, has postponed negotiations on the investiture until after August 17. Those who aren’t calm are the PP members, at least in their efforts to make Sánchez see that he has lost the elections. Those who did meet were the PP and Vox leaders. The meeting, which was heard about only yesterday, was about parliamentary arithmetic. How could it not be?
María has advised me that the Treaty of Paris which ended the US-Spain war of 1898 was signed in the local Pazo de Lourizán. This isn’t mentioned in this Wiki article on the war but is cited in a Wiki article on the Pazo, in English here and Spanish here. If you’re local or in the area, here’s how you can see the place. Which we might well do today, as The Atlantic Blanket is making one of its appearances.
Some coleur locale:–
- These are the (noisy)folk who were moved by the police from this spot – right next to Pv city’s best terraza – a few months ago but are now back there. We now await for the inevitable repetition of this process. Very similar to that of the gypsies illegally trading in our Sunday flea-market
A couple of houses in my barrio of Poio but only 10 minutes walk from the centre of Pv city. Prime location, then:-
- A traditional sort of house which has been unoccupied for more than 10 years, possibly 15. No idea why. It was available for rent 5 or 6 years ago but the For Rent/Sale signs have been taken down.
- A nearby new build in the modern, ugly, granite-slab style which has been in this state for at least 2 years and looks like it might remain as an eyesore for many years yet – a not uncommon site here in Galicia. I was told years ago that houses stopped being constructed because of an inability to pay taxes due but I’ve no idea how true this is, generally or in this case.
As a young man, I used to note down new words, one of which was ‘concatenation’, which I’d seen in connection with a lot of different noises. Little did I know back then that I’d experience this every day when living in Spain. . .
The UK
You do wonder how experts can reliably predict the ‘climate’, if they can’t get the ‘weather’ right. I recall that Britain’s summer this year was going to be ‘blisteringly hot’, but has turned out to be a ‘washout’. The wettest in 14 years. I blame Brexit.
(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero
It’s alleged that: The best available evidence suggests that heat waves recorded a century ago were more problematic than anything we’re seeing today. Of course, sites which say this sort of thing – like this one and this one – are dismissed as ‘right-wing’ and, therefore, wrong. But, if you regard yourself as rational, you have to know these arguments and, if you can, counter them with something other than insults. As with the book I cited months ago – Fossil Future. (Warning: It’s boringly repetitive but does make some interesting points and claims. Of which we might hear rather more in the future, as the economic ramifications of Net Zero get closer and closer to home).
BTW . . . If implementing Net Zero – or Net Zero 2.0/3.0/4.0/ etc. – really will mean going backwards life-wise, I guess the process might involve doing the same thing I recommended for folk contemplating emigration: Analyse what you take for granted and identify what you can and can’t live without. Driving an SUV and flying to the Maldives might well fall into the former category but possibly not heating the house above 18 degrees in the winter. Less ‘consumerism’, in short. Personally, my first vote would go to food items wrapped in plastic. As I don’t have an SUV or fly anywhere for a holiday . . .
Did you know?
Confirmation that a bougainvillea sucker can grow 18cm in 8 days, or 2.25cm a day, almost an inch.
Finally . . .
These are folk in a nearby village defying their priests, to hold their traditional (pagan?)fiesta of carrying live people around the church in coffins . . .
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.
Thoughts from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain 
I am a sinner. I fly to far-flung places. Then again I don’t own a car and I haven’t had one for the last 15 years. That makes me a saint, I guess. I am a sinner and saint. I would really love for those 2 right wing articles to be right. I will keep them for 15 years and see if they live up to their promise.
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Climate change, to be or not. You can read a 1000 articles and they will all be contradictory.
I think what irritates me is the press blaming wild fires on the heatwave. Not lightning, not people who chuck their cigarettes on the ground, not firefighters keeping themselves in a job, not the wood processing companies, not pyromaniacs, not people who don’t clean up after a bbq in the woods, not faulty electricity cables or their poor maintenance and so and so on. But I guess that doesn’t sell advertising, clickbait or physical newspapers. En fin.
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I doubt you’ll have to wait 15 years . . .
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Thanks for the link about Pazo de Lourizán & its previous ownership of Illa de Tampo. Very interesting. I hope you enjoy your visit.
Here’s a link to a very useful map that I use every day. https://www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php
Although its purpose it to trace the routes of the railway companies of the British Isles, I scroll around the world using the various map options. Unlike the OpenStreetMap option offered by Wikipedia, StreetView is available on OpenStreetMap in the Railways map; very useful, as the satellite view of Illa de Tampo is blurred. Railway tracks are also much easier to trace. Open Topo shows land contours. There is also a map for canals. https://www.railmaponline.com/Canals.php
All the best.
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Thanks, Perry.
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On the subject of trains, I hope HS2 is cancelled. The bill has risen from a predicted £33 billion to almost £100 billion, whilst the first leg — from London to Crewe — was meant to open in 2026, but is now expected to be as late as 2033. We were sold a vision of trains travelling at up to 248 mph — but the average speed on HS2 is now predicted to be just 205mph, only 80 mph faster than a typical mainline train, saving 25 minutes between London & B’ham. That’s because the tunnels in which the trains travel for nearly a third of the distance, have been reduced to reduce costs.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12358245/Its-time-Rishi-admit-HS2-fiasco-reached-end-line-writes-NADINE-DORRIES.html
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Gosh. I knew it was well over budget Perry, didn’t realise it was that much. I take it the Leeds to Liverpool line has still not been electrified then, and is unlikely to be in the near future.
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On a different topic, 🙂 Anyone here ever been a member of Expatforum? After 20 odd years here in Spain and studiously avoiding this “expatforum” and similar, I gave it a shot. The vitriol, comments and insults from Brits made the Newcastle United football forum I follow in the UK, appear very tame. Anyway I deleted my account. Not recommended
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I’m a member of expat.com but haven’t visited it for many, many years.
But not https://www.expatforum.com/forums/spain-expat-forum-for-expats-living-in-spain.2/
I struggle to understand what they might be vitriolic about. Remainers v Brexiteers???
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Brexit finds its way in to totallt unrelated topics. But I think many are bored and have too much spare time. I certainly didnt gain any insight from it.
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