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 developments: From today’s VdG: A Clear Message: Although Pedro Sánchez wants to leave the investiture negotiations until after the constitution of the Cortes on 17 August, the president of the [Catalan]Generalitat, hasn’t taken his vacation yes and has sent a message to the acting president to get a move on, with a clear requirement: an independence referendum. Meanwhile, the possible concessions to Cataluña are worrying the [Galician]Xunta. The [Taxation/Finnance] Minister yesterday showed his concern about a cancellation of that region’s debt. At the moment, the one who lowering his debt is Sánchez, who in his declaration of assets to Congress stated that in 4 years he has repaid €25,000 of his mortgage.

This article on the 10 things better in France than the UK could well have been written about Spain, as I’m sure Lenox Napier will agree. Even if he is sweating down in the excess heat of the South.

Anyway, HT to Lenox (of Business Over Tapas) for this news-to-me: José Mota is the go-to Spanish TV comedian. Here on YouTube he plays Cardinal Richelieu emptying his bowels. One of his regular themes, it seems.

And also for this article on the 15 most ugly buildings in Spain. None in Galicia, which is a tad surprising, given its reputati6on for feismo,

Although there’s someone somewhere who claims to be 127 years old, the laurels of Guinness World Records go to 116-year-old María Branyas Morera of Spain. She has clearly benefitted from what the country has to offer.

This post contains, at various points, comments about tourists made by nationals of the country visited – starting with this one re Brits in Spain:- When a word is coined based around a single nationality’s behaviour, you know they’ve made an impression. A case in point is the word “el balconing”, born in 2010 as a description of drunken Brits’ tendency to fall (or jump) off balconies in mass destinations like Benidorm and Magaluf.

France

Despite the notoriety for rowdy antics, Brits are not the Spaniards’ least favourite tourist. “The worst are the French. It’s impossible to make them happy – they always have something to say.”  Whether it’s refusing to speak Spanish or complaining about the late hour of Spanish dinner, the consensus is that the haughty attitude of the French tourist is far worse than the partying excesses of the Brits. Which is a bit of a surprise.

By the way, the Spanish are not the only folk who dislike the French. It seems they top every country’s list. Even their own . .

Portugal

An Englishman: The Portuguese take some beating as hosts.

A Portuguese proverb: De Espanha nem bom vento nem bom casamento. Loosely translated: ‘Neither good winds nor good marriages come from Spain’.

The Netherlands

Famously tolerant, the Dutch seethe in silence when Germans talk to them in German, assuming they understand it.

The UK

Flash and vulgar (i.e. rich) tourists are the worst of all. We’ve been granted a break from Russian oli-couples (grey men, blonde women) in loud, expensive clothes and big, dark sunglasses, but Gulf boy-brats in rented supercars – and bigger, darker shades – fill the gap. In London, at least.

Talking of which . . . According to a major estate agent/realtor, 10% of homebuyers in Liverpool are now made up of London “leavers”. When I told my sister this, she replied: “Can you blame them? For the price of one 2-bed, terraced house in London you can buy 4 houses here, live in one and rent out the other 3, at an income of £36,000 a year.”

The EU

“Get married and have more babies” will be the main message to Europeans when Hungary assumes its presidency of the EU next year As distasteful as EU lawmakers may find Orban, and leaving aside the eugenic aspect of his family policy, his culture warriors have a point on reproduction. The EU’s average fertility rate fell from 2.37 in 1976 to 1.55 in 2021, and none of the EU27 has a birth rate of 2.1, the rate needed to maintain a stable population. The result is the bloc’s ageing population and an economy which is increasingly reliant on migration from the Middle East and Africa which, needless to say, Orban and co are determined to prevent.

Germany

A surprising confrontation with Brussels around heat pumps.

The USA

As you all know by now, Christopher Columbus/Cristóbal Colón is Poio’s most famous son, with a museum here in his birth-home. Tomorrow is Columbus Day in the USA. Says this columnist: If Columbus made any contributions, they all are being swiftly wiped away and whitewashed [erased] from US culture, classrooms and textbooks. But should they? Should he?

Meanwhile . . . Trump’s 3rd indictment –it says here – is arguably the most momentous in his country’s 247-year history, because it goes right to the heart of the electoral system that underpins American democracy,

Russia.

Can anyone see the far-more-wicked President Putin being indicted for anything? Or even losing the support of 3rd world countries? Or his populace?

(A)GW/Energy/Net Zero

Reader David has pointed out that for every ‘expert’ view on climate change/global warming, it’s easy to find an opposing one, equally ‘expert’. Which makes it extremely difficult – given the vast costs involved – to form a considered view on the Net Zero timetable. This writer goes so far as to claim, with evidence, that: In this debased modern world we often find ourselves in the dark. Ours is a society built entirely from artifice and illusion, and so in this labyrinth of lies, this demonic hall of mirrors, it has become extraordinarily difficult to distinguish fact from fake, reality from spin. Coming, it seems, from a view that Big Capital is behind all charity and green/environmental campaigns, he adds that: We have pretty much now arrived at a stage of complete inversion.The best indication of somebody’s integrity is that they are denounced as criminals by the system. And the strongest warning sign of misinformation is when a certain proposition is presented as sacred truth, protected from contradiction by a special taboo status.The question of climate change, and so-called “climate justice”, is a prime example of this. The truth about the issue is elusive, to say the least. Man-made climate change is real enough, but it has been systematically exploited for the distinctly non-environmentalist purposes of global capitalism. Which certainly makes you think . . .

Social Media

Mark Zuckerberg once had lofty ideals for Facebook, writing in 2012 “There is a huge need and a huge opportunity to get everyone in the world connected”. Eleven years on, and with his stable of products implicated in genocides, political and health misinformation, public manipulation, mental health crises, intrusive data capture, arms trading, drug dealing, child pornography and the rise of the Kardashian clan, he states that “The rule is to keep it friendly”. Given the succession of known right-wing agitators. neo-Nazis and far-right figures who have flocked to his Threads platform in the first few days. one may be allowed a degree of scepticism.

English

If I ever knew, I’d forgotten . . . Scofflaw: 1. One who habitually violates laws, especially laws that don’t involve serious criminal offences. 2. One who fails to answer trivial court summonses (such as parking tickets). 3. An iconoclast.

Did you know?

As I scan the British media, there are many, many articles in which I have considerably less interest than I might have had years ago. But this one would be hard to beat in any century: Why Monaco is losing its lustre.

Finally . . .

To impress . . . Inside St George’s Hall in Liverpool:-

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.